You have probably heard of the ‘Left Bank’ and ‘Right Bank’ before visiting Paris. The ‘left’ and ‘right’ actually refer to the area divided by the Seine River in the middle, thus creating the separation. Different people may prefer one side over the other, but it is entirely up to your personal preference of neighbourhood. After spending time on both sides of Paris, I enjoyed how different Paris can become just by crossing the bridge to the other side.

In this post, I’m going to share with you my first of four days in Paris, spent entirely on the left bank. To be honest, this side of Paris as compared with the right bank, has much less tourists than what I’ve expected. Other than the popular touristic places like Notre-Dame and Eiffel Tower, I could hardly catch any tourists wandering on the streets!

Route of the Day

With our best friend Google Map, we started our journey at Jardin du Luxembourg since the hotel is located a few minutes walk away from it. Following a geographically convenient route, the itinerary for the day was:

  • Jardin du Luxembourg
  • Panthéon
  • Latin Quarter
  • Cathédrale Notre-Dame
  • Sainte Chapelle
  • Place Dauphine
  • Pont des Arts
  • Musée d’Orsay
  • Eiffel Tower
Jardin du Luxembourg / Palais du Luxembourg

Jardin du Luxembourg is a garden free for everyone to enter, so we spent approx. an hour walking around the huge and beautiful place.

Panthéon

From the garden, we walked for about 10 minutes to arrive at Panthéon. Used to be a church, it is now a secular mausoleum to house the remains of distinguished French citizens. Entrance is covered under the Museum Pass, and free for EU citizens age 25 and below. Special note that you will need to show your photo ID to prove the age and exchange a ticket to enter. There was no queue when we visited.

Lunch – Chez Lévêque

In about 30 minutes, we wandered our way through the Latin Quarter towards Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris. The street-lined restaurants across Notre-Dame were all packed with people that we had trouble choosing the right place for lunch. Luckily, we stumbled upon a quiet alley adjacent to the busy street and found Chez Lévêque, a uniquely-decorated restaurant (all to ourselves!). They serve traditional French cuisine right in front of the (alleged) oldest tree in Paris.

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris

With a full tummy, we walked across the street to meet with the lady of Paris – Notre-Dame. There was a queue but people were moving in at a constant speed, we entered the cathedral in less than 5 minutes. Admission to Notre-Dame is free, however no baggage is allowed.

Take your time to walk around the cathedral, understand its history, and appreciate the sculptures and the gothic architecture.

I was trying to visualise Quasimodo ringing the bells.

Sainte Chapelle

After about an hour in Notre Dame, we proceeded to Sainte Chapelle which was about a 5-minutes walk away from Notre-Dame. There was a small queue but we walked right through the crowd with our Museum Pass and straight to the entrance. The gothic chapel was small but the stained glass windows were simply breathtaking. I’d recommend you to not miss this magical moment.

Place Dauphine & Pont des Arts

After Sainte Chapelle, we walked for about 10 minutes towards Place Dauphine, a café street looking over a square.

From Place Dauphine, we then walked for a few minutes towards Pont des Arts, the famous padlock bridge to view Seine and Paris. Apparently, the city had to cut away almost a million love-locks weighing 45 tonnes in 2015, as a precaution to the risks imposed to the bridge.

Musée d’Orsay

We stayed for a short while before moving on to Musée d’Orsay located about 15-minutes walk away. Time to see the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces, by painters like Monet and Van Gogh!

Here’s the part that will make you feel instantly blessed to have a Museum Pass. The queue was terribly long and it could take hours to get in. It was still a long queue even when we came out near closing time!

Champ de Mars & Eiffel Tower

Soon after we rested, we began the walk towards Champ de Mars, a large public greenspace leading towards the Eiffel Tower. It took us about 20 minutes to reach this place from Musée d’Orsay, where you will see many people trying to do the funky Eiffel pictures.

Eiffel At Night

We waited for a while till after sunset to watch the Eiffel Tower shine in gold sparkles. It was definitely a better view than an iron tower in the daytime. We did not go up to the tower, because the queue was simply too long and you are encouraged to purchase the tickets way in advance. We tried checking out the tickets 2 months ahead, it was already sold out!

If you’d really like to see Paris from above, try going as late as possible (about 10pm), perhaps the line will be much shorter.

Otherwise, you can try going to the top of Montparnasse Tower instead as it has zero to minimal queue, and I’ve heard that the panoramic view of Paris from the tower top is simply breathtaking.

B.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l

Dinner – Castel Café

We were already hungry, so we had our dinner at a random nearby Castel Café before heading back to the hotel. I’ve decided to end my first day with the first Duck Confit of the trip!

After a day full of wonders and romance, we went back to the hotel to rest for more excitement in the coming days! Remember to check out my other posts on how to spend four days in Paris.

Details of Places of the Day
Jardin du Luxembourg
  • Jardin du Luxembourg:-
    • Hours: Opens around 7:30am – 8:15am, closed between 4:30pm – 9:30pm according to season
    • Closure: None
    • Fee: Free
  • If you are visiting Musée du Luxembourg:-
    • Hours: Monday to Thursday, 10:30am – 6:00pm; Friday to Sunday, 10:30am – 7:00pm
    • Closure: 1 May
    • Fee: €13.50
  • If you are visiting Palais du Luxembourg:-
    • Hours: Monday, Friday, Saturday in group tours only, 10:30am – 2:30pm
    • Closure: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday, and whenever the Senate is in session
    • Fee: Free
Panthéon
  • Hours: Everyday, 10:00am – 6:00pm (last admission 45 minutes before closing time)
  • Hours (1 Apr to 30 Sep): Everyday, 10:00am – 6:00pm (last admission 45 minutes before closing time)
  • Closure: 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec, 17 Jun morning
  • Fee: Museum Pass / €9 (Free for EU citizens age 25 and under)
Cathédrale Notre-Dame
  • Hours: Monday to Friday, 7:45am – 6:45pm; Saturday to Sunday, 7:45am – 7:15pm
  • Closure: None
  • Fee: Free
Sainte Chapelle
  • Hours: Everday, 9:00am – 5:00pm (last admission 30 minutes before closing time)
  • Hours (1 Apr to 30 Sep): Everyday, 9:00am – 7:00pm (last admission 30 minutes before closing time)
  • Closure: 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec
  • Fee: Museum Pass / €10 (Free for EU citizens age 25 and under)
Musée d’Orsay
  • Hours: Daily 9:30am – 6:00pm (museum cleared at 5:15pm); Thursday until 9:45pm (museum cleared at 9:15pm)
  • Closure: Monday, 1 May, 25 Dec
  • Fee: Museum Pass / €12 / €9 for non-EU citizens age 25 and under (Free for EU citizens age 25 and under)
    Special ticket at €18 for entrance to both Musée d’Orsay & Musée Rodin
Eiffel Tower
  • Hours: Everyday, 9:00am – 12:45am
  • Closure: None
  • Fee: €7 – €17, check details here
Montparnasse Tower
  • Hours: Sunday to Thursday, 9:30am – 10:30pm; Friday, Saturday, and Eve of PH, 9:30am – 11:00pm
  • Hours (1 Apr to 30 Sep): Everyday 9:30am – 11:30pm
  • Last admission: 30 minutes before closing time
  • Closure: None
  • Fee: €15 / €12 (student)