There is so much more to Paris than meets the average tourist’s eye. While the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum and the Champs Elysees really are as wonderful in real life as you might expect them to be and are a must for first timers in Paris, there are many other, equally charming spots just waiting to be discovered. Here are a few tips and some of my personal favourites:
Firstly, I would recommend investing in a Paris Pass for an extended stay in Paris or if you plan on doing a lot of travelling with public transport and sightseeing. This pass has many advantages; such as free entry to the best attractions, free entrance to over 55 of the most famous museums, a guide book, special offers in the big name shops and it included a Paris Visite card which gives you free, unlimited travel on the Metro, buses and RER within central Paris.
Secondly, get some decent budget accommodation sorted in Paris to cut costs and leave you with something to spend on having fun. If you are not planning on visiting all the typical sights, you can afford to book a hotel in Paris in a lesser known area by tourists and take advantage of lower room rates.
So, here are some special spots in Paris that certainly won’t be on every other tourist’s itinerary:
The Buddhist temple. You will find this place of worship in the Asian neighbourhood of Paris, strangely housed in an underground car park! It is the only large public garage in the area, so it’s not hard to find and you will find the temple as you walk in and, on the right. This isn’t a tourist attraction, it is a real, active temple so, while visitors are welcome, they are expected to be respectful and treat it as such. Worth a visit just for the novelty factor. You could also combine a trip to the temple with a meal out in one of the Thai or Vietnamese restaurants in this area in the 13th arrondissement.
Another favourite place of mine in Paris is the Musee Marmottan du Claude Monet. This attractive little museum houses a modest collection which was mainly donated by the artist’s son and contains sketches, small canvases and works by other artists that Monet had collected himself. This is a good choice if you are travelling with children as they offer guided tours of the gallery for children based around the themes of: flowers, landscapes, the seasons and the portrait.
The Parc Floral de Vincennes is a beautiful park with seasonal flower displays, located near to Chateau de Vincennes. This is a great place for a romantic picnic or a family day out as it also contains an amusement park, a pond, and a puts on puppet shows on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays in the afternoons for 2.60€. You will find a few restaurants dotted around if the weather is not too good and there are live jazz performances in the park on Sundays in summer.
Don’t strike Paris off of your list of places to visit once you’ve “done” the major sights; go back time and time again and discover the city’s more hidden treasures.
