Nous aimons Paris.

A long, long time ago, I went to Europe. Specifically, I visited Paris and London with a decent layover in Amsterdam. It truly was an epic experience. When my wife and I married, we talked about taking a trip to Paris. I don’t know if this happens for you, but “one of these days” took about 27 years.

Recently, it worked out for my wife and me to take that trip.

As epic as the first trip was for me, it was even better with my wife. I showed her all the things that were near and dear to me from that first adventure. Before we left, I told her that I know we could have gone before that; however, I think with all our history and experiences, I think I would definitely appreciate this trip now more than ever before.

I was right.

We had the best time! There were several instances in which I caught my wife in a look of wonder. We are so grateful to God for this time!

I wanted to share some things that helped us have a great experience.

Book early. Yeah, that goes without saying. It likely will help you save. We found some decent deals with flights and with AirBNB.

Book flights directly. While we did find some decent deals with flights, we had a major issue with Booking.com. Rather than send us emails to our actual email addresses, Booking.com used some weird, no-way-to-check emails. Here’s why that is important: FrenchBee has a very rigid check-in/boarding pass rule that one must be ready 1.5 hours before the flight. While we had an epic experience, we had to move flights and get rooms because we somehow missed that rule. We were there in the airport. My wife had hers scanned, and mine wouldn’t pull up. That’s when we learned of the rule.

Check your rules. See above.

Download and/or print your passes and tickets. Save yourself the trouble, and have them ready.

Share them. That way, if you struggle or have an issue, you have a backup. If you don’t have service, there’s no stress.

IDF Mobilities. Set this up. This is great for the Metro, trams, trains, and buses. You’ll be able to purchase passes, and you can use your phone to ride.

Citymapper. Use this app! Set your AirBNB or whatever as home. Then, wherever you want to go, use the app and let it guide you. It shows you the cost and tells you the stops and which transport to take. If it glitches, just restart it. We primarily used the Metro and trains; it was incredibly helpful because just because you’re on the M line does not mean you’re heading the right direction. This app isn’t available in all cities, but if it is where you’re planning to visit, it is excellent.

Be prepared to walk. Public transport was fabulous; however, there’s a strong chance you’re going to have to walk to catch a ride. That said, have your water bottle with you.

Plan your pottying. Restrooms aren’t rampant. If you purchase or dine in, you should be okay.

Be prepared for “strikes.” These can happen any time. There were folks who had tickets to see the Catacombs, for example, and discovered there was a strike by a note on the office. After we left, the Louvre had a strike due to crowding.

Crowds. There were so many people. Groups absolutely had the ability to suck the fun out of any museum experience. So, so many. If you lead them, God bless you, but know you’re contributing to the displeasure of some of us.

The French. Just like all those years ago, the French were fantastic. We encountered so many helpful, kind, and wonderful people along all parts of Paris. While I can read some French, and I know some basic stuff, many spoke English.

The Food. I suspect we walked probably 50 miles or so by step counts. I still managed to gain weight. That is probably due to the bazillion bakers that were scattered everywhere. We really didn’t plan food. We would occasionally check the neighborhood via Google Maps to see what was withing walking distance. Most of the time, we stopped when we felt like it. Yes, often, it was a bakery. Dear God, they were exceptional—every single one we visited.

Revolut. If you’re concerned about using your bank card, set up Revolut. You can do the premium and get travel insurance if you book with the card. It worked flawlessly. We ended up using it primarily. You can exchange currencies. You’re able to set up bank transfers to your Revolut card.

Hopefully, there is some helpful information in here for you. While we did see some interesting things with security and people, we never felt unsafe. The Metro was clean. The people were fantastic.

If you visit Paris, I hope your experience is as epic as ours.

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