72 hours with a million Swifties

A Tourist-Proof Guide to Paris

I’ve been to Paris many times. And after a recent trip to Copenhagen for work, I decided to tack on a quick trip. The city is pretty familiar to me - and really love how familiar it has become. I have my usual spots, activities and meals. And so I intended this guide to be exactly that - my usual weekend trip itinerary. But wow! was i wrong.

For one, it was very last minute. Aside from a hotel i had booked a week before, i didn’t have any of the reservations or tickets i’d usually get in advance. Second of all - Taylor Swift (!) was in town and performing 4 sold-out shows. Millions of Swifties EVERYWHERE. And the aforementioned hotels, reservations, and tickets I usually book?! Gone! Sold to the Swifties!

Needless to say I had to get creative. And as it often goes, I discovered some of my fave spots yet.

Use this guide the next time you visit Paris. Off the beaten path recommendations, hidden gems, and somHACKS you can use during peak tourist season.

To stay:

Hotel Bourg Tibourg ($$$)

I usually stay at Hotel Bourg Tibourg - small hotel on a quiet street in the Marais. It has teeny rooms and a teenier elevator. But the moody decor, great location, and fair price make it one of my faves. Of course it was booked this Swifitie-fied weekend in may - but it’s a gem so it has to stay on the list.

Chateau Voltaire ($$)

With Hotel Bourg Tibourg booked, I did some searching and eventually found a room at Chateau Voltaire. From the high taste interiors to the low key vibe & the best staff, this place is a no-brainer.

the lobby and breakfast room at chateau - the restaurant was always accommodating which i love. the price was great too. under $300 a night DURING tswift concert weekend. my first time staying here but def not the last.

10pm view from my little bathroom window. I got a great corner room and decided to not set one alarm. Wake up when i please!

To do:

Skip the line at the Louvre: it’s rare I go to Paris without a trip to the Louvre. So imagine my surprise when i was trying to book a ticket this trip & seeing they were all sold out. For the next three days. Ok…I thought…what about d’Orsay - sold out - l'Orangerie - sold out! How is this possible? The Louvre which holds 60,000 at any one time was sold out?! What?!

I told my friend Micah who gave me this ultimate Paris hack. Viator - it’s a site that offers 6 person tours of the Louvre via a tour guide. And you get the skip the lines!

I love a good tour and an opportunity to skip any lines (“the French love making people wait in lines” per our guide).

It took 10 mins to get in and the tour lasted 2 hours after which we were free to do our own thing for the rest of the day. It was perfect because I got to see some things I wouldn't have seen like Josephine's earrings and Winged Victory's hand but also my fav - the Raft of the Medusa.

Earrings empress Josephine wore at the coronation of Napoleon. U can see them in the famous painting of the coronation (c 1807). i love how simple they are compared to an otherwise very ornate court.

the closest i got to the mona lisa. which is to say. not close. this is a tourist-proof guide after all!

Wander the parks:

Since everything I wanted to visit was sold out I got a chance to just wander and sit in parks. I sat in 3 different ones over three different days for a total of six hours. 90% of the trips I take to Paris are for work and jammed packed with an agenda - so sitting in a park for an hour - let alone 6 - is rare.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect - I sat in the Tuileries at dusk, Place des Vosges in the afternoon and prob my favorite Palais Royal twice, morning and evening - u find a bench under one of cubed trees and just people watch.

To shop:

A Young Hiker @ayounghiker

When i finally stood up from sitting in the parks, i did visit a new store in the Palais Royal - A Young Hiker - a cool outdoorsy shop run by the team from Officine Buly. Think REI x CDG.

my new young hiker persia shirt worn with rth pants + stan smiths + vintage leather belt. i don’t buy a lot of new clothes - when i do - it has to be special. this one hit all the marks.

Ale Paris Boutique @aleparisboutique

a small well-curated resale shop in the Passage du Grand Cerf that i found because i decided to wander back to my hotel without really looking at a map. they have a great edit of vintage and their own bespoke creations. and u can order online! buy these so i won’t: vintage chanel scarf or prince of wales plaid pancaldi shirt.

views from Passage du Grand Cerf, where i stumbled upon Ale Vintage - i decided to wander down any street i thought looked interesting - and more importantly - quiet lol. no crowds please.

other cool shops I always visit in Paris…

Anatomica @anatomica_paris_flagship_store

Casey Casey @caseycaseyworks

Charvet @charvet_official

MHL @mhlbymargarethowell

Brut Vintage @brut_archives - did a more indepth post about that here

To eat:

food and eating are very important to me especially in Paris. I thought - a reservation for 1 would be easy right? well not quite. when i couldn’t get into L Ami Jean (my Parisian fave - the rice pudding!), i googled places and asked friends. here are a few hidden gems:

Lao Duang Paseuth @lao_douang_paseuth

A Laotian restaurant in the 13th arrondissement recommended by my friend Will - who runs a very cool vintage business @thefindvtg based in Berlin & Paris. I grew up speaking and eating Laotian - so i thought - i’m in.

after a 30 min uber ride to lao in the 13th, I was in a new neighborhood sitting at a new restaurant ordering dishes I had grown up eating my whole life + speaking to the waiter in a language I had only spoken to my immediate family - what a fun and unexpected way to end an already fun and unusual trip. photo cred by @toot_a_loot

places I also ate at in Paris on this trip…

Cafe Breizh @breizhcafe_fr - I always get a savory and a sweet crepe

Brassiere Emil @brasserie_lemil at the hotel - the best dessert I had the whole trip was the crème brûlée here

Sapporo @sappororamen - for a quick ramen fix. my hotel was right next to little tokyo so i ran over and found this place - i was in and out in 35 mins. perfect.

dinners for 1. it was fun to switch things up from my usual spots - and would recommend going back to any of these places. coconut curry noodles from @lao_douang_paseuth. sweet and savory crepe from @breizhcafe_fr. double dessert + steak at @brasserie_lemil and not pictured really great ramen from @sappororamen.

And as an extra bonus - I polled my Parisian-born & very talented friend Alice Bucaille for her tourist-proof recs. A true local’s take:

• Grab a cocktail at Bar Sotto before eating the beset cacio e peppe at Carboni’s

• Play ping pong in the Jardin de l’Observatoire

• Visit Hiromi Objets Atelier in the 9th - gorgeous ceramic work

• Go see a movie at Lucernaire

• Browse through books at L’ecume des Pages

• Swim at La Piscine de Pontoise

There u have it. A tourist-proof guide the next time you want to do Paris as a local (or the swifties are taking paris in cowboy boots by storm!).