What to see in Paris in just ONE DAY

Wondering what to see in Paris in one day? Our second day in Paris was, to me, an almost-perfect example of what I’d suggest someone do if they only had one day in the City of Light. As a reminder, my friend Shaina and I spent about three days in Paris together at the end of March in what was my first trip without my kids since they were born. To read about our full itinerary, click here.

Given that Shaina arrived mid-day Thursday, left early Sunday and spent a good chunk of Saturday one our ill-fated Versailles trip, we really only had one full day exclusively in Paris. I’d say it is safe to say we wrung every single bit of Paris out of that day that we could, leaving our apartment by 9 and returning well after 11 p.m. If you are wondering what to see in Paris in one day — well, this is pretty much what I’d suggest!

What to see in Paris in one day (in a modest 11 stops)

Stop 1: Musee de l’Orangerie

I’m not a huge art person generally, but I believe I can say that the Musee de L’Orangerie is my favorite art museum not only in Paris, but in the world. (Though the Musee d’Orsay is a very, very close second). We’d meant to go to Orangerie on our first day in Paris, but it ended up being closed as a result of the transportation strikes. On Friday, then, it was our very first stop.

Monet’s eight enormous water lily paintings were as achingly beautiful as I remembered from 11 months before, and it was nice to have the chance to appreciate them — and the other works on display — without interruption. I won’t wax poetic too much about this place since I already did that in this post, but suffice it to say that we both loved it. If you are wondering what to see in Paris in one day, Musee de L’Orangerie is a good choice because it has incredible works of art but is also fairly small — easy to take in on a quick trip.

If seeing the Mona Lisa is on your bucket list and you opt for a visit to the Louvre instead, I’d suggest you check out fellow blogger Shivani’s post on interesting facts about the Louvre first.

Stop 2: Musee Rodin

Despite being on my fifth visit to Paris, I’d never been to the Musee Rodin. I know, I know. Anyway, as you could have probably guessed from the name, the museum is dedicated to the works of French sculptor Auguste Rodin. The museum is inside Rodin’s old home and the adjacent Hotel Biron, which he used as a workshop. The real show-stopper, however, was gardens and that’s where we focused most of our time.

While I enjoyed the Musee Rodin’s gardens immensely, we ended up bailing on the inside of the museum after a little while because we (or at least I?) turned out to be less interested in sculpture than I could be. Consequently, this is the only stop of the day that I’d say you could easily cut out if you were looking to spend a little more time doing other things. Though if you are traveling with children and have time, I could see it as being a good stop just because the kids would have the freedom to run around in the gardens a bit — always a positive.

Stop 3: Les Invalides

Stopping by Napoleon’s Tomb actually wasn’t on our radar for this trip because we just didn’t think we had time. However, considering we were already right next to it at the Musee Rodin, we opted to do a quick pop-in to see Napoleon’s Tomb. This was made possible by having the Paris Museum Pass; without it, we’d probably have hesitated to spend the money.

We did not go into the War Museum at Les Invalides, but I highly recommend it if you have time (I wrote about it here). Even my kids thought it was awesome, and Owen even threw a tantrum on the train to Tours when we found out we wouldn’t be going back there the next day. It comes down to what you are more interested in — art vs. history — but if you don’t feel like visiting the Musee Rodin, you could replace it with a visit here.

Stop 4: Lunch at Le Bosquet

Shaina’s parents are Paris enthusiasts, and before our trip gave Shaina a list of places they suggested we eat. Not a single one of them disappointed! For lunch we opted to try a restaurant from their list, Le Bosquet, a less than 15-minute walk from Les Invalides.

Like most of the food we ate in France, it was spectacular! I had an amazing filled pasta with an herb sauce and topped with bacon, while Shaina had the best French onion soup I’ve ever tasted. And, of course, wine.

Also had a fun incident while there … take a look at this picture below of this weird box in the middle of the restaurant. Take a moment to decide what you think it is.

Broom closet? Garbage receptacle? Sorry, if you answered anything other than “vanishing cabinet” you’d be wrong.

We were sitting right near this thing, not giving it much thought at all. Until all of the sudden a waiter came over and climbed into what, we’d assumed, was a garbage can. We never saw him climb out again either. After some wine we got around to asking our waiter what the hell was up with the guy climbing into the garbage, but he seemed to find our interest … odd? Go figure. Anyway, apparently there are stairs in there and it leads to a changing room.

Seriously though, food was excellent. Le Bosquet: eat here.

Stop 5: The Eiffel Tower

“Oh my God, is it that obvious?” a teenage girl, standing at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, said to Shaina and I.

The question had been whether she was from Indiana, and apparently the high schooler was horrified by the idea that we might be able to — I don’t know? Smell the farm on her? Something?

We gently reminded her that she was wearing an Indiana hoodie.

This particular story has almost nothing to do with the Eiffel Tower except as a backdrop, but for some reason it was the funniest damn thing in the world at the time.

Anyway, naturally if you only have one day in Paris you need to go see the Eiffel Tower. It’s practically mandatory. We opted to see it from the ground rather than waiting in line and shelling out a bunch of money to go on up, and I don’t think we were missing anything too much by doing that.  I do suggest, however, that if you do with children you take some time to go up. My two are still telling random people about “that time we were on the Eiffel Tower’s HEAD” and that was almost a year ago now.

If at all possible, I’d also suggest going to see the Eiffel Tower at night. It is nice enough in the day, but at night it is magnificent. At the top of every hour, it also sparkles.

Stop 6: Sainte-Chapelle (sort of)

Well, Saint Chapelle is sort of “the one that got away” for this trip. I blame Google.

After the Eiffel Tower, we’d opted to take a long walk to Sainte Chapelle so that we could take in the city as we walked. We even stopped for coffee, thinking we had time. Unfortunately, once we arrived we found that the place actually closed an hour earlier than we’d thought. Sob! Here’s a post about Sainte-Chapelle from our last visit, however.

That said, if you are planning out what to see in Paris in one day, please try not to miss Sainte-Chapelle! It is incredible, but for some reason I feel like people (at least those in my life) tend to skip it. Don’t do that! Also … maybe check the hours on the official website. Face palm.

Stop 7: Notre Dame

Perhaps the second-most recognizable building in Paris is Notre Dame, which was completed in 1345 after almost 200 years of work. I guess they figured if they were going to do the thing, they might as well put the time in to do it right? Anyway, it is gorgeous.

From Sainte Chapelle, Notre Dame is only an 8-minute walk (they are both on the Ile de la Cite) so seeing both is definitely both doable and a good idea if you are wondering what to see in Paris in one day!

Stop 8: Walk around Ile Saint Louis and ate Berthillon Glacier

Within Paris, there are two natural islands in the middle of the Seine. You’ll find Saint Chapelle and Notre Dame on the Ile de la Cite, but right next to it you’ll find Ile Saint-Louis. This one is worth a visit too for shopping, eating and a quintessential Paris feel.

The end goal of the visit to Ile Saint Louis was a visit to the famed Berthillon Glacier for ice cream! As we could have expected, it was spectacular. If you are in the area, it is definitely worth a stop.

Stop 9: Visit Pierre Marcolini on Rue Saint-Honore

So yeah, this was a somewhat food-oriented day. And it was FANTASTIC! Pierre Marcolini was another “one that got away” for Chris and I, but on our trip to Belgium in February. We’d actually almost ordered some online, but ended up being unable to stomach the shipping costs. So when Shaina mentioned that her parents had suggested going here, I jumped at the chance! I had no idea they ever had Pierre Marcolini shops outside of Brussels, so naturally I celebrated by buying practically all the chocolate they had. NOM. What to see in Paris with one day.

Visiting the shop also gave us a chance to stroll down Rue Saint Honore, which was a cool street with a top of upscale shopping. Too rich for our budget, but fun to look!

Stop 10: Seine Cruise

River cruises on the Seine are a popular way of seeing the city, but it was a first for me. We opted for the cruise both so that we could see more the city at night (gorgeous) and because after a long day of walking, we figured we would be ready to sit for a bit. We were correct about that.

There are plenty of river cruise options at very levels of fanciness, including some dinner cruises. We opted to take a low-key and affordable ride with Bateaux Mouches. Since it was shoulder season and pretty chilly, we were able to pop right onto a boat and had probably less than two dozen companions with us. The views were spectacular, though hard to capture in the dark from a moving boat. It was quite cold so I stayed inside near the heater for the most part, but I think the summer it would have been nice to be in the open air.

Stop 11: Dinner at Le Cambodge

Oh, Cambodge. Another meal that, weeks later, Shaina and I are both still dreaming about.

We picked this Cambodian restaurant on a whim, based on good reviews online and its proximity to Gare du Nord (about 15 minutes, or 6 minute from Gare de L’est). It ended up being one of the best meals we ate in France! Tragically, I don’t seem to have any photos of this. Probably because we were too busy stuffing our faces. Which is harder to do when you’ve never used chopsticks before (that’s me), but I managed.

We both ordered the restaurant’s specialty, bobun, and I’d suggest you do the same. It was basically a bowl of noodles, salad, beef with the most incredible seasoning, vegetables and a special sauce. They also cut up egg rolls and throw them in there as well and oh man, my mouth is watering even as I write this.

Neither Shaina nor I had ever heard of “bobun,” but according to Shaina’s research it seems to be something that was started by Cambodian restaurants specifically in Paris rather than something traditionally Cambodian. Either way, it was great.

Note: If you really only have ONE DAY in France, you might prefer a specifically French meal (though Cambodge is, of course, French — I guess I just meant more what you’d picture as a traditional French meal). If so, I’d suggest checking out Chez Casimir, which I talked about in this post.

Since I did these posts rather out of order, this concludes my wrap-up of my trip to Paris with Shaina! (You can see my other posts about this here: Day 1, Day 3, 3-day itinerary, and Is the Paris Museum Pass worth it?).  To that end, I want to say once again how I lucky I feel to have had this experience with one of my favorite people. Who also happens to be an ideal travel companion, by the way! Never would I have imagined when I first met Shaina in birth class six years ago, both massively pregnant, that we’d end up running around Paris together down the road. I’m also so grateful to my husband, who not only supported me in wanting to do this, but encouraged it. You’re the best, honey!