1. Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe is located in what seems to be the center of the city. There are twelve streets that run from the Arc de Triomphe and meet in the roundabout surrounding it. It has brilliant architecture and a memorial for the Unknown Soldier directly under the arch. You can go to the top of the Arc, of course climbing up a long set of spiral stairs, and look out to see all of Paris. There are maps at the top that point out all the monuments. It is truly a breathtaking view and my favorite part of Paris.

2. Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is everything you have seen in the movies, music videos, and history books. While approaching the Eiffel Tower up close, I wasn’t that impressed with the it. I thought it was exactly like the pictures and the atmosphere wasn’t impressive especially because there were people walking around, trying to get you to buy Eiffel Tower replicas and keychains constantly. There are a lot of these people and they don’t immediately leave after telling them no. In order to fully experience the Eiffel tower, you have to cross the river and take it in from there. Yes, there are still people trying to sell you Eiffel towers, wine, and even balloons so you can take pictures with them; however, the full view of it, especially in the evening, is breathtaking. The lightshow starts every hour on the hour after sunset and is basically just random sparkling lights. If you don’t have much time and only see the Eiffel tower once, it should defiantly be at night. Nonetheless, the Eiffel Tower is an obvious “must see”, but prioritize other attractions as well.

3. Catacombs of Paris

This was quite a unique experience. It is home to over six million people that have passed away, most coming from the French Revolution. It contains long underground tunnels and of the bones of said people. This was not like the rest of the trips or the other monuments to see in Paris. It was dark and cold in the tunnels and chilling to see how many bones there were and how they seemed to go on forever. The bones are perfectly symmetrical, which made it eerie. Some of the tunnel is blocked off to visitors, so you don’t get to see all six million people, but it is over a mile long. The history behind the bones and the uniqueness of the idea behind the catacombs is what made it a must see.

4. Louvre Museum

I, myself, am not a huge museum fan as I quickly become bored, but this one continually kept my attention with something that was intriguing to me. You can rent a Nintendo DS XL 3D device for the audio tour which helped in explaining the history behind each art piece. The Mona Lisa seemed like the smallest painting in the museum and there was a line about 1.5 hours long to see it up close. It was cool to see it in person, but more for the fact that I can say I saw the her in person. The sculptures are brilliant with such small details, even the ones that were broken or worn through history still were beautiful. The courtyard is beautiful with fountains and the glass triangle roof, perfect for taking photos.

5. Sacré-Coeur Basilica

The Sacré-Coeur is at the top of the tallest point of Paris and overlooks the city. It is a Roman Catholic church, but really unique due to the design of it. Before attending, I called it the Taj Mahal looking building, just so you can get an idea of what it looks like. It is unlike any other catholic church I have ever seen. It has rounded tops that reminds me of an Islam church. The area around it is called Montmartre which is very lively and has great shopping for tourists once you have toured the church.

Disclaimer: While I was in Paris, Notre-Dame de Paris was under construction from the April 15th fire. You can’t get that close to the cathedral now as it is undergoing a lot of construction to repair its beauty. On the walls keeping people out, there are pictures and words describing the history, fire, and the future for Notre-Dame. It is worth going to, but unfortunately it was stripped of most of its beauty.