Paris, France – Day 2

Paris is so huge that I’ve had to spread our trip out over several posts, I recently posted about our Day 1 in Paris, France and also the Louvre, Notre Dame and Getting To and Around Paris. Today I share our Day 2 we spent in Paris. Luckily we slept much better after Day 1 wore us out and we had a bit more energy starting the morning.

Our Day 2 Itinerary:

Arc de Triomphe
Champs-Elysse using Rick Steves’ walk from his book
Grand Palais (Exterior only)
Palce du Trocadero
Eiffel Tower
Champ de Mars
Army Museum and Napoleon’s Tomb

We started the day by taking the RER to Paris and getting off at Charles de Gaulle Etoile to see the Arc de Triomphe. We arrived at 10:30 am on a Thursday and there was no wait to climb up. We used our Paris Museum Pass, otherwise it would’ve been €9,50 per adult. You can walk around the outside and base for free also. We walked up the 268 steps, well according to Boo’s count, to the top.

We did stop at the small exhibition floor on the way up, you can stop on the way up or down. There is a replica of one of the statues on the Arch in this room, and you can also watch live feed of people walking under the Arc. There is also a bathroom on this floor, that was uncrowded, a rare find in Paris!

View from the top!

Then we walked around the base before using the underground pedestrian walk to get across to Champs-Elysse.

Tomb of the Unknown Solider at the Arc de Triomphe.

We walked down Champs-Elysse using Rick Steves’ walk from his book checking out his highlights. We also found a pharmacy for Mr. B and went in to get him some meds as he was still feeling pretty crummy. I had translated his ailments to French for the pharmacist and when we walked in he yelled ‘Hello’ and started speaking in perfect English…so much for the translation, LOL!

Then we stopped at McDonald’s and ate some lunch, they had free wi-fi so I was able to post some pics from Instagram 😉

We walked down to the Grand Palais and bought some crepes from a stand, they were supposedly a ‘MUST’ on Paris but I can’t say they were amazing…now the ones in Japan…those were amazing.

We got one with strawberry & one with chocolate Nutella. They were good but for us dessert seekers it didn’t knock our socks off.

We then got on the Big Bus and rode to Place du Trocadero where Rick Steves’ says is the best view of the Eiffel Tower, and I’d have to agree!

We ate some yummy ice cream & popcorn here while we took in the view.

Then we took the Big Bus to the Eiffel Tower, keep an eye out for an upcoming post about it.

From the Eiffel Tower we walked through Champ de Mars and over to the Army Museum and Napoleon’s Tomb. It was about an 18 minute walk. It was included in the Paris Museum Pass, otherwise it would’ve been €9,50 per adult. When you enter you need to go to the counter to get the free tickets for the kids. You must show these tickets if you need to use the bathroom, I guess that prevents people from using it who don’t pay the admittance fee.

We had to walk by Les Invalides to get to the Army Museum (Musee de l’Armee).

Here we got to see Napoleon’s Tomb, housed in the fancy building.

Bit bit over the top huh?

Then we hit the Army Museum where Mr. B could have spent a lot of time. The kids and I moved along and found videos throughout to sit and watch while we waited for him to browse. We also used Rick Steves’ Army Museum & Napoleon’s Tomb Tour from his book. This helped us to know where we were at in the rooms in the museum, which was really helpful.

We then decided to head back and stop at Val d’Europe to get dinner and catch a bus back to the hotel from there. We went in the mall and had the best pasta ever from a shop in there. Then we hit the grocery store for a few staples and found they had a chocolate ‘shop’ in the middle where you could get chocolate in the shape of the Eiffel Tower & such AND it was much cheaper than the prices we’d seen in Metz, France! A large tower was €14. Not sure if all grocery stores in France have these but I’ll have to check the next time I see one. Sorry not pics, my brain was fried by this point!

At the bus stop it was here we experienced our first ‘sketchy’ people. The whole time in Paris I never felt uncomfortable or like we were being checked out, but we were here for sure! We’d bought a case of water and a boy came over and asked Mr. B for one, so Mr. B being nice gave him one. They we watched and the boy (probably 13 or 14) kept going up to everyone asking for cigarettes for his Dad, or whatever they had on them. His Dad & sister were with him. They kept walking past us and looking at our stuff, I was so ready to get outta there! Of course they got on the same bus as us but luckily got off before us. So sad that his Dad encouraged that type of behavior.

We all went to bed exhausted to recoup and get ready to head to Versailles, France the next morning.

Know Before You Go:

Where: Paris, France

From Spangdahlem: Driving is approx. 4 hours depending on where your staying.

From Disney (outside Paris) to Paris: Approx. 60 minute train ride each way plus time to get to and from train station. It was a 90 minute trip each way for us.

What: MANY things to see & do in the area such as the infamous Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and many, many more! Getting the Paris Museum Pass can save you lots of $.

Where to find info: Online, above links
Rick Steves’ Paris – this book was AMAZING for our trip
DK Eyewitness Travel France – has some info & color pictures
Panther Paws – a little info, wasn’t really helpful, but does have the Metro stops in it for the major sites.
AWAG Your Travel Guide to Europe – little info, wasn’t really helpful

Been to any of these places? What did you think?