Me and my husband were in Paris for the weekend this April. My goal was to shoot cherry blossom trees with the beauty of Paris but I was one week late 🥲 I planned the date 12-14 April according to the blooming time of 2023, but of course I couldn’t know that the spring would come early this year. The trees were in bloom already the week before, so I missed it. But no problem, cause the beauty of Paris was still there😍 also I got to see the magnificent Judas Trees in Tuileries Garden, more to that later in this post.

When to go to Paris?

Anytime but summer. Cause I cannot imagine how full the city would be with tourists. Even in April it was very crowded but still manageable. Also I heard if it’s rainy the museums would be busier than normal, but maybe you are not in to museums like I am and that’s no problem. Cause I saw some photos of Paris in rainy days and it seemed amazing. Moody but gorgeous. So long story short spring and autumn are the perfect times to visit the city. To be exact we prefer first half of April (if possible not during Easter) and last weeks of September.

Where to stay in Paris?

The blogs and YouTube videos out there are saying otherwise, but we stayed in Champs Élysées. Although the area of Champs Élysées is expensive, the hotel itself was the best option I could find. I know Le Marais is a really nice option to feel the vibe of the city but it was super expensive. And also if you are a first timer like we were, you don’t need to stay in Le Marais cause you would always be on the move anyways. So it is important to choose somewhere close to the metro and also that it is clean. That being said our hotel was O.lysée Hotel. It was in the middle of the Champs Élysées and on the line 1, which covers every attraction point that we wanted to see in this 3-Day trip.

Transportation from Airport to Paris City Center

There are two airports in Paris which is CDG in North of Paris and Orly in south of Paris. You can easily arrive to the city from these airports, you don’t need to take a taxi if you are two people as we are. If you are 3-4 people though it can make sense to take a taxi. We arrived in Paris CDG and as we entered the airport we just followed the signs of “RER” which brings you to the train station to go to the city. You can purchase your tickets before you go downstairs to the platform. It costs 11,8 € per person and brings you to your final destination in Paris city center. Don’t throw away your ticket, so that you can use it with the metro as well. There are trains to the city every 10 minutes.

For Orly airport, there is a slight difference than CDG airport, which is the Orlyval tram, that brings you to the RER station Antony. Also this ticket costs a bit more than CDG, 14,5 € pro person.

First Day

We arrived to Paris city around 1 pm and went directly to our hotel to drop our bags, our room was not ready so we left our luggage and went out for a bite around Champs Élysées. We discovered this cute little coffee shop Coutume Mathis in the parallel street of Champs Élysées. It is actually a café of Hotel Mathis, but it has its own space so you don’t really understand that it is a part of the hotel. I highly recommend scrambled eggs with roasted potatoes and filter coffee. Both of them were amazing. After that we walked the whole the Champs Élysées till Arc de Triomphe. It was indeed crowded, but still I managed to take a photo without people and cars. It’s a matter of patience. But once you get at the edge of sidewalk and the cars are stopped you got like 3 seconds to shoot your photo without cars.

After that it was already 3 pm (check in time) and we get back to hotel to freshen up. Around 5 o’clock we were outside again and took the train to Notre Dame.

Notre Dame Area

As you probably know, Paris had an unfortunate event in 2019, the roof of the Notre Dame Cathedral had a fire incident and since then it is under construction. The reopening is planned in December 2024, just before Christmas. So till then, when you visit Paris you will not be able to enter Notre Dame Cathedral, but still it is worth a visit to see the magnificent building. Also the area of Notre Dame is one of the most beautiful and lively places of Paris.

The best place to photograph the cathedral is on the bridge Petit Pont-Cardinal Lustiger, also you can hide the cranes from that angle. The best time to photograph the cathedral is during golden hour or two hours before golden hour, so that you can have a nice soft light on the cathedral.

After you cross the bridge you are right next to the two of Paris’ most photographed places.

As of photography tricks; this corner is also mostly crowded, but if you be patient, you can have a shot of the café with a few people (or none!) in front of it.

The best time to shoot would be also in the morning, since the cafe faces north-east and less people of course. Also in the late afternoon it is nice to play with a background light beams of the sun.

During golden hour it is time to go back to the other side of the river.

We found this bakery shop Merci Jérôme Pont-Neuf, located at the upper side of the road and bought sandwiches and bowls for dinner.  Also 2 minutes away from this bakery there is small shop where you can find variety of beers and other drinks. Once you have them all you are good to go under the bridge again to have dinner with the Seine River.

There is also a bar in this road called Maison Maison, where you can either sit at the tables or just buy a drink from the bar and hang out next to the river.

After sun down, it is time for the next stop.

To see the Eiffel Tower by night ✨

The best place for it is Place du Trocadéro. It is a square where you can see the tower directly across from it.

We took the bus to go there, with the idea to see the city by night. But boy we were wrong 😅 the bus was stuffed and also super slow. So take the metro to go to the Place du Trocadéro.
The Eiffel Tower turns on its lights after sun down and every hour for five minutes there is a light show, that it's worth to see. Don’t miss that :)
As of photography tip, it is best to photograph the tower with the lowest f-stop, as it’s dark everywhere but the tower. You get the most of the light and sharpness, also less noise.

Also with the phone camera you can take the picture by sliding down the exposure. So that the tower is the brightest object in the photo.

Second Day - Montmartre

The day starts early with a coffee and a croissant on the Champs Élysées, after that it’s time to go to Montmartre which is located in the north of Paris. It is one of the most iconic neighbourhoods in Paris and since it’s always crowded, we went there early in the morning. Montmartre is located on a hill and to climb up, there are a lot of stairs. We wanted to save our energy for the day, so after metro to Anvers we took the Finiculaire Gare Basse to go up. It costs like the metro ticket 2,15 €.

Before we take the finiculaire we stopped and admired the beauty of Basilika Sacré-Cœur (the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris). For my luck there was a blossoming tree (not sure but probably a Judas Tree) and I was able to frame the Basilika with this tree. Framing your subjects is always a good idea, since you can create a depth :)

Once we were up, we were at the feet of Basilika Sacré-Cœur. It is the highest point of the city and you can see spectacular view of Paris from above 🤩

After that we started to walk towards Place du Tertre, which is a square full of cafes and restaurants, as well as painters. If you turn around on the way you will see the Basilika looking at you from the corner. I recommend to turn around once in a while as you explore, you never know what’s behind you 😍

Another duo of most photographed places in Paris are also here, which are Le Consulat and La Maison Rose. I had no luck to take photos of them, it was already very crowded (it was 10 am). Let me know if you get a shot! :)

At the end of Rue de l’Abreuvoir when you turn left you will see the cute little cafe Les 5 Marches, where local people hang out and is hidden from the crowds. The coffee is good, the breakfast is tasty, I can totally recommend :)

After fuelled up, we started go down the hill towards Moulin Rouge. Although the movie is one of my favourite movies. The building itself was not as I expected.

Five minutes away from Moulin Rouge is the Pigalle Basketball Court.

It is a small colourful court between two buildings. Every couple of years it has a new colour scheme. Right now it has purple-blue hues and yes you can play basketball there :)

In this area there is the beloved KB CaféShop, if you still need your caffeine or a homemade lemonade :) It is located on the corner of a lively street Avenue Trudaine where an antique bazaar was set up along the street on that Saturday.

Then it was time for lunch and a pit stop at the hotel to get a nap and freshen up. When we discover a city we always get back to the hotel in the afternoon, otherwise our energy couldn’t renewed and we don’t understand what we are seeing anymore :) I think it is important not to beat yourself up to see everything in a city, but enjoy what you can see with your time and energy.

La Marais

In the late afternoon we headed to La Marais, which is one of the liveliest areas in Paris. It is very crowded on weekends though, so if you can, go there on weekdays. There you can find lots of restaurants, bars and unique shops. Our happiest moment there was, when we found the Pastel de Nata shop Manteigaria (Pastel de Nata is a special egg custard tart pastry of Lisbon/Portugal). Without a second thought we got in and ordered 4 Pastel de Nata and two espressos, cause duh (!) one pastry is never enough! They were as tasty as I remembered from Lisbon. I was missing Portugal so much lately and finding something special from Portugal in Paris made me so happy!

For sunset we wanted to do something touristy and we went to Champ de Mars to have a drink with the Iron Lady (Eiffel Tower). We bought our champagne, fruits and cheese, we brought even a small picnic blanket to sit on the grass. But the grass area was closed :( So we crossed to the other side of the river and walked towards the bridge Port des Invalides. Before you arrive the bridge there are banks next to the river. We sat there and had our champagne with the view of Eiffel Tower. We made our way on the bridge 10 minutes before 9 pm, since we wanted to see the light show of the tower at 9 pm.

To our luck there was a spectacular sunset✨

After sundown the light show started and lasted for 5 minutes. When it was over the sunset colours started to fade as well, the wind picked up, and the last drops of champagne were drunk. It was time to go back to the hotel.

Third Day

We spent our last day in Paris slow, mostly in the Parks of Paris. We already walked 50 k steps the last two days, and our plane was late in the evening, so we didn’t want to beat ourselves up. But we ended up walking almost 20 k steps anyway😅 In Paris there is no “less” walking.

Jardin du Palais Royal

First destination is Jardin du Palais Royal. It is a park in front of Palais Royal, with a fountain in the middle, surrounded by flower beds and French style trees. It is a nice place to sit back on the iconic green chairs and watch people being people.

It is also the meeting place of Emily (in Paris) and Mindy, if you watch the show! :)

Galerie Vivienne

Second destination is Galerie Vivienne, 5 minutes away from Jardin du Palais Royal. It is a covered passage built in 1823 with a free entrance. Although the shops were closed, it was still worth a visit. Inside there are restaurants, old bookshops and boutiques.

Tuileries Garden

After that we walked towards Tuileries Garden, it is a gorgeous public royal garden which was first opened to the public in 1667. Before get in to the park, you can grab a coffee from Café Kitsuné nearby the entrance. Then get in the park, grab a chair or two and enjoy. If you go there like we did in the middle of April, you will see the magnificent Judas Trees with their pink flowers (second photo in the gallery below). If you go to Paris little earlier in spring, make sure you don’t miss the magnolia trees there as well.

For our last stop in Paris, we headed to Rue de l’Université, which on the crossroads with Avenue de la Bourdonnais gives a great view of the Eiffel Tower. Photo tip: It is best to go there with the morning sun, that hits to the tower, if you go in the afternoon the sun will be behind the tower, like in the photo below.

Some additional points

• Wear comfortable shoes! With a city this beautiful, you will walk A LOT.

• Before we went we heard that Paris can be a bit dangerous because of pick pockets, but we didn’t encounter anything, still it’s better be careful than get robbed right? :)

That’s why I recommend to keep your daily bag small and if possible in front of you, especially in the metro. That’s why I went there with my small objective 50 mm, so that I could pack my camera in my small cross shoulder bag.

• Paris is expensive, especially with food! Don’t say that I didn’t tell you! 🥲

That’s it folks! That was our 3 day trip to Paris in April 2024. Of course it was short for Paris, we couldn’t see everything and skipped the museums, but it made us happy and that was the point :) We will go back again for sure!

How is your experience in Paris? What should we see when we go back?

Lots of love ♥︎