The lockdown has taken a toll on our lives and we don’t know when it will end. As mentioned in earlier articles, I would against recommend you to be smart and don’t go out of your home until the virus leaves this planet for good. Once the lockdown is over, adn we are back in the business, traveling will be a mysterious industry. A few people would love to start voyaging across the world and the others will avoid stepping out of their city for a long time. What I can suggest is- change your approach towards travel after lockdown. Feel the city, explore it on foot. You can find the real beauty of any place if you are walking around it.
This is especially true for a city as mystical as Paris. The French capital has an ocean of history, and these roots still shape the paths around the Seine and beyond.
While the city does have a large selection of expensive accommodation, there are also some affordable and well-facilitated hostels. Paris does not necessarily need to cost you thousands, and staying in this kind of accommodation will allow you to explore the city on foot with ease, as well as keeping the budget on track. With a stay in one of the excellent central hostels, Paris’ most wonderful attractions are never more than a walk away.
Notre Dame
I cried when I heard about the fire at Notre Dame. There have been millions in donation from around the world to rebuild this beauty and I am looking forward to the rebirth of this wonder of France. Once it is back for the public view, Notre Dame is a great place to start a walking itinerary. While you will no doubt find yourself awestruck by its majesty, look closely as you wander around the outside and you will notice the twists and turns of its architecture that have made it so famous over the centuries. As it is not far from the centre of the city – and within easy distance of central hostels – Paris’ most famous church will also give access to the long avenues and wide bridges that cross the Seine, so it is an ideal and memorable place to begin a longer stroll.
The Seine
While you leave Ile de la Cite and set your feet toward Pont des Arts, you’ll need to choose whether to walk on the side of the river by the Theatre de la Ville or that nearer to the Sorbonne. Both of these paths will offer a heart-stopping experience. If you turn on your heel and head in the other direction, toward the Bastille, you’ll be in for a good dose of historical sightseeing, but that might be best left for another day. A stroll along the river in the direction of the Eiffel Tower offers a leisurely view of historical beauty. From the Louvre to the Church of Saint Thomas d’Aquin, and from the Jardin des Tulieries to the National Assembly, on either bank you won’t be disappointed.
Champs Elysees to the Eiffel Tower
The journey on foot to the Eiffel Tower will take you through botanical gardens and squares, crossing cafes and statues, along the length of the Seine and under the shadow of eye pounding gold monuments. When you reach the famous avenue of the Champs-Élysées, you’ll pass Uber-chic cafes and ultra high-end shops and boutiques, as well as stopping to marvel at the famous arch itself, of course. When you finally arrive at Avenue Kleber, cross the Trocadero Gardens and cast your eyes on the Eiffel Tower, you can truly say your feet have navigated across the heartbeat of this fascinating and renowned city.
This is just one of the walking itineraries you can embark on, and with a stay in any of the centrally located hostels, Paris becomes more accessible, budget friendly and wide open to exploration.
