Paris 1er Arrondissement

I have been to Paris four times over the years and it has never quite captured my heart the way it did on my flying visit in June. I had a specific list of things I wanted to see some of which I had never seen before and others that I just wanted to revisit, after all everything in Paris is beautiful.

The first thing on my list was the beautiful Colonnes de Burren (also known as Les Deux Plateaux) in the Palais Royal. I had seen a photo of this controversial art installation while doing my research on Paris on Instagram and immediately fell in love with the checkers looking columns. But first I had to make a quick shopping stop as I was not at all prepared for the bad weather so I quickly grabbed a long trench that was warm but also thin enough to be rolled up and put in my backpack.

When I arrived at the Palais Royal it was not overly busy and I spent almost an hour just enjoying the sunshine and people watching. There were a few professional photoshoots going on including one guy who was trying to show off his trainers while doing parkour on some of the bigger columns which was breathtaking to watch.

From there I headed to the Louvre, I chose not to go in on this trip. I have been twice before and while I would have loved to go and wander the halls again and discover something new, I do not love crowds. At this time of year there are so many tourists tracking through the Louvre that I was afraid it would take away from my wonderful memories of it. I was also a bit short on time and didn’t want to have to rush through it and therefore I decided to just admire it from the outside, which is a work of art in itself.

The Tuileries are a public garden located between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde, they are a great place to stop and sit. On my first trip to Paris in 2012 my friend and I sat by the fountain eating cheese and drinking wine, enjoying each others company and our surrounds. Unfortunately by the time I was finished with the Colonnes de Burren and the Louvre it was raining and I couldn’t really sit and enjoy, but if you have a sunny day in Paris and plan on visiting the Louvre it might be something nice to do before you go in or once you are finished to get away from the hustle and bustle of being a tourist and just enjoy the place you are in.