July 20 – Paris Day 2

 

Today started with rain again, but the sun came out around noon and the rest of the day was clear and beautiful—low to mid-70s!

Before I jump into our day, I wanted to mention an observation Grant and I had. Paris feels so different this time compared to our last visit. The main change is the extreme reduction in car traffic around the city. Since we were last here, Paris has instituted a fee to drive within the city limits. That must have significantly cut down on traffic. In addition, they’ve modified many of the streets. I think a lot of the changes were made for the Olympics, but some may have been done in conjunction with the new driving fees.

Many streets that used to have two or three lanes in each direction have been reduced to just one car lane, with the extra lanes converted into dedicated bike lanes. So now, you’ll often see wide sidewalks, then a bike lane, then a single lane for cars. It makes walking around Paris feel even more pleasant and safe in most areas, and we absolutely love it!

The other big change is the increased security. Pretty much every place you go now has some form of screening—whether it’s a bag check, a metal detector, or something else. For example, entering Notre-Dame is free, but you need a timed entry ticket or you have to wait in the standby line. The timed ticket line is much shorter, with maybe 20–30 people at a time, while the standby line stretched all the way to the other side of the plaza in front of the cathedral. But both lines were for security checks, and even the long one only took about 10–15 minutes to get through.

Mostly, the security isn’t a big deal—but to me, the most disappointing part is the entire plaza around the Eiffel Tower is now enclosed by a tall glass wall. You have to go through security and exit through designated doors just to walk underneath it. Again, it’s free and doesn’t take all that long, and the security part isn’t even the annoying bit. But the tall glass walls make it lose that open-air feeling, and they create a huge bottleneck for foot traffic in the area.

But I think almost every major basilica, Museum, and even when we went through Victor Hugo‘s house, all of these had either bag check or metal detector.

OK, onto our day…

We wanted to make sure to see the places that require admission, since many of them are closed on Mondays. So first up was Grant’s must-do… the Paris Sewer Museum. Yes, it’s as gross as you imagine. 😂 Honestly though, it’s super interesting. I’ve been through it before, so I knew what to expect. The smell isn’t great, but honestly not as bad as some porta-potties or pit toilets I’ve encountered. LOL.

It truly is fascinating to learn about Paris’s sewer system and how it has evolved over the centuries! Kind of wild that they were still dumping raw sewage into the Seine River up until the 1970s! In preparation for the 2024 Olympics, the city has made major improvements—and now, the Seine is actually open to swimmers for the first time in decades! (There are even designated swimming zones planned for public use!)

When we entered the sewer museum it was raining, and when we came out, it was bright and sunny! We walked over to the Eiffel Tower and took pictures in the park behind it (Champ de Mars).

While walking to the tower—and earlier in the day on the way to the sewer museum—we noticed a ton of classic cars driving around. Turns out it was the annual Traversée de Paris, a vintage car parade that happens each summer!

Next, we headed to lunch at a cute little café on Place Victor Hugo—which, for the record, is nowhere near Victor Hugo’s actual house. 🤣 Katelyn had French toast, Grant and I shared an omelette and avocado toast, Geoffrey had fish and chips, and Angie had a quinoa bowl. (Maison Sauvage, for those keeping track!)

After lunch, we hopped back on the metro and visited Victor Hugo’s house, which is located at Place des Vosges. It was fun to walk through for a couple of reasons. First, it was interesting to see the inside of one of these apartment buildings that were built hundreds of years ago—how the rooms were laid out and what it might have been like to live there 100 years ago, looking out the window onto the beautiful courtyard below.

Each room was decorated to match a different period of Hugo’s life, and there was lots of interesting art and furniture. The final room was set up as his bedroom and even contained the actual bed that Victor Hugo died in. Very cool visit!

Afterward, we explored the square just outside: Place des Vosges, the oldest planned square in Paris. It’s absolutely beautiful—symmetrical red-brick buildings with arcades all around and a lush park in the center. We took a nice break, sitting on benches and people-watching. The park was packed with people lounging on the grass, playing on the playground, or reading on benches. A perfect pause.

From there, we strolled down Rue des Rosiers, which was historically the center of the Jewish quarter in the Marais. In the early 1900s, many Jews fleeing persecution settled here. The street is sometimes called “the street of roses” and features beautiful planters down the center. It’s definitely gentrified now and didn’t feel particularly Jewish, but it was still neat to see. There were still Jewish families visiting—or maybe living—in the area. We stopped at a bakery and grabbed some sweet treats for a little pick-me-up.

Next was a quick stop at the Jardins des Archives Nationales (National Archives Gardens)—a peaceful little hidden gem. 

We hopped again on the metro and headed over to the Arc de triumph. We spent some time here resting under the billowing flag and taking some awesome pictures.

Then we headed back toward the Eiffel Tower for dinner.

We found a fantastic restaurant nearby called Linette. Our waiter spoke excellent English and was absolutely hilarious. (Side note: all of our servers have been great—efficient, friendly, and most speak very good English.)

For dinner, Grant and I had the sea bass and terrine, Angie also had the sea bass, Geoffrey had French onion soup (which he shared with Angie) and a Caesar salad, and Katelyn had a croque monsieur that she absolutely loved.

We finished dinner at 9:55 and zipped around the corner to Champ de Mars just in time to catch the 10:00 p.m. Eiffel Tower sparkle! Afterward, we walked over to Trocadéro for a different view and took some more photos of the tower lit up. Then we headed back to the hotel—definitely tired after a full day!