Paris Please.

My friend asked me for my recommendations on where to visit on her first time to Paris. I mostly recommended the standard stuff since it’s her first visit, but I thought perhaps there are other first time visitors who might like the list as well. I suggest getting a map of the subway and bus routes because they go just about everywhere and are straightforward to figure out. Though I’ve done a lot of walking too since I find the streets and shops really cute and fun to explore.  
Museums:
-the Louvre of course which is the big one
-the Musee D’Orsay-which has a lot of impressionists including Monet. I think museums might be closed on Mondays though so you might have to check on that depending what days you are there.
 
My favorites and the big ones for your first time in Paris:
-Eiffel Tower of course- I’ve only ever been in the summer when its tourist season so I normally would try to go to things extremely early or else the lines would be hours long if you want to ride up it.  But if you’re going not in tourist season it might be better. It’s also gorgeous at night when it’s all lit up.
-the Champs Elysee-it’s the big street with all the expensive expensive shops, it’s impressive to walk down. One of my personal favorites is Sephora the perfume store. I love the enormous bottles of perfume that could last multiple life times and I like to try and see if anyone buys one. I haven’t seen it happen yet, but I plan to ask them if they think they’ll need the whole thing.

 

Louis Vuitton on the Champs Elysee

-L’Arc de Triomphe-is the big arch in all the Paris pictures and it’s at one end of the Champs Elysee
-Notre Dame cathedral, I recommend climbing up it if you get the chance. It’s a ton of stairs, but well worth the view.
-Sainte Chapelle also has gorgeous stained glass upstairs and is right near Notre Dame.  I would highly recommend that also

 

stained glass in Sainte Chapelle

-Sacre Coeur de Montmartre- this area was in the French movie Amelie if you ever saw that. Sacre Coeur is a big white basilica with a million stairs leading up to it. (And more stairs if you climb the church too, but again the views are pretty amazing and you get to be face to face with the gargoyles) The area around it is a place where artists gather and is where the Moulin Rouge is located (as well as the red light district and sex shops).

Moulin Rouge

 
Other places I’ve been as well:
-Les Invalides-has the museum of military history and also the tomb of Napoleon
-Palace of Versailles-If you’re only in Paris for a weekend it might be hard to visit since it’s outside the city
 
 
Anywhere in Europe I’ve been I always recommend climbing anything you can for the views. Since most of the cities are shorter than American cities without all the sky scrapers (or sky crappers some might say) the monuments tower above the other buildings. And for any churches you pass I recommend going in them AND climbing them-especially in Italy what seems like a hidden church will often have a painting of some famous artist in it. And in Rome and Florence you can climb the big dome’s in the churches (St Peter’s and the Duomo) which is neat to climb over the arches in the domes and gives, in my opinion, the best views of the cities.