Tips and Budget! Paris Edition! pt. 2

• Where to go

There are a lot of places you could visit once you are in the City of Lights. But, as a budget tourist, I banned myself to visit a museum (which I’m not a museum person), mostly park, and great sightseeing.

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The first walk for me is going to mainstream places. Take a Metro from Bourg-la-Reine station to the city and stop at St. Michel-Notre-Dame with 2.8 EUR for one-way. From the name of it, Notre Dame was surrounded by a lot of tourists, construction workers, and security.

From Notre-Dame, you could either go to the Latin Quarter or Jewish Quarter, but as my host lead the way, we are walking next to the Seine river to Musee du Louvre.

Another expected situation, a lot of tourists but still worth it. To enter the Musee du Louvre you need to pay and there is a very long line. What I did is taking a picture outside the Louvre and there’s this spot where you could ‘cheat’ and pretend you’re inside the Louvre right in front of the sculpture zone.

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p.s bring your drinking bottle and avoid taking a rest at a cafe around the Louvre, except you have a lot of euros with you.

From de Louvre, we walked to Eiffel tower. It seems pretty close but the walk distance pranking you by walking down the Seine river, passing Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees, and another big park.

If you are not a walking person, try to rent the bike or scooter. 

Eiffel Tower is just Eiffel Tower for me and once again I avoid the lines or enter the tower. Sitting and laying down at the park and you already got the views.

The next day, I go to the city alone since my host is working. I visit the Latin Quarter and the Jewish Quarter.

What’s in the Latin Quarter?

A lot of Spanish-speaking citizens living and a lot of churches. The most famous church is Saint-Severin. 

It is a nice church, free, many tourists passing by with the tour leader, and a lot of cheap restaurants. 

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Not too far from there, you could walk to another fancy church, which is Saint-German-Des-Pres. 

I spent most of my time walking, taking pictures and videos by the sidewalk, and have a seat inside the church.

What’s in Jewish Quarter?

Not so different than the Latin Quarter, this area also known as LGBTQ+ friendly neighborhood or Le-Marais.

There are a lot of churches, beautiful rainbow crosswalks, umbrellas, cafes and restaurants and also a city hall where people going there to work out or playing volleyball.

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From all the places I mentioned and visit, I spend 0 euros! Except when I’m going to eat or drink. 

• Where to Eat?

When you are living in a Couchsurfing situation, eating outside is slightly happen, especially when your host is good ad cooking. Of course, you can’t dependence on this so much and need to give back by at least do the dishes or buying groceries.

On the first night, my host cooked for me roasted pork and that is very delicious. By the last night, the menu being served was ratatouille (mostly because I said I want to try, thanks to Disney!). 

Also, since the supermarket and traditional market in Europe are not 24/7 open like in Asia, so cooking is like something you need to depend on if you have the skill.

I only eat outside the apartment twice. One after visiting du Louvre and one after visiting churches in the Latin Quarter.

If you have the luxury of spending more, going to a restaurant in the city is not bad or just enjoying the views by drinking coffee, enjoying the croissants like Hollywood movies.

• How much did I spend in Paris?

I brought 350 EUR cash with me. My host taught me to at least bring 50 EUR cash/ day and leave the rest. It’s to avoid pickpocket. Surprisingly, I spent less than 50 EUR for 3 days in Paris! Mostly for Metro, coffee, food, and groceries!