It had been quite a few years since the last visit to the City of Light:  Paris.  So without a doubt a trip here was long overdue.  The very last time that we took a trip to Paris was almost eight years ago, but with in Paris, as with many other European cities, it feels like time really hasn’t passed, which differs greatly from cities in the U.S.  The charm, beauty and culture of the Parisian life never seems to grow old.   It’s probably one of the many reasons that people keep coming back in search of the nostalgia and in some cases, re-live the memories that made us fall in love with Paris to begin with.

For those of you new to Paris itself, we have a few pointers, which will cover in detail.  The most important things when planning a trip to Paris, would be to plan things according to the time you’re going to be there.   If you rush through every single major tourist attraction, you basically did not see the “real” Paris.   So time your agenda in Paris and limit yourself to 2-3 items per day maximum.  If you’re going on a short trip like we were, then maybe focus on one big thing, then enjoy the rest of your time in absorbing the Parisian life.

For those of us in the States (Midwest or East Coast), we’re bound for a non-stop flight which in the direction of travel, it’s 8-9 hours of flight time– more if you’re connecting, which we really try to avoid at all costs on a quick holiday/long weekend trip.    We booked luckily with Air France, which it’s an easy flight from Chicago, and being an evening flight, try to get some sleep as you’ll arrive in Paris early morning and you want to maximize the time you’re in flight to snooze a couple of hours.  You want to rest as your first day in Paris will be spent getting to/from the airport, going to your hotel (or whatever accommodations you made),  which in our case we choose Le Meridien Etoile, which was fantastic choice in terms of a location and also in price.    When you’re booking  a hotel in Paris, make sure that you’re within walking distance to a metro line.  In the case of Le Meridien Etoile, you’re actually within a block of both the Metro Line 1, which connects you to the entire city of Paris (East to West), and within that same distance you have a connection to the RER C (or the commuter trains), which you will take if you’re considering a side trip to Chateau Versailles — highly recommended, if you have time to spend.