Bienvenue à Paris!

Isn’t it exciting to visit the famed city of romance and love? Paris is so mesmerising, I could stay here for as long as I can because a few days in Paris is definitely not enough for what the city has to offer.

Unfortunately for me, four days were what I had to spare during my last trip. I promised myself that I will try my best to not waste a second there – true enough, I explored and enjoyed as fully as I could, so here I am sharing my journey with the you guys!

I have also used the Paris Museum Pass for the trip, you can check out my other post here if you wish to know more details about the passes available for Paris!

Charles de Gaulle Airport

Chances are, you’re probably going to land in the Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport, one of which you should always be cautious and alert of your belongings. It may seem scary to walk into a room of potential pickpockets, but as long as you hold tight onto your stuff and always keep your luggage in sight, you will be fine. If anyone approaches you, hold onto your stuff with extra caution – you’ll never know if the person is distracting you for another to steal.

Now there are a few ways to get to the city from the CDG airport, and I’ll talk about two of them: Taxi & Le Bus Direct.

Option 1: Taxi

Taxis charge a flat fare between the CDG airport and Paris (yes, both ways!), and the duration is about 30-60 minutes. The flat fares are €55 and €50 for any destinations on the left and right banks respectively. If you have more than 2 people in the group, taxi is definitely your most direct and cheaper option since the bus ticket costs from €12-€21 per person.

Simply follow the signs to reach the taxi stand located outside of the airport and join the queue. There should be a signboard near the taxi stand stating the above-mentioned flat fares.

*On a side note, the flat fares between Orly airport and Paris are €30 and €35 for left and right banks respectively.

Option 2: Le Bus Direct

I’ve chosen Le Bus Direct (Line 4) to get to my hotel at Montparnasse, the duration was about 1.5 hours. The journey was very comfortable as the seats in the coach bus was spacious for the long ride.

You can check the schedule, duration, and the bus line to your destinations here beforehand. Tickets can be bought online, on board the bus (€1 extra), at the ticket machines in the airports, or at the sales desk in terminal 2EF of CDG airport. I wasn’t sure of my arrival at the CDG airport, so I chose to buy the tickets at the ticket machine. Simply follow the signs leading to the bus stops and find the ticket machine. Purchasing the tickets is pretty straightforward and the bus stops are right in front of the place.

Finally – in Paris! 

We arrived at our hotel, Hotel Aiglon, pretty early in the morning to leave the luggage. Fortunately, the hotel managed to check us in early so we could prepare ourselves at the comfort of our room! Otherwise, you just need to use the public washroom to freshen up (which was very clean and spacious).

I really loved this petit yet tastefully designed hotel. Everything was so Parisian that I simply loved it!

Conclusion

I would recommend Hotel Aiglon to anyone traveling in Paris as the price is relatively reasonable for a 4-star hotel, even for a solo-traveler (starting from €80 per night for a Cosy Room). Hotel Aiglon is right beside Raspail station, 2 stops away from Gare Montparnasse.

There seems to be an on-going online promotion where you can pre-pay for your room and get your free breakfast buffet. The breakfast selection was limited, but enough and quite delicious to fuel our day! The dining area was small, but the waiter was rather attentive from the moment we stepped into the place.

Once we settled the luggage, it’s time to kickstart our first day in Paris! Remember to check out my other posts on how I spent my days in Paris!