This article is reposted from the WeChat public account of a reader from our WeChat group, 懒人 33 的吃喝玩乐. Original link.

Day 4

On our fourth day in Paris, we moved from a hotel on the edge of the city to the incredibly expensive city center—near Place Vendôme. During Christmas, hotel prices in central Paris were jaw-dropping, comparable to Tahiti, while the rooms were still astonishingly cramped.

The lobby of the new hotel was much less impressive too, but the service level rose along with the price. When we arrived, the room still wasn’t ready, so after taking out a few essentials, we planned to grab a quick bite and head straight to the Louvre.

Not wanting to waste time sitting down for breakfast, we followed our earlier research and walked 2 minutes to a chocolate shop near the hotel. We bought a few things and ate them in front of the store as breakfast. The kid was thrilled.

The Louvre

What we bought was just ordinarily tasty; after a few bites it started to feel pretty rich, though the kid really liked it. We finished quickly and headed to the Louvre. From the new hotel, the Louvre was within walking distance, and we got there after just a few blocks. Snapped a few photos along the way.

I have to complain here: for one of the world’s three great museums, the signage around the Louvre was extremely unclear. There are several entrances to the Louvre. We followed the map to a very crowded entrance, and when we finally reached the front of the line, we discovered that the staff at this entrance all! did! not! speak! English! Because we were pushing a stroller, one staff member rattled something off to us with a bad attitude, and we had no idea what he was saying. Eventually I barely caught the word “priority,” and he pointed in one direction. But after walking that way for a while, we still couldn’t figure out where to go, so we went back again. Since we had already waited in line before, we went straight to the front, but an older man stopped us from going in. I tried to explain in English that our Covid Pass had already been checked, but he couldn’t understand… In the end, we more or less squeezed our way into the entrance.

After getting inside, we were in the Louvre’s main hall, where the signage was also completely lacking, so we were utterly confused standing there… Eventually, after wandering around for quite a while, we finally found the inconspicuous entrance and managed to get in. Our Museum Pass was also completely useless here in terms of skip-the-line benefits.

The Louvre Museum, once the residence of the kings of France, has been one of the world’s largest museums for the past two centuries. It is divided into eight departments: Near Eastern Antiquities, Egyptian Antiquities, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Paintings, Sculptures, Decorative Arts, Islamic Art, and Prints and Drawings from the Middle Ages to 1848.

Construction of the Louvre began at the end of the twelfth century. Under Philip Augustus, it was merely a fortress protecting [Paris]（http://place.qyer.com/paris/）. During the reign of Francis I, the Louvre was converted into a royal palace. Out of his love for art, he invited European artists of the time to live in France—Leonardo da Vinci was one of them—and collected many famous Italian paintings. After expansions under Henry II, Henry IV, Louis XIV, and others, and with the addition of a large number of artistic treasures, it opened as a museum after the French Revolution. Later, when Napoleon and Napoleon III returned to the throne, the collection grew substantially, and the Louvre was expanded again and again. In the 1980s, the glass pyramid designed by Chinese American architect I. M. Pei added another brilliant touch to the Louvre.

As one of the world’s three great museums, the Louvre consistently ranks first in global visitor numbers. Its collection mainly consists of artistic treasures from before 1848, spanning different regions, cultures, and periods. Its three main wings are Richelieu, Denon, and Sully. The museum’s holdings include ancient Egyptian civilization, ancient Near Eastern and Middle Eastern civilizations, ancient Greek and Roman civilization, Islamic art, and works from the Middle Ages to the mid-nineteenth century, including sculptures, paintings, decorative arts, and prints and drawings. The museum holds as many as 400,000 objects, with fewer than 40,000 on regular display. Even if you spent one minute on each piece, it would still take 1 month, so it’s best to prepare in advance based on your interests. The most recommended sections include the Italian and French painting galleries, the Ancient Egypt galleries, the Ancient Greek and Roman galleries, and the Napoleon III Apartments.

If you visit during peak travel season, the lines can be very long. In addition to the main glass pyramid entrance, the Louvre also has the Carrousel du Louvre entrance via the underground passageways on both sides of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, and the entrance at 99 Rue de Rivoli next to the Louvre metro station (marked by a red awning). These entrances can all help reduce the time spent waiting to enter the Louvre. The Carrousel du Louvre entrance and the 99 Rue de Rivoli entrance both first lead to the rest area beneath the glass pyramid, where you can buy tickets before entering. Under the glass pyramid, there are staffed ticket counters and self-service machines. The self-service machines can be used with international credit cards without chips. You may still need to line up to buy tickets under the pyramid, but with many ticket windows and machines, it usually doesn’t take too long.

From October to March of the following year, admission is free on the first Sunday of every month. It’s recommended to download the Louvre’s official app for a deeper understanding of the collection highlights. The Louvre’s post office also has a special commemorative postmark. The original Angelina tearoom outside the Louvre is always packed, but the Angelina inside the Louvre is actually a great option for taking a break while enjoying the art, and it also has a comfortable terrace. After finishing the Louvre, the Tuileries Garden (Jardin de Tuileries), stretching out from the wings of the palace, is a wonderful place for a leisurely walk.

We went to the Egyptian wing first and took a whole bunch of photos for my best friend of the mummies, pyramids, and sphinxes she likes.

The Louvre’s audio guide needs to be reserved in advance and costs extra. Since we were traveling with a kid, we could only do a quick whirlwind visit, so we didn’t reserve the audio guide.

Then we realized there was no way we could see the whole museum in one day at our pace, so we immediately changed our strategy: focus on the highlights and leave the rest up to chance.

Next we headed straight for the Mona Lisa. The museum staff finally spoke English, so it was easy to ask for directions. Once we got closer, there were plenty of signs too, so it was hard to miss.

There was a line to see the Mona Lisa. Maybe because there were fewer visitors during the pandemic, the line was short and we only waited a few minutes. Still, the Mona Lisa really is very small, and supposedly a lot of people are disappointed the first time they see it.

The next thing we wanted to see was the Venus de Milo, which isn’t far from the Mona Lisa, and there were signs along the way. There was basically no line at all in front of the sculpture.

After finishing these few sections, we were ready to go out for lunch. Before that, though, we wanted to go up to ground level to take a look at the pyramid. We walked in the direction of the pyramid and somehow made a full loop around the basement level; after walking for a while, we realized we were back where we started... The Louvre really is a maze.

After a lot of effort and asking someone else for directions, we finally found the exit. The air was crisp and clear that day, and even the winter wind didn’t feel quite so cold.

By then it was already past lunchtime, and we were starving, so we planned to grab lunch near the next attraction. It was just one metro stop away.

Centre Pompidou

We spent a long time deciding where to have lunch. We had originally planned to visit the Pompidou Center that day too, but looking at the time, it just wasn’t going to happen. Still, the travel guides said the main draw of the Pompidou Center is its innovative architecture from the outside anyway, so we decided to just take a look from the exterior. A friend had told me that KFC in Europe tastes pretty similar to the KFC back home, so I wavered between KFC and a Chinese noodle shop. We passed the noodle shop first, only to find it closed. Well then, KFC it was.

Conceived under President Georges Pompidou, the Pompidou Center, also known as Beaubourg, was jointly designed and built by architects including Richard Rogers, Renzo Piano, and Gianfranco Franchini.

Since its completion, it has become a temple of modern art and a vivid showcase of contemporary artistic culture. It is now the second most popular museum in [Paris]（http://place.qyer.com/paris/） and one of the ten most visited museums in the world. This strange giant is itself a work of postmodern architectural art, and you can tell its systems apart by color: blue for air-conditioning and exhaust, yellow for electricity, green for plumbing, and red for elevators. The second floor of the Pompidou Center houses a public library, while the fourth and fifth floors mainly hold 76,000 pieces of modern and contemporary art from after World War II. The top-floor café is also a nice place to relax.

This building embodies the innovative character of modern architecture. It is a seven-story glass structure with open steel framing, a spiral escalator, an outdoor platform, and mezzanine levels, with complex red, green, and yellow pipes spread across the exterior walls. French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing presided over the opening ceremony of the Pompidou Center in 1977. It includes the National Museum of Modern Art, the music and acoustics research center (IRCAM), a free library, as well as numerous exhibition halls, shops, restaurants, and cinemas.

After passing by the Pompidou Center, we went to a nearby KFC for lunch. It was absolutely packed. My travel companion and child went to find a table first while I handled the ordering. The moment I looked at the ordering kiosk from behind, I thought, uh-oh, it’s all in French. So I had no choice but to quietly watch what other people were pressing and learn from them. When it was finally my turn, I guessed from the pictures, half-read the words, and tapped through everything on instinct. Then I got stuck at the last step for a while, and somehow another ticket came out. I ran to the counter, and the staff told me I had to pay there. As if that weren’t enough, they didn’t accept AMEX, so I had to call my companion over to abandon our crying child and bring me another card. In the end, I somehow managed to finish ordering in a total fluster.

We waited in the pickup area. Since I couldn’t understand the order numbers being called either, I just stared at each tray coming out, trying to figure out which one looked like mine. If the ordering kiosk hadn’t had pictures, I would have been completely lost. Finally, we got our food, and of course I took photos first.

It looked pretty legit, right? But the taste was completely different from KFC back home. The burger and this mystery wrap were both very lightly seasoned. The chicken skin in the burger wasn’t crispy, and while the meat was fairly tender, it was way too bland. It really couldn’t compare with the version back home. Still, at least we got to try it once and find out what Paris KFC tastes like.

Notre-Dame de Paris

After lunch, we planned to go see Notre-Dame de Paris. Since the cathedral was still being rebuilt after the fire, we couldn’t go inside and could only look at it from the outside. So our plan was just to stop by briefly and move on.

The 2019 Notre-Dame de Paris fire refers to the blaze that broke out at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, at around 18:50 Paris time on April 15, 2019. The fire started in the cathedral’s attic area. It caused the spire to collapse and completely destroyed most of the wooden roof over the nave and transept, while most of the stone vaulting was preserved. French President Macron announced that Notre-Dame would be rebuilt.

Since it was still early, we crossed the bridge to Île de la Cité, where Notre-Dame is located. On the way, we passed Sainte-Chapelle. Since I wanted to see a church with stained-glass windows, and this attraction was also included in the museum pass, we decided to go in.

As it turned out, Sainte-Chapelle and the Palais de Justice are part of the same complex, and we accidentally entered the courthouse and got lost inside.

The Palais de Justice is located in Paris’s 1st arrondissement and houses the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Court of Cassation, surrounding Sainte-Chapelle.

We wandered around the courthouse like headless flies for two full loops before finally coming back out and spotting the sign for Sainte-Chapelle.

Sainte-Chapelle is a Gothic chapel commissioned by Louis IX and built between 1242 and 1248. It was constructed to house relics of Christ’s Passion, such as the Crown of Thorns and fragments of the True Cross. The price paid for the Crown of Thorns was even higher than the cost of building Sainte-Chapelle itself.

Sainte-Chapelle is quite small, with two or three levels, but the stained glass was absolutely beautiful.

A few more minutes’ walk from Sainte-Chapelle brought us to Notre-Dame. Even though it had been badly damaged by fire, there were still lots of people lingering in the square in front of the cathedral.

We followed suit and sat in the square for a while too. Seeing that it was still a bit early for dinner, we decided it was time for a pharmacy shopping stop.

Monge Pharmacy seems to be one of the favorite pharmacy stores among Chinese visitors. We went to the main store, which was quite close by bus from Notre-Dame.

It’s a place frequented by both students and locals in Paris. The discounts are substantial, making it a very good deal. There are also many brands popular with Chinese shoppers, such as clarins, along with plenty of gift sets that are cheaper than buying at the airport. There is also 15% in-store instant tax refund. Across from Monge Pharmacy is the Monge cosmetics store, where you can find all the brands and hot items Chinese shoppers want, also with a 15% instant tax refund. You can download a 10% off coupon from their WeChat official account, and they sometimes offer small gifts as well, making it even more worthwhile.

Or you can also download a coupon from the website I mentioned earlier in Christmas in Paris with a Three-Year-Old (3).

Although Mongo Pharmacy is said to be the biggest pharmacy store, it actually looks quite small, and I almost thought we had come to the wrong place. If you’re like me and have no idea what to buy, just go inside and ask one of the Chinese ladies for recommendations—they’re very reliable. She said she had worked at that store for many years, so I’m guessing she won’t be leaving anytime soon. The tax refund process in the store was also very convenient, and if you buy a lot, they’ll give you a whole pile of gifts. The store used to carry Valmont, but they no longer sell it because, supposedly, Valmont there was first-generation product and now it’s already on the third generation. Aside from the third-generation line, Sisley and a few other brands are also well worth buying.

In chatting with an older lady, we learned that the French felt the pandemic was more severe in the U.S., while Americans felt Europe was worse off... basically the pot calling the kettle black.

PavYllon

After leaving the drugstore, we took a taxi back to the hotel to rest for a bit, then headed out for dinner. Dinner was at the one-Michelin-starred PavYllon, right by the Champs-Élysées, on the side closer to the Arc de Triomphe. On the way to the restaurant, we passed the Arc de Triomphe, which was “under renovation” and completely covered up.

PavYllon is on a very quiet little street, and the exterior is quite distinctive. On the day we went, they had just finished setting up a transparent Christmas-themed enclosure. It was absolutely beautiful, and we were lucky enough to be seated inside it. When we entered the restaurant, our child was being a little fussy, and one of the young women at the front desk at PavYllon, in high heels no less, picked the child up and soothed them with impressive ease. Our little one immediately cheered up at the sight of a pretty big sister. She carried the child all the way to our table and helped set up the high chair, which made the service feel especially warm and thoughtful.

Overall, this restaurant was very good and exceeded our expectations. It was far, far better than the previous three-star place we had tried, and the service was excellent too. It was a very enjoyable dining experience.

After paying the bill and while waiting for our taxi, we chatted a bit more with the young women at the front desk and learned more about the French culture of eating dinner so late.

Back at the hotel, we washed up and got ready for bed. There was a painting on the hotel room ceiling, and our child said it looked scary. We told them it was just a cool lady wearing sunglasses.

Good night, Paris.

Paris Trip Series

This article was originally published in 2021, so some parts mention the pandemic. However, most of the tips and experiences are still useful, which is why we are republishing it on this site.

About the Author

This article is reposted from the WeChat public account of a reader from our WeChat group, 懒人 33 的吃喝玩乐. The account features original and well-written articles, so feel free to follow if you're interested.