We just got home from our two week trip to France celebrating my 30th birthday. I have been dreaming of visiting the Provence region for a long time and my birthday seemed like the perfect opportunity. Starting our trip in Paris was a logical choice. It’s one of our favorite cities and the perfect jumping off point for a Provencal adventure. I will be sharing our full itinerary for Provence later, but first I wanted to share my top 5 must see spots in Paris.

I’ve shared a few of our favorite spots in Paris in this post, but we found a few new must see spots on this trip that are definitely worth a visit the next time you’re in the city of lights.

We stayed at the beautiful Hotel Alfred Sommier, located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The property has recently been converted from a family mansion into a gorgeous hotel. The hotel has been open for about a year now and is definitely worth a stay. Both Brian and I were completely in love with everything about the property. The location, the gorgeous room, the quiet courtyard which is the perfect spot for an evening drink… it was all amazing. The staff could not have been more welcoming and we even had the pleasure of meeting the owner! He joined us one evening for a drink and filled us in on the origins of the property. We will definitely be staying at Hotel Alfred Sommier again. It is truly a home away from home.

One thing we love about Paris is the gardens. Our favorites are the Tuileries and Palais-Royal. This trip we finally made it to the Jardin du Luxembourg, which are beautiful! On our way over to the gardens we stopped for brunch at an amazing little restaurant, Treize Bakery. This was our favorite meal in Paris. The food is delicious and little bit of southern goodness in the middle of Paris. The staff is so friendly, too!

We don’t spend too much time in museums while we’re in Paris, because we prefer to be out walking the city but we do try to visit one on each trip. This time we made it to the Rodin Museum. It’s such a beautiful museum and the grounds are a great place to spend an afternoon. We did a quick tour through the museum and then spent the rest of the time in the gardens. There is a little cafe so we grabbed a cup of sorbet and sat underneath the trees, people-watching!

There is no shortage of excellent cafes to grab a cup of coffee in Paris, but we found a place on our last day that is worth a mention. Honor Cafe is a super cute open-air cafe where you can grab a cup of coffee for takeaway or pick a cozy spot to rest your feet. The banana bread is also amazing!

Our last little spot that we always love to visit while in Paris is Rue Cler. It’s such a charming little street with cafes and shops. This trip we made our way to Rue Cler in the early evening and stopped at a few of the shops to grab some fresh fruit, a baguette, and a bottle of wine to take with us for a picnic by the Eiffel Tower. It’s only about a ten minute walk from Rue Cler to the Champ-de-Mars so it’s a great place to stop if you’re near the Eiffel Tower.

Do you have any must see spots in Paris? I’d love to hear! xo Bryn