Perfectly Parisian: Sided With Mont Saint-Michel, D-Day & Versailles Tours

A celebration trip. A Paris do-over. However else it’s referred to, this trip was definitely  perfectly Parisian and more.  It all started in January when our daughter, Amanda, reiterated that one thing on her ‘37 Things for 37 List’ was to wake up in Paris on her birthday. It would be her 38th and wrap up the ‘37’ list quite nicely! She reminded me that I needed a Paris do-over anyway, after a disappointing ending to mine and Bud’s 1st short trip. She was right and there was so much we didn’t have time for on that one. After some discussion, and knowing that mine and Bud’s anniversary, my birthday and Father’s Day were all within her birthday week too, we decided to go celebrate all of the things! 

The more I researched, the more excited I got and the longer my Paris to do list became! It also worked out for Amanda’s friend, Karen, to fly over and spend most of that week in Paris with us, as she was already over the pond visiting Scotland and England. 

Day 1

We all arrived the same day, met at our hotel (we took the train from CDG Airport & Karen had a car scheduled-both worked well), dropped our bags and started our adventure. I think it’s always best to stay up that 1st day and get on the local schedule. It was easy to stay awake with rich hot chocolate from Carette, beautiful Eiffel Tower views at Trocadero Square (and then almost everywhere else), and all of the excitement of being in Paris. We walked around the area, finding Port Debilly, and then Bud and I split off from the girls to explore more, while they had a drink soaking in the city. 

Bud and I walked over the Seine on the Passerelle Debilly, by a cool French flag fence, to Rue de l’Université for another popular Eiffel Tower view. Enjoying the neighborhood sites, we continued a few more blocks to the Endless Hallway Mural. I love  the adjacent building here. 

Time to take the metro to Montmartre and visit Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. The views were spectacular here. Even considering all of the steps up the hill, I never could’ve imagined that vast and unobstructed cityscape of Paris that we saw. I’ve also never seen that many love locks in one place before.  The neighborhood of Montmartre is a treat itself with all of the shops, restaurants  and the Le Passe-Muraille we found. I mean how often do you see people passing through walls?  

Going down from Sacré-Coeur a different way, we walked alongside the funicular.  We definitely rode that up on our 2nd trip to Montmartre a few days later! Metro passes work for it too, so it’s the way to go!

We had bought timed tickets for Arc de Triomphe before arriving in Paris, so we took the Metro to make sure we made it there in time. We found the  tunnel under the street so we could go up in the arch and experience another fabulous view of Paris from up on top. We stayed for sunset which was about 10 pm! That was our last stop before heading back to the hotel. A great 1st day!

Day 2 

Was a full day starting with a nice breakfast at our hotel. Afterwards, we took a short walk to the neighborhood metro to go meet up for our Giverny tour. A bus took us all to Giverny with our guide giving us lots of info and history on the way. We wandered around Claude Monet’s inspiring gardens and lily ponds, toured his house and grabbed sandwiches to eat on the return bus ride. We all enjoyed this tour and highly recommend scheduling time for Giverny when you visit Paris. 

We had tickets for Musée Rodin that afternoon where we toured the museum inside and the outdoor garden. We definitely wanted to see The Thinker, which we did, but he was getting all cleaned up for the Olympic crowds arriving in a few weeks. Notably, we also saw the Gates of Hell and The Three Shades in the beautiful garden. 

We were very close to Invalides and even tho we didn’t go into the army museum, we walked up to the building to take in that gorgeous ornate dome.

Speaking of ornate, we walked over the Seine on the Pont Alexandre III Bridge admiring the statues and lampposts. This took us by the Petit Palais with its richly sculptured and golden gated entrance. Paris is beautiful everywhere you look. 

For dinner, and to celebrate big on Amanda’s actual birthday, we took a dinner cruise on the Seine. Taking in all the sites from the water while we ate an incredible meal was one of the highlights of our trip. They even all sang Happy Birthday to her! 

That was the end of our very full 2nd day (1st full day).  We took an Uber back to the hotel to get rested up for the next packed day. 

Day 3 

Started with the breakfast spread at our hotel again, in the bright and cheery dining room. Afterwards, we took the metro from near our hotel to our meeting point for our Versailles bike tour. We walked to the train station with the group, past Notre Dame Cathedral. Amazing. They had just unveiled part of the restoration from the April 2019 fire. They were working hard on everything in Paris for the upcoming July Olympics, although the complete restoration and reopening of the cathedral wouldn’t happen for months. 

We arrived by train and walked to where we would pick up our bikes, bike to the market for lunch items and then on to Versailles. This was quite the challenge maneuvering thru town, the market on our own and then the trek to Versailles. Once at the palace and grand gardens, we walked some and biked some. The garden views (especially that 1st magical reveal-thanks to our guide) were extraordinary and I highly recommend visiting here. We had an unforgettable picnic by the Grand Canal and toured lots of the gardens. 

Before entering the chateau, we said goodbye to our tour group and headed to Sainte-Chapelle. I had also pre purchased tickets for this to see the beautiful stained glass. It did not disappoint. The street level was incredible as we walked in, but when we went upstairs, we were seriously impressed. We were surrounded by the ornate interior bejeweled with more gorgeous stained glass than I could’ve ever imagined in one place. It was stunning. A must see. 

Next on our list was Shakespeare & Co, historical book store, and Square Renè Viviani across the street, a small park where the oldest tree in Paris is located. By now it was time for dinner. We chose a neighborhood restaurant, Le Petit Pont, where the steak and Fritz come out blazing. From here we took the metro back to the hotel for the nite. 

Day 4

Bud & I started out very early, taking the metro to the train station, where we traveled out to Normandy. At the train station we hopped on a shuttle headed for Mont Saint-Michel. This is an Abbey that looks like a castle, in fact, it’s the inspiration for the Disney Corona Castle, home of Repunzel, in the Tangled production. When the tide is out, it looks like this castle is an island floating in the sea. There is a boardwalk the shuttles can drive partway on and then you walk from there the rest of the way. Mont Saint-Michel consists of a little village with shops and restaurants and several hotels. We stayed at a hotel on the island and took a guided tour of the Abbey. It was so very interesting. Lots of steep walkways and steps to meander up the village and into the Abbey. We had lunch, a chocolate crêpe, shopped a bit and dinner at a restaurant with a seaside view before settling into our hotel for the night.

Day 5 

Bud & I caught a taxi early in the morning that the hotel had prearranged. It took us to the bus station where we caught a bus going to another part of Normandy for a WWII day tour. We started our guided tour in Bayeux, but we had time to visit the Bayeux Tapestry Museum. The tapestry was hand embroidered in the eleventh century!  It is 20 inches tall and 230 feet long! This, amazingly preserved, tapestry depicts the story of William of Normandy and his conquest of England in 1066. Afterwards we had lunch at this nice little French restaurant called Le Violet Qui Penche and walked around lovely Bayeux a bit before meeting at the tour spot. 

The guided tour took us to Omaha Beach, Point Du Hoc and the Normandy American Cemetery. The Les Braves Memorial is a very sobering site on beautiful Omaha Beach. The sculpture was created in honor of the courage of the men, many who sacrificed their lives, in the hopes of freeing the French. We toured a bunker at Pointe du Hoc and the surrounding area as our guide educated us on the significant particulars. The Normandy American Cemetery has I seaside location. It’s extremely well maintained, beautiful and peaceful. After the tour, we caught another train back to Paris. On the way, our daughter and her friend Karen invited us to eat at the hotel neighborhood restaurant with them. They had befriended the owner and spent quite a bit of time there during the week. To our surprise, they treated us to an anniversary dinner! So sweet and so incredibly delicious!

Day 6 

This was our last full day in Paris and I had a long to do list. We took the metro and started at Musée de l’Orangerie to see the panels by Monet. I found the one that matches the socks that I bought at Giverny. Haha Then we went across the Seine, to  Musée d’Orsay where we saw lots of amazing art and our daughter took wonderful anniversary pictures for us in front of the clock. One of the things I really wanted to do was to sail the boats at Luxenberg Gardens, which was so incredibly fun. We wondered around the magnificent gardens to see the sculptures and water features and there was a large 2024 Paris sign there for the Olympics that we took advantage of for a photo op.

Afterwards, we had a wonderful lunch with more extraordinary hot chocolate at a café just a block or two away. We then jumped on the metro and headed to see Jim Morrison’s grave at a cemetery north east of town. This was the most unique cemetery I’ve seen. From here, we scurried to our scheduled visit at Palais Garnier, which was nothing short of extraordinary.

We had time for one last visit to Montmartre while our daughter soaked in the last evening in Paris at one of the wonderful cafés. We met up for our last French dinner before heading back to hotel to repack to take the train back to the airport and fly home the next morning. 

The six days in France, mostly Paris with our daughter and her friend, was most definitely the do over I needed. We had a fabulous time, no problems whatsoever from scammers/pick pocketers. We absolutely enjoyed celebrating all of the things-Amanda’s birthday, my birthday, our anniversary and Father’s Day. 

There were a few things on my list that we didn’t have time for, so we will just have to go back!!