France 2026

It’s a clear indicator of how the day went when I barely take any pictures. I just wasn’t motivated to capture the day. It was especially annoying since the ticket prices were so expensive. It’s a real gut punch to spend a lot of money on something and then have it be a complete let down. We left the grounds around 2pm. We could have stayed for another 3-4 hours but we just couldn’t take the heat. It was such a relief to get back to our air conditioned apartment. If you travel during the summer, definitely look for air conditioned accommodations. They’re not as common in Europe as they’re in the states. The day was a total bummer, but like I said, sometimes that kind of thing happens. You just have to call it a day and hope the next one will be better.

Our nightly ritual at this first apartment was to step out on our balcony and admire the Eiffel Tower. There’s something really magical about it when they light it up and make it sparkle. While we were there the golden lighting turned on at 9pm. The 20,000 lightbulbs then sparkle for five minutes at the start of every hour until midnight, while the beacon sweeps the skyline. During the summer, the sparkle continues until 1am. For best viewing, you need to wait until at least 10 pm when it is fully dark. 

The following day was another scorcher, so we sought refuge inside the cool Petit Palais. We chose to walk from our apartment, because we wanted to take in the sight of the Pont Alexandre III  Bridge. This is one of the most ornate bridges in Paris. The bridge is like a small museum itself, with all of it’s statues and decor. Built to cement diplomatic ties between France and Russia, the first stone was laid by Tsar Nicholas II in 1896. It was named after his father, Tsar Alexander III. Inaugurated at the 1900 World’s Fair, this Beaux-Arts masterpiece connects the Champs-Élysées and the Eiffel Tower districts. It is celebrated as a major engineering feat and a symbol of international friendship. 

Both of the Palais’ sit right across from each other on the opposite side of the bridge. We went with the Petit Palais because it was free and we weren’t really interested in the artist they were featuring at the Grand Palais. Both buildings are very beautiful, works of art both inside and out. When you walk into the Petit Palais, your eyes are immediately drawn to the incredible ceiling. The colors are just so lovely and the different paintings really catch the eye. The blast of cool air was a welcome treat after the sun blasted us on our walk there.

You could spend several hours admiring all the different works of art inside the Petit Palais. There are many interesting sculptures along with paintings and other pieces. My favorites were the incredible ceiling pieces and a more modern piece that featured a child on top of a massive stack of books. Vic really liked the lounging lady.

Compared to our previous trip to Paris, we took it pretty easy on this one. Our days weren’t jam packed with things to do and see. It was wonderful. If it’s your first visit, you’ll probably be on the go, there’s so much to see. If you’re able to return, hopefully, you can give yourself time to really enjoy the city and not have to rush from place to place. The following day was another hot one. We took the subway to other side of town to see Notre Dame.

The subway system in Paris is top-notch. It’s so easy to get around and it’s really inexpensive. We downloaded the Bonjour RATP app on our phones. You can buy your tickets right there and scan them when you get into the subway. I think this was the easiest transportation system we’ve experienced in all our travels. Highly recommend it. We also used Uber and Bolt during our stay, just be prepared for long travel times due to the ever growing traffic in the city. It can seriously take 30 minutes by car to travel just 4 miles. If you do use a rideshare service, give yourself lots of time to get to your destination.

We saw this lovely gentleman inside one of our subway cars. It was hard not to smile during his performance. He was just so happy and obviously, he really loves playing the accordion. 

Construction of Notre Dame began in 1163, and took nearly 200 years to complete. There is so much history tied to this cathedral, wars, revolutions, coronations, etc. A year after our previous visit to Paris in 2018, there was the devastating fire there. The iconic spire was completely destroyed. We were very interested to see the complex again now that it had been renovated. They did an incredible job, you’d never know the damage it suffered from the fire. This area is super busy with tourists. I highly suggest you get your tickets ahead of time if you want to go inside the cathedral, the first time-slot of the day is a good way to avoid the crowds.

We took a break and found one of our favorite gelato shops nearby. From there we continued on foot and spent the afternoon in Le Marais. We stumbled upon the National Archives where we saw Napoleons Will and Last Testament and Joan of Arc and Marie Antoinette’s final letters. The archives are housed in a beautiful building. They also had a super interesting installation on the history of Lafayette and his connection to the United States. I’m a total nerd, I find it fascinating to see the real handwriting of people from long ago.

The following morning Vic took the subway to a nearby car rental place to get our vehicle for the weekend. We made the 3+ hour drive from Paris to the Normandy Coast. Once we got out of Paris, it was a pretty leisurely drive. There are a lot of tolls but they’ve made it easy to pay them. They give you 72 hours to log on to their website and pay for them once you’ve driven through them.

On the way, we stopped in the most lovely village. Giverny was the home to Claude Monet for the last 43 years of his life. The gardens and all the gorgeous houses were so fun to look at. I could definitely spend a weekend there just soaking it all in. I wish I’d done more research on this area before the trip. I definitely would have bought tickets ahead of time to tour his home and gardens, they looked gorgeous from the outside. Alas, when we arrived at lunchtime, there was a massive line outside. We enjoyed a nice lunch at The Nympheas Restaurant before hitting the road and finishing the drive to the coast. 

We’ve talked about visiting the Normandy Coast several times over the years. For one reason or another, it just never worked out. You do have to make it a priority as it’s not really close to Paris or other popular places to visit, like the Côte d’Azur. It was important to both of us to make it happen this time. Once we knew we were going to Paris, we started researching our trip to the coast. There are tons of little towns and villages along the coast that you can stay in. The 50 mile stretch where the most historic acts took place in, take quite awhile to cover. There are mostly single lane, windy roads, so the travel is slow. We ended up staying in Saint-Aubin-Sur-Mer. We rented an apartment in a beautiful, old house that sat right on the water. Rustic would be a good way to describe the apartment. It was a bit of a step down after our lovely apartment in Paris, but the view of the English Channel from the giant bay window was a real welcomed sight every morning. 

We knew early on that we wanted to do a guided tour of the main war sights in the area. Our tour guide, Valentin, was really great. The tour lasted four hours and we got to see and learn a lot more about the history of D-day, the days that lead up to it and the aftermath. For me, as a military veteran, it felt especially important to visit Normandy. I almost felt as if it was my duty to visit the places that so many of my fellow service members had fought so bravely.

Standing on Omaha Beach was an emotional experience. It’s hard to believe that before the war, this spot was just a tiny seaside area where people liked to swim. Most Americans have or will watch movies and tv shows that show the gut-wrenching images of what happened on 6 June, 1944. Being there in person and thinking about all that bloodshed was a very humbling moment. It was hard to believe that so many men died right in that very spot. Hearing about all the things that didn’t go according to plan that day really made me wonder what the outcome might have been if things had gone differently. Seeing all the war memorials made me eternally grateful for the sacrifice so many people made then and continue to make every single day.

After Omaha Beach, we headed to The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. This peaceful resting place sits directly above Omaha Beach and comes down to the cliff’s edge. It was an extremely beautiful place where sadly more than 9,000+ American servicemen are laid to rest. The families of those who were killed had to make the painful decision of whether they should be buried in France or if they wanted their remains returned to the U.S. There is a time capsule there that was interred by General Eisenhower after the war. It won’t be opened until 2044, 100 years after D-Day. The rose garden is surrounded by a wall that displays all the servicemen still missing in action from WWII.

Our last stop of the tour was Pointe Du Hoc. Sadly, this is a much lesser known event from D-Day. Just south along the coast from Omaha Beach is a steep cliff face with a large rock jutting out from its edge. A group of 225 American Army Rangers were tasked with scaling these cliffs and defeating the Germans with the stronghold above. Only 90 of the Rangers survived but they did manage to capture and hold the position. They also found an unknown cache of weapons that the Germans had moved further inland from their original position. The grounds have been left untouched. You can still see hundreds of craters and fragments of bunkers from the multiple bombings that happened there. All the bunkers that remain are riddled with bullet holes and fragments that caught fire during the siege.

Looking back on things, I wish we would have had another full day in this area. There are so many other war sights to visit and we would have really enjoyed driving along the coast through all the little seaside villages. I am very grateful we finally made it there and saw those places that are so historic.

Our tour started and ended in the small town of Bayeux. We took a stroll through the old medieval center. It is called the miracle city because miraculously it wasn’t damaged before, during or after D-Day. It has a lovely cathedral and a quaint feeling to it. We enjoyed a delicious meal at the restaurant Bonbonne. I even loved how their menu looked. The Normandy Region is known for their apples, so I had to give Pommeau a try (mix of apple juice and Calvados). It was good but really strong. We enjoyed a set menu of local specialties. 

We had one more place to visit on the coast before we headed back to Paris, Mont Saint-Michel. If you’ve ever seen multiple images of France, I guarantee you’ve seen photos of Mont Saint-Michel. It is an iconic location that can be seen from numerous vantage points. It was about an hour and a half drive down the southern coast from Normandy. What a magical sort of island city. At high tide the entire rock and the city that’s built on top of it appear to be floating. Its famous for its breathtaking medieval Benedictine abbey perched dramatically at the peak.  It was low tide and very chilly when we arrived. Thankfully the sun came out and we had a wonderful day. 

This location can look dramatically different depending on the time of year and time of day that you visit. When it’s high tide, Mont Saint-Michel looks like an island sitting remotely in a small bay. The tide was slowly coming in when we were ready to leave, so we didn’t get to see the island effect. Check the tide times before your visit, so you can plan accordingly. In order to get to Mont Saint-Michel, you have to park offsite and either take the free shuttle bus or walk. If you plan to walk, give yourself 35-45 minutes to get there. It’s a lovely walk but it does take a while. The shuttle runs really frequently, so don’t worry about having to wait a long time for it. You do have to pay for parking.

Upon our arrival, Vic wanted to walk completely around the outside of the walled city. While he did that, I checked out the rock walls and some of the tidal pools. You can only enter the city through the main gate. Once we passed through the gate, we made a beeline for a crepe restaurant that is very popular with the locals. We wanted to check it out because they use buckwheat flour, so all their crepes are gluten-free. They were really delicious and we gorged ourselves on a savory and sweet crepe before we started exploring.

The most popular thing to do on Mont Saint-Michel, is climb to the very top and going through the abbey. You do have to purchase a ticket for this. We weren’t sure whether or not we wanted to do this, so we waited and got a ticket once we arrived. We had no problem getting in. Had we waited until 2 or 3 in the afternoon, it might have been more difficult. It was definitely getting more packed late in the afternoon as we  prepared to leave. I would highly recommend either coming first thing in the morning or come in the early evening. It would be fun to spend the night on the island. Once it gets dark, the place really clears out. I’m glad we went through the abbey. It was really interesting and the views from up top were just beautiful.

When you get to the top, it definitely has a Hogwarts sort of vibe, which I loved. The towers and turrets made it feel a lot like a castle. You could see for miles and miles. Definitely do some exploring while you are there. Venture off the busy thoroughfares and you’ll find some cool, quiet corners. We found this small cemetery that was really beautiful and we had it all to ourselves. There are only 25-30 permanent residents on Mont Saint-Michel, mostly comprised of nuns and priests, along with some essential personnel and a few families. I would give yourself at least half a day to wander and take it all in, this isn’t a place you want to rush. 

The following day we packed up and headed back to Paris. Thankfully we had a reprieve from the heat wave upon our return. We had a few activities planned, but still kept it pretty chill. A picture of this amazing building caught Vic’s attention first and then he looked into what it was. We attended an evening concert here, The Paris Philharmonic. What an incredible looking building and such a powerful performance of music by Ludwig van Beethoven. Video/photos during the performance were not permitted, which was a bummer. The pianist received four encore calls from the audience. He was so talented.

Our second apartment in Paris was on the opposite side of the river. We had a lovely view from our first apartment, but this one was even more incredible. The view literally stopped us in our tracks when we entered the apartment for the first time. The bedroom was at the front and every morning I’d raise the blinds and just enjoy the incredible view. I really don’t think that we could have asked for a better skyline to look at morning, noon and night. It was especially magnificent at night when it started sparkling. We became a little obsessed with taking pictures of it during our stay. We saw it all different weather which was interesting.

On our second day back in Paris, we visited the Musée d’Orsay. What an incredible art experience. Even the restaurants inside are incredibly beautiful with frescoes lining the ceilings. The food was amazing and reasonably priced too. We ate lunch before we looked at all the exhibits. Vic loved the praline cream puff.

I think my very favorite piece was Dante et Virgile (above). It’s a very dark and powerful painting. The way he was able to capture all the tiny details was incredible. You can easily spend several hours wandering through this museum. I love art that makes you stop and really look at it. For me, a good piece of art makes you think, makes you wonder. Sometimes it will make you smile, sometimes it will make you sad, but above all it makes you feel. 

A big part of enjoying Paris for me is the food. I am especially fond of all the incredible pastries and baked goods. I call Paris Pastry Paradise. We visited Michalak Patisserie on the interior side of the Seine. Everything looked so beautiful, delicious and colorful. It was hard narrowing it down to just a few choices. I honestly would have enjoyed trying every single item they had on display. It was like being in a jewelry store.

Once we arrived in Paris we started debating on whether or not to try and book a dinner up in the Eiffel Tower. On our previous visit, we enjoyed a wonderful meal at the two Michelin Star restaurant Le Jules Verne. It was truly a meal to remember. Upon looking at what they had to offer, we saw they have a new restaurant called Madame Brasserie. It’s not as expensive as the other one and they had a few dinner reservations available. We decided to give it a try. Unfortunately it was disappointing. The process of just getting up to the restaurant was way more complicated than it should be. There’s a sign outside the perimeter of the tower which makes you think you should wait there. Fortunately, we decided to just go through the security check point because no one came to get all the people standing out there. Once through security you had to go wait in another line to check in and then you had to be escorted to another line to wait for the elevator to take you up. It was just ridiculous.

The worst part was how crowded the restaurant was. Obviously, us included, people really want the experience of sitting down and enjoying a meal inside the tower. They cram as many people as they can inside. Unless you’re sitting up against the window, you have to look through tables full of people to see anything outside. Thankfully the food was quite good. I would have been beyond pissed if the food sucked. It was still a very expensive dinner, and not worth it. Please, please, please take my advice if you’re considering having a meal there, save up some extra money and eat at Le Jules Verne. Overall, the experience is 100% worth it and so much better than the Brasserie. They also have lunch available which is considerably less expensive than dinner.

I’m a real sucker for a good Pavlova. This one was delicious. As always, we enjoyed the views from below and up top. The night we went was quite windy, so it got very chilly as soon as the sun started to go down. I had planned on wearing a dress that evening but thankfully I went with pants. It would have been freezing up there.

On our last day in Paris we were on the hunt for some exquisite chocolate. Vic found this chocolate shop online and we hopped on the subway to check it out. The premise was very Willy Wonka looking, which I totally loved. The chocolates were so pretty that they looked fake. I selected a box of the pralines and we went on our way. On the way back to the subway we found a Portuguese Cafe that sold our favorite custard tarts, so of course we had to pick up a couple of those too.

From there we headed to the Montmarte area of town. They should rename this area to Steps. Everywhere you go there are staircases. I think we climbed 10,000 steps that day. It’s a charming area but super, super busy. The area around The Sacré-Cœur is downright crowded with tourists. We circumvented this problem by going around to the backside of the structure and finding a beautiful park to sit in. I highly recommend visiting this basilica, but do it early in the morning. We climbed the steps first thing in the morning on our previous visit and we had the place to our selves. It’s absolutely beautiful, but prepare yourself for a climb.

Of course, no trip write-up would be complete without a section about the food. You know I love food, so Paris holds a very special place in my heart. When I went to Culinary School, French Cuisine was always at the forefront of everything we learned and there’s a reason for it. The French have a way of taking some very simple ingredients and by using technique, transform them into some absolutely delicious dishes. French food is not for the faint of heart. Cheese, butter and heavy cream are at the forefront of many dishes, not to mention wheat. My husband tries his best to eat gluten and dairy free, but that went out the window during this trip.

It is interesting to note that European wheat is generally better tolerated than the wheat we eat in the U.S. Vic ate a lot of bread and pastries during this trip and faired really well. We went out of our way one day to visit a so called gluten & dairy free pastry shop in Montmarte, Le Manufacturer du sans gluten (horrible name for a shop),  and it was a complete bust. Once we got there, we learned they only had one item that was truly GF & DF, everything else in the shop was made with butter. To add insult to injury, the stuff we bought wasn’t very good, very heavy and doughy. As a baker of GF & DF, I was so disappointed.  

Now back to the good stuff. The French know how to make wonderful pomme puree (mashed potatoes-hello butter and heavy cream). You MUST eat freshly baked baguettes with a good schmear of salted butter when in France. They treat bread almost the same as wine. Make sure you always order a baguette tradition (legally it can only contain four ingredients) and look for an Artisan Boulanger, which will guarantee that the bread is made on site. We absolutely adored the baguettes we got from The French Bastards. They have ten locations around Paris. I would go out of my way to go there, and definitely go when they first open if you can. You’ll get the baguette while its fresh & still warm.

There are a handful of foods & dishes that I have to eat while I am in Paris:  Croque Monsieur, Quiche Lorraine, croissants/pain au chocolat and baguettes. A Croque Monsieur is like the yummiest ham & cheese sandwich you’ll ever have. People have their own takes on it in France, but I’ve had delicious variations all over. So long as it has a broiled top layer of béchamel sauce, I’m usually a happy camper. Quiche Lorraine is a simple bacon and cheese concoction that always satisfies. A fresh croissant is simply one of the best foods in the world when done correctly. It should literally explode when you crack into it. Your table/lap should be covered in deliciously crunchy shards of laminated dough. If you are a wine drinker, you’ll be very happy in Paris. You can get so many lovely glasses of wine for a reasonable price. It’s pretty typical to pay $15-25 dollars in the U.S. for a nice glass of wine. I had lots of roses and whites for about half that price in Paris and Normandy.

This trip was truly amazing. Our love of France continues to grow. We are planning on heading back to the French Riviera next May. There are so many beautiful places to visit and don’t listen to the rumors about French people being rude. I find the residents there to be like every where else in the world, people are mostly nice and willing to help you if needed. Maybe in a few years we’ll return to Paris and perhaps venture out into a region we’ve never been to. I would love to visit the Grand Est and see Alsace and Champagne. I’d also like to visit Bordeaux, the French Alps and the Loire Valley with its fairytale chateaus. So many wonderful places to explore. Once you visit France, there will always be a part of you that wants to go back.