Exploring Paris for Three Days
View of the Eiffel Tower from Palais de Chaillot
Budget Hotel Weekend Hell in Paris
Don’t budget a hotel in Paris—especially last minute. I booked late and ended up in a two-star hotel in the 19th arrondissement, which wasn’t ideal for getting around. Next time, Airbnb all the way.
My January trip focused on museums I missed in October.
Musée d'Orsay – Van Gogh’s Starry Night Over the Rhone (when not on loan!)
Petit Palais – Free entry, stunning paintings & sculptures
Musée de l'Armée – World War II exhibits on Free France (1940–1945)
Musée de l'Orangerie – Famous for Monet’s Water Lilies (but closed when I visited)
Entry: Varies between £13–£15. Musée d'Orsay is free on the 1st Sunday of the month (pre-book), while Petit Palais is always free except for special exhibitions.
Also, this was my first trip with the Leica M11—a game-changer. Wish I’d bought it sooner!
Getting to Paris (And Why You Should Avoid the 19th Arrondissement)
Flight: Birmingham to Beauvais (40 minutes)
Transport: Uber to Beauvais train station → Train to Paris Gare du Nord (~1 hour)
Metro vs. Uber: Metro is great, but avoid walking alone in the 19th arrondissement at night.
All travel round Paris this time was via the metro other than returning to the hotel late at night on the second day was by uber as I didn’t want to walk about the 19th with my camera. Staying in the 19th arrondissement seemed like a good idea at first, but when I found myself wandering dimly lit streets at midnight and avoiding suspicious characters, I knew I’d made a mistake going super budget.
The metro ride back to the hotel felt like a mission, and I quickly learned that location in Paris is actually really important for me despite the metro being good. Places like Stalingrad, Jaurès or Mouzaia are areas in all honestly to avoid and if I’m being honest I would recommend avoiding the 19th altogether.
Quick Overview of The Trip
Day One: Spend time in Jardin des Tuileries before moving to Petit Palais to view paintings and sculptures before crossing the Pont Alexandre III bridge. As it was raining I headed quickly to Esplanade des Invalide to take in the World War II content at the Musee De L’Armee.
Day Two: Saw a trip to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower, a trip to Musee D’Orsay, a walk to Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris and Place de l’Hotel de Ville. A quick call in at the Leica store and a final stop off at Palais Garnier.
Day Three: Traveled to the airport to fly home as it was a early take off.
Capturing the Eiffel Tower: in The Freezing Cold
North West view from the second floor of the Eiffel tower with Shadow
The Eiffel Tower is amazing, but at this time of year on the second floor (as the summit was closed) it was bloody cold, so wear a hat and maybe gloves if you go in January.
Visiting the tower was done early on the second day to beat the crowds and even without a ticket I got straight through security checks very quickly, before buying a hot chocolate to warm up and then buy the tickets to go up the tower.
I opted to take the lift just for quickness as the cost was £19.20 per person using the lift, if you want to walk to the second floor then it’s about £12.00. If you want to see the other prices and buy a ticket then this is the link to the Official Eiffel Tower website.
I took the image above whilst on the second floor as I liked the way Pont d'Iéna (the bridge) led straight to the skyscrapers between Palais de Chaillot at the top of the picture, whilst the shadow of the Eiffel Tower was falling to the right of the landscape.
The three images below were taken under the tower bar the third image of the joints on a main beam which was taken on the first floor. it was all the detail you can could see on the structure that lead me to take these images.
For the image below I set my camera up on the floor with a ZEISS Biogon T* 2/35 ZM and tilted it slight to ensure the full view of the tower was in. I shot a few images like this but liked this the best with the sun flare in the top right hand corner as you can see how busy it was, the men trying to sell souvenirs and the parting that allows the view of the tower in the middle.
The image right at the top of the blog was taken in the same spot but I was stood up and shot that from near my waist. I wear my camera on a 126cm rope strap as I’m not a fan of the short straps that hold the camera literally around the top of your chest.
Palais de Chaillot View of The Eiffel Tower
The final three images below were shot at Opéra straight after getting to the top of the steps leading out form the metro in front of Palais Garnier, I always seem to attract myself to protest or people hold up a message on placards.
The second picture of the man sitting down and the shadows was when I was walking past two people along the Seine as I was making my way to the Musée d'Orsay.
The final image was walking towards Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris. If you click on this picture and look closely you will see the little girl in the window with her hand pressed against the glass, looking out into the world, totally oblivious to the fact that two men are randomly practicing their bouldering skills directly below.
Street Images
Final Thoughts on Paris: Why I’ll Be Back (With a Better Hotel)
Paris is a city that I really really love and I will be going back in Spring and Summer to get different images mainly in colour on my M6. I fancy going back when the Paris marathon is on as it will be busy which is great for street images, also I’m considering doing some images in all the jardins as they are always beautiful in the good weather.
Another thing I’d focus more on is the food so will try get some content on that aspect of the trip as well so if you're a foodie watch this space.
One thing is certain tho, that I will be going back to the 9th arrondissement to stay, so have budgeted to spend a bit more on the accommodation. This will help reduce travel cost (ubers), help to feel safer and ultimately have better experience overall.