The Best of Paris in a Week: The Louvre, Shopping, & Montparnasse Observation Tower

Hello everyone! Welcome to another day of adventuring in the City of Lights! If you’re following the Best of Paris in a Week mini-series, this is day 5 of exploration.

For the full 6-day tour of Paris (which is organized by geographical locations), read the rest of the series and download this cheat sheet. Doubled-up attractions show where you have time to do one or the other.

If you’re interested in a full booklet-sized guide to these 6 posts that’s super easy to take with you on your trip, be sure to sign up for the blog to access it!

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Day 5: The Louvre, Shopping & Montparnasse Observation Tower

As you can see in the suggested schedule above, today offers a variety of activities and an extremely flexible schedule. If you love art, you can spend an entire day (and then some) exploring the Louvre. If not, it’s a great time to do some shopping that’s not limited to souvenir shops. The evening’s finale is my personal favorite part: a breathtaking view of Paris at night!

The Louvre

The Interior Courtyard of the Louvre Palace

Whether or not you know a lot about art, the Louvre is a must-see for your trip. As the world’s largest museum, it is unparalleled in both its collection and architecture. The gorgeous array of artwork and historical artifacts cover history from many cultures all the way back to ancient civilizations!

Oh, and if you happen to have one of those handy Museum Passes I keep talking about, you can get in for no additional charge! (Learn more in How to Vacation in Paris on a Budget.)

Because there are so many things to see, I highly recommend that you choose a few things to view and map out a good route to get from one area to another. Unless, of course, you want to dedicate the entire day to exploring the museum. In that case, have at it!

A couple of things that I highly recommend adding to your tour are the Mona Lisa (of course!) and the French Crown Jewels. The Mona Lisa may take a few minutes to see due to the crowds that seem to flock there, but it’s worth a look for all its fame. The French Crown Jewels are just exquisite, and I spent quite some time taking them all in.

Keep in mind that some of the areas are quite extensive, and you may not want to tour the whole area. For example, you may think you’re taking a quick detour into ancient Egypt, but it can take 45 minutes just to get through the hieroglyphics and Anubis statues. Keep an eye on your map for exits from the area if you want a change of pace, so you don’t waste a lot of time backtracking.

As you walk, don’t forget to look up and around you, because art isn’t the only interesting thing about the Louvre. The Louvre was originally a French palace, and the architecture of the building is stunning. Painted ceilings, gilded statues, ornate windows–the Louvre has it all.

Once you’ve had enough art for the day, be sure to check out the Louvre’s gift shops on the way out. The shop has a wide selection of gifts from hand-made pottery and jewelry to art replicas and books for fairly reasonable prices.

Carrousel du Louvre

But don’t spend all your money at the gift shop! Just outside the Louvre, the Carrousel du Louvre shopping center awaits! There are 36 shops and 10 restaurants in the mall, where you can find everything from clothes to chocolate. It’s a nice place to find some more authentic Paris items to take home with you.

Galeries Lafayette

However, if you prefer a more intense (and expensive) shopping experience, skip the Carrousel du Louvre and catch a metro to the famous Galeries Lafayette.

The Galeries Lafayette is a huge, multi-level, high-end shopping mall by Boulevard Haussmann. I will warn you that the atmosphere and layout can be a bit intimidating, but if you like new experiences, it can also be exhilarating.

The mall’s focal point is a beautiful, colored glass dome. You can actually get a perfect view from their glasswalk on the third floor. Additionally, you can climb all the way to the top of the mall and step out on the roof for another gorgeous view of Paris.

The mall opens with the Galeries Lafayette store acting as almost a welcome center of the complex. It sells a variety of adorable and comparatively inexpensive clothing items and accessories. If you’re on a tighter budget, you may want to focus your shopping here.

Once you pass the Galeries Lafayette’s opening nook, you’ll find yourself in a vast open space. The shops in the main center are all designed in an open concept. Literally, one step can take you from one shop to the next without even realizing it in many cases. More expensive stores such as Luis Vuitton and Prada have private shops with security and often a line to get into the store.

Each floor is organized by the type of product, rather than the store. On the first floor, you’ll find items such as purses, watches, makeup, and perfume. Another level has books and office supplies, and another is primarily dedicated to children.

*Each of these gorgeous balconies leads to another floor of shopping*

However, this is where it can be confusing. Perhaps you want a Calvin Klein watch and a shirt. You’ll have to find the Calvin Klein watch shop on the first floor and then go up a few stories to find the Calvin Klein clothing shop. Technically, it’s a brilliant concept if you’re in the market for specific items. But, if you’ve never done it before, you may be a bit overwhelmed. I wish I had known when we went that there was a Galeries Lafayette app that gives you your location and helps you find the stores you want to visit. I highly recommend downloading the app to make your experience more enjoyable.

One final note on the Galeries Lafayette mall: the stores get more expensive the further in you go. I was a bit surprised to find Calvin Klein and Coach brands on the lower end of the cost spectrum when we went. It seems that the layout is organized both by item type and cost. Personally, it was fun to see some brands that were so outrageously expensive that I’d never heard of them. But it was also a bit overwhelming since those brands seemed to dominate the mall. Thankfully, there are a decent number of stores that are more common in America, and you may find your best luck there if you don’t want to blow a month’s paycheck on a designer t-shirt. And again, the actual Galeries Lafayette shop was also reasonable and had lots of cool stuff.

Montparnasse Observation Tower

Now that you’ve emptied your wallets and walked all day, it’s time to head to one of the most beautiful evening spots in Paris: the Montparnasse Tower. This building provides a full panoramic view of Paris from the rooftop and is considered the city’s best view! It’s about 18 euros per person, and it’s open until 10:30 or 11 p.m. each night.

Side note: If you’re hungry at this point, check out the Eric Kayser bakery just across the street. They have a small but delicious selection of sandwiches, salads, soups, and bread, and their desserts are both beautiful and scrumptious!

Once you’ve bought your observation deck ticket at Montparnasse Tower, an elevator will take you up to the 56th floor, where you can see much of the city through floor-to-ceiling windows. There’s even an interactive area that shows how the city of Paris developed over the centuries, overlayed on the actual scene before you. The 56th floor also houses a gift shop and cafe with standard tourist items.

If you’re brave enough to climb to the Terrace, head up to the rooftop for an utterly unobscured view of Paris at night. From here, you will get the absolute best nighttime view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It’s a ways away, but it’s also wholly unobstructed from the top of the tower, and it is gorgeous! You’ll also be able to see a variety of famous monuments such as the Sacré-Cœur, the Louvre, and the Arc de Triomphe, to name a few. Each of these is particularly beautiful from this height, bathed in glowing lights and wrapped in the peaceful atmosphere of the Parisian evening. You will not want to miss it.

If your week in Paris only includes five days, this is really the most perfect way to end it. You’ll get an epic final view of many of the places you visited during the week and truly understand why this is the City of Lights.

However, if you have an extra day and about $85 extra dollars per person, don’t miss the post for day 6: Disneyland Paris!

Thanks for stopping by to check out my guide to Paris! If you have questions or comments, be sure to leave them for me below! If you’re in your Paris planning stages, be sure to save this pin below so you can easily find this guide later, and don’t forget to share it with your friends, too!

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