Paris in Autumn

At the top of my bucket list, has always been traveling to Europe. Most specifically, that travel bucket list was visiting Paris, London and The Cotswolds (located in the UK). The weather in Autumn is a perfect time to visit with temperatures in the mid to high 70’s in the afternoon and 60’s in the evenings. It was absolutely beautiful! I had been dreaming of this travel for a long time and in September of last year, we made the travel reservations to finally do it. It was a planned 10-day itinerary to visit all three locations giving us 3 days for each stop. It wasn’t nearly long enough time but if you have to do Paris in such a short time frame it definitely can be done. I will show you my top 3 tourist places to see, as well as a few areas to stay to get the most out of your vacation.

I would recommend visiting your top 3-5 tourist places but also leave time to explore. Every travel blog I read prior to going, also advised to stay close to the action and leave time to explore, walk, eat and relax in the city so that is what we did. All in all, I think that just 3 days in Paris was a great first visit, but if you have more time, take it! We flew into London for the first part our trip and from there took the train to Paris, which is called the Eurostar. You want to make sure you book your Eurostar train ride early online, because the earlier you book, the less expensive the tickets will be for you. The train took about two and a half hours from London to Paris and was comfortable and enjoyable.

So much of traveling is eating! And I would encourage you to sit at as many outdoor cafes to watch and experience the people and culture as much as possible! For me, I have some difficulty with eating out and travel and I will explain briefly why that can be an issue.

As some of you might know, I have Celiac Disease. Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disorder that causes an immune response when digesting even the smallest amounts of gluten (which is found in wheat, barley, rye). The gluten can cause digestive issues and damage to the small intestine. Eliminating gluten, even cross contamination (small particles of gluten) will help to heal the gut and live symptom free. My symptoms when digesting gluten in small amounts by accident, can cause immediate and severe stomach pain, digestive bowel issues, sweats, nausea, migraine and musculoskeletal neurological pain as well as inflammation of the stomach that can last for days or weeks depending on the severity. Living with celiac disease can be a challenge literally because I am surrounded by this one thing, gluten, or as I lovingly call it: poison. Because it really is like poison to my body, which is why I have to be extremely careful what I eat and try to avoid any cross contamination in the food prep spaces. Therefore, as you can imagine, eating out can be pretty challenging.

So, that being said, traveling gave me quite the ’bout of anxiety…that is, until I started researching where to eat. To my astonishment, I found 22 different restaurants/bakeries that were 100% gluten free! WHAT?!! I have never wanted to move to a different country so fast in all my life! I will sharing my favorite celiac safe restaurants and bakeries in my short trip to Paris… and oh my goodness, they were so good, not to mention the relief and delight of not having to worry about any gluten at all! I really felt like I got to enjoy Paris even more because of the many available food options for me! I will be doing another more in depth post here later about all the restaurants I found, but for this post alone, here are my top three favorite attractions and food spots in Paris!

My Top Three Tourist Attractions in Paris

These TOP THREE tourist places to visit did not disappoint!

The EIFFEL TOWER

The first of those attractions, is of course, to visit the Eiffel Tower! Do make sure you see this in the day and at night time, which is très magnifique! We stayed at a hotel in the 7th arrondissement in Paris. The city is divided by 20 arrondissements that are different sectors of the city.

The Eiffel Tower is located in the 7th arrondissement and we walked there from our hotel. We were minutes away from walking to the tower and some of our favorite restaurants/bakeries. Many people were having picnics during the day and vendors were selling wine in the evening while people sat on the lawn enjoying the tower of lights!

The LOUVRE

The Louvre Museum is magnificent and we spent a whole day here. Before your trip, do make sure to purchase you’re tickets online which you can do from their official website. Also, wear tennis shoes, which I would highly recommend wearing for your entire trip to Paris, unless of course you have a dinner only reservation where you have transportation from your hotel directly to your restaurant and want to wear high heels. However, the French make wearing tennis shoes everywhere très chic and you will see them a lot on the streets of Paris.

We spent most of the day touring The Louvre. Like many, the Mona Lisa was definitely on my list to see! We really could have spent another day at The Louvre as well, it is that big and there is so much to see. There are places to eat and shop inside the Louvre so it is easy to take all day to explore.

We were pretty tired after this day because of all the walking but it was a definite must see! I was infatuated with the architecture of the building which was as much art, as the fine art displayed in it!

NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL & THE SEINE RIVER

Notre Dame is located on the Seine river and there are outside markets and food trucks all along the river to explore. You can also book a boat cruise along the Seine, which would be on my bucket list for next time to take in the evening. Although the Notre Dame cathedral is still under re-construction after the massive fire in 2019, it is still a place to go see and is set to re-open in December of 2024. The area is buzzing with people and the riverside made for some beautiful photos. I would love to go back to visit inside someday but this is a major attraction that is worth seeing, even if we could only see the exterior. There are displayed photos and details of the restoration process, which were so fascinating.

Those are my top 3 recommended tourist attractions for a 3 day trip to Paris for the first time. Other activities on our stay was walking along the The Avenue des Champs–Élysées, an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.

Shops and restaurants are prominent on this beautifully tree lined avenue to the Arc de Triomphe, a monument that honors those who lost their lives in the French Revolution and Napoleon wars. It stands in the center of a roundabout circled by streets that span out from it. You can pay to go up in the Arc de Triomphe to get a birds eye view of the city, although we did not choose to do for the time factor.

I would say that one of the key points of seeing the city, especially in a limited time frame, is to hit the attractions you are most excited about and try not to cram too much into the day or days you visit. One of the best reasons for this is to explore the city, not only as a tourist, but be able to experience it as a local would and sit at the many outdoor cafes, experience the beautiful gardens and take a slower pace in order to take it all in.

Where to Stay:

We felt like staying in the 7th arrondissement was close to everything that we wanted to see and was all walkable. I would also recommend taking the Metro when in Paris. It is easy to travel and it is an experience in itself. (Full disclosure): I did get stuck in the turnstile of the Metro and a very kind french policeman was thankfully nearby to help me out! I believe the issue there was that I had scanned my ticket before my husband was completely through the turnstile in front of me and it registered his motion and stopped and locked although I had already started to enter, which meant I got locked in between the turnstiles unable to move! Talk about embarrassing! 🙂 To avoid this situation, one that may or may not actually be an issue, but for yours truly alone, wait until the person in front of you has gone through the turnstile and it stops before you scan your ticket.

We stayed at a charming boutique hotel called Alberte Hôtel. It was a beautifully decorated and small hotel with many amenities. I would recommend staying on the top floors because the lower floors can be more noisy.

Beautiful Gardens:

Make it a point to explore one or more of the gardens in the city, which are situated throughout the city and have a picnic. We visited Luxembourg Palace which is located in the 6th arrondissement and has the most beautiful gardens called the Jardin du Luxembourg. There are food trucks and lots of places to sit, relax and see, including the Medici Fountain, which is lined with benches and chairs to enjoy a drink or bite to eat.

The Architecture:

Enjoying the architecture and the history of the buildings were one of my favorite parts of Paris. The flower draped shops were stunning and every where you looked was stunning views and artistry from the beautiful carved doors (which I have way too many pictures of), to the quaint and charming bakeries and cafes lining the streets.

Speaking of eating again, the following were some of my favorite gluten free restaurants in Paris. They are all 100% gluten free and it was absolute heaven! I will include the links so that you can visit their website and get addresses. Copains has several locations throughout the city and I will include the location that we visited.

Copains

My absolute favorite boulangerie (bakery) was Copains! It was a dedicated gluten free bakery, which meant that I could eat anything I wanted there. I wanted to buy one of everything! Instead of buying more than I could eat, I took pictures of it all! We ordered the most delicious sandwiches on baguettes for lunch and a few pastries to take with me! I think it was my favorite because I could do lunch and breakfast with their menu. The location we visited was Copains Marais, 29 Rue des Blancs-Manteaux 75004 Paris.

Noglu

The second boulangerie we tried was Noglu’s and it was my very close second choice. The staff there were really amazing and it was close to our hotel. The baked goods were to die for and because it was the first of the gluten free bakeries we visited, I bought croissants, cinnamon rolls, quiche and assorted pastries, which was a huge indulgence! I had a hard time eating it all but I wanted to try as much as I could! We ate there two different mornings and I truly wish we had one at home. There is a location in New York so if I ever visit again, I will definitely add it to the itinerary.

Little Nonna

Little Nonna is an Italian restaurant, where of course I got pizza twice, because its my favorite food of all time! It was absolutely delicious! We sat at a table with big open windows in the evening and it had a relaxing ambience. It was busy so if you go, I would make reservations beforehand, especially if you have Celiac disease and need to eat gluten free.

Tasca

This restaurant was located minutes from our hotel and the Eiffel Tower. I have two words that come to mind when thinking about this restaurant; Pistachio Tiramasu! We went twice for dinner in our 3 days because it was that good! This was an authentic Italian restaurant and the staff did not speak English so if you don’t know French or Italian, make sure to use an app to help you. Most of the places we visited knew some English but make sure you understand this as a tourist. I ordered the fettuccini with tomato and basil the first night and then chicken filets with lemon and grilled vegetables the second evening. Both nights my husband ordered the Tiramasu, he loved it that much! I ordered the Chocolate cake so that we could share but I ate most of it. Again, make reservations before your trip because it is a small and popular restaurant even though the wait is worth it!

There were so many great restaurants that we didn’t get to try but these would definitely be at the top of my list to go back. I will make write another blog post with all the gluten free (celiac friendly) options that we found throughout Paris in a future blog.

I hope you enjoyed this post and photos of Paris in the Fall! Leave a comment below if you have any questions or if you have a special place you like to visit or eat that is 100% gluten free. I would love to know!

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