48 hours in Paris

At the beginning of February I spent two nights in Paris as a stopover on my way from Lausanne to the South West of France. I arrived by train at 2pm on Monday and left again at midday on Wednesday so I had one whole day and two half days of exploring. I stayed in the youth hostel Les Piaules - Nation which is just east of the centre, at the border between the 11th and 12th arrondissements.

Day 1

Arriving at Gare de Lyon, I started off by heading to the youth hostel to drop off my bag. It was very easy, only 2 stops on Metro line 1 but there are a lot of steps to go up and down which was a bit of a struggle with a heavy suitcase. It sometimes felt like I was walking underground for ages just to get to the right line. I made it to the hostel where I was able to leave my stuff in their luggage room until check-in time.

I then headed off by foot in the direction of the Sein to have a wander and explore a bit of Paris that afternoon. I walked along the riverside (water not quite as clear as the Swiss lakes!), reached Ile de la Cité, and had a look at Notre-Dame and the other impressive buildings on the island. Having last seen Notre-Dame pre-fire, it was interesting to see its current state and to read about its ongoing renovation. It was in fact more intact than I had imagined which was a nice surprise.

I then headed towards the Quartier Latin which I don't think I've ever been to before. It is the student district of Paris and is one of the older areas so it has lots of character. The streets were really pretty and I visited the Pantheon which was very impressive. From there I caught my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower - always exciting!

By that time the sun was beginning to go down so I made my way back towards the hostel, picking up a salad from the supermarket on the way to eat for dinner.

Day 2

On the second day I decided it would be good to do a walking tour in order to learn a bit more about the city from a local. I've done city walking tours before and I've found them to be a good way to get to know a new place, especially when I'm travelling alone. I found a tour that began not far from Notre-Dame and ended at the Louvre. Whilst the tour was very interesting and I met some nice people on it, there was a freezing cold wind and, what with all the stops while the guide talked about various points of interest, by the end of the tour the whole group was absolutely frozen!

I then went for a swift walk to warm up through Le Marais, another lovely district of Paris that I hadn't seen before. The streets and buildings are magnificent! I then made my way gradually in the direction of the Eiffel Tower, stopping to see a few of the filming locations from Emily in Paris such as Place de Valois and the Jardin du Palais-Royale. It was very interesting to see bits and pieces of the city that I had not done in previous trips.

I took the bus through the city to the Eiffel Tower as it was the furthest point I wanted to go to. I didn't climb it because I have been up before and besides, it was a cloudy day so I wouldn't have seen much anyway. In comparison to the beautiful streets of the Latin quarter and Le Marais, the area around the Eiffel Tower wasn't great. There are so many people trying to sell you things, asking you to sign up for things or just hanging around in gangs that I didn't feel very safe there and I left pretty quickly. I went to the Arc-de-Triomphe and went up the inside which is free for under 25s with EU residency. It was interesting to climb the steps, see the interior of the arch and get a good view of the Champs-Elysées.

I ended the day by going to Place de la Concorde and then to Galeries Lafayette where you can go up to the rooftop and get a great view across the city and of the Palais Garnier. I returned to the youth hostel exhausted!

Day 3

On my last day I thought I would visit the Conciergerie but when I got there I was told I had to purchase my ticket online and I didn't have internet so I unfortunately wasn't able to go in. The whole road in front of the courthouse was blocked off and protected on all sides by armed guards due to the ongoing trial of the suspect of the 2015 terrorist attacks so it was a bit of a challenge to actually get to the entrance of the Conciergerie in the first place.

I instead decided to walk to the Jardin de Luxembourg and have a look round there and the Saint Germain Des Prés area. Both were looking lovely, though Jardin de Luxembourg definitely would've been nicer on a sunny day!

By this time it was nearing 11 so I headed back to the youth hostel to pick up my suitcase and took the metro to Montparnasse train station.

Accommodation

After extensive online research of Paris youth hostels, I finally plumped for Les Piaules for a number of reasons.

One of the main reasons was the location. It was very easy to from both Gare de Lyon and Gare Montparnasse, not requiring any metro changes which I didn't want to do with a huge suitcase. I had also read that certain areas of Paris are not very safe, particularly around Gare du Nord which is where many of the youth hostels are situated. The location turned out to be very convenient, not far at all from Notre-Dame and with good public transport connections.

The next thing I really like in a youth hostel is if the beds have curtains around them and this one did. I find it gives you so much more privacy and really makes it feel like you have your own little space even when you're in a dormitory with lots of other people.

Finally, I liked that Les Piaules had a bar/restaurant where I could get food from if I wanted it. The place was fairly modern, had good reviews and was reasonably priced - not the cheapest but not the most expensive either.

Overall I was very happy with the hostel. The room was really nice, staff were friendly and it had a great atmosphere. The only downsides were that there was no kitchen to prepare your own meals and the bathrooms were rather cramped.

I had a great wee trip to Paris and it really changed my views on the city. Though I have stayed there twice previously, both were in large organised groups and I haven't been since I was 15. From what I remember in the past we mostly visited the major tourist attractions - the Eiffel Tower, Marseilles, Versailles, the Louvre, Disneyland, etc. Moving as part of a big group doesn't give you the opportunity to really get your bearings in the city and it was nice just to have a wander around the different districts. There are still a number of things I'd like to do in Paris so I hope to return at some point!