Top 10 Paris Attractions: The Sites You Must Visit in the City of Lights
Getting to Know Paris
Recently, a friend of mine was going on a trip to Paris, France and wanted to know what sites were a must see. I lived in France for a little over a year and took every chance I could while I was living there to take in the sights and learn and see as much as I could of what I like to call "the enchanted city."
There are so many Paris sights, so many Paris tourist attractions, that for your first couple of trips to Paris you need to stick to the basics and be, well, a tourist. That is to say, you'll want to plan out ahead of time which tourist attractions you plan to visit on your trip.
Next, you'll want to grab yourself a Paris map (including a Metro map -- Paris has a great subway system) and plot it all out (remember, though, not to be too rigid and to go also where the moment takes you. The French live in the moment, and so should you while visiting France. If there's no time to stop at The Pantheon because you have lost yourself in the beauty of the jardins du Luxembourg, c'est la vie ).
Then, buy yourself a beret at the first tourist trap nick-nack kiosk you see and set off to do some Paris sightseeing.
The Most Important Thing to do When in Paris
That is the advice that I gave to my friend, together with the list below of what I believe are the top 10 must-see sights to see in Paris. But much more importantly than all of this, I told her, you must be sure to do something else: What must you see?
Oh man, I said, see everything. Just look up, look down, look all around, look for berets and skinny Paris chicks smoking cigarettes with tinted red doos, look for old men on bicycles (smoking cigarettes), look for street vendors selling crêpes, look for L'AMOUR, look for the students of the Sorbonne debating as they stroll down the streets of the Latin Quarter, look for your raison d'être, surely you will find it there in Paris waiting for you.
When you are in Paris, see what is before you.
Show Me the Way
Without further ado, here are my top 10 recommended must-see attractions in Paris. The only thing is, 10 sights weren't enough, so I have listed my top 12 destinations in the enchanted city. Within the coming weeks, I will post a detailed hub on each of these Paris sightseeing attractions and link to them from this hub as I finish them
Top 10 (okay, 12) Paris Tourist Attractions
Musée d'Orsay
Café de Flore
Jardin du Luxembourg
Le Petit Journal Montparnasse, Jazz Club
The Pantheon
Paris Opera House
Bon voyage , and always remember when vacationing in Paris: Each time you enter an establishment, say, "Bonjour ," and each time you leave, say "Au revoir ." These two small gestures will go a long way with Parisians and will let them know that you’ve got what it takes to hang with the in crowd.
