I was able to turn a layover into a weekend in Paris! We flew from Toronto on a red-eye flight, which worked perfectly for the time change—arrived in Paris at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, February 2. We decided to rent a car because Travis wanted to go to Le Mont St. Michel, and from researching, driving sounded like the best option for us. There are tours and public transportation, but we wanted the freedom to come and go on our own and not be constrained by groups or public transit timelines.
We picked up our rental car. We used Alamo at Charles De Gaulle Airport, which was super easy and convenient. If you are a Canadian renting a car in France, you should obtain an International Driving Permit (IDP). Although we were never asked for it, I highly suggest getting it. It’s easy to obtain from your local CAA and only costs $31 (plus a passport photo). It is valid for one year.
After getting our car, we drove to the 9th arrondissement for lunch at Pink Mama’s. You can book a reservation 15 days in advance. Pink Mama’s is very Instagrammable and has become popular because of this. They have lines for people with a reso and a line for people without. I would suggest making a reservation if you can. You are not guaranteed to sit on the upper floor. All the floors are cute and have different themes. It was nice, but I wouldn’t go out of your way to visit Pink Mamas. There are tons of excellent restaurants in Paris to choose from. Moulin Rouge is also near here in the 18th arrondissement. We had some time to pass before our reservation, so we walked around the neighborhoods and some of the little shops in the area.
I had read that the Louvre is free on the first Friday of each month after 6:00 p.m. Since we were lucky to be there on the first Friday, we planned to do this. We were jazzed to have found an opportunity to save some money. Oops! When we arrived at the Louvre, thousands had the same idea. The line was so long that there was no way we were getting in. Ok, fine – I’ll jump online and buy some tickets. Wrong! All the tickets for that night were sold out, and we were ultimately disappointed not to experience the Louvre. Sadly, there was no other time to fit it into our itinerary, so we must wait until next time. Lesson learned – if there is an attraction you want to experience, make sure you book it in advance!
For our accommodation, we stayed at the Pullman Eiffel Tower. It is a 4-star hotel offering rooms with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Since we were only there for two nights, we thought paying more for the view was worth it, although the rooms were very basic. The reservation also included a breakfast from the hotel, which was convenient and pleasant. Since we had our rental car, we also had to pay for parking, which cost us 50 euros (approx. $75 CAD) per night. Don’t forget about parking when renting a car in a major city.
We got up early the next day and set off for Le Mont St. Michel—roughly a 4-hour drive with tolls from Paris. The drive is straightforward, mostly on highways, and it was nice to see some of the countryside. We were able to pay the tolls by tapping our credit card. Many rest areas have clean washrooms and places to stop for gas and food along the way. It was a great experience. Getting to Le Mont was easy, and there was lots of parking. Parking was around 16 euros, and there is a shuttle from the parking lot to the le mont, or you can walk (approx. 45 mins across). Le Mont is beautiful, and it feels like you are stepping back in time. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We purchased tickets to go inside the Abbey, and I highly recommend that. They were about 13 euros each and so worth it! For lunch, we went to Les Terrasses de la Baie. It had a great view, and the food was ok.
On Sunday, we had breakfast at the hotel and checked out. We spent the day taking in the Eiffel Tower and Trocadero. Then, we returned to the airport to drop off the car. That was our short but fun weekend in Paris!
