Paris served as the central hub for our trip. It was our stopover to await a train or plane to take us to our next destination. We spent two days here. One day at the beginning and one day at the end of our trip.
Our first day here was on the fourth day of our trip. I booked The Grand Hotel Francais on the Boulevard Voltaire in the 11th Arrondissement of Paris. We were scheduled to take a night train to Venice the next evening so I chose a hotel close to Gare de Bercy. It was a nice place in a more residential part of the city. The hotel was furnished with a modern decor. Our room was on the second floor in the corner with balconies on both sides. The location was conveniently located two blocks from the Nation Metro stop. Directly across the street there was a grocery store and a patisserie. It was a great choice for our first stay in Paris.
We spent most of our first day at the Louvre. Looking at amazing art. I took several pictures of an Asian man with the Mona Lisa. We ate great sourdough bread from the original Poilane bakery. I was reprimanded for taking pictures of Pierre Herme’s wonderful chocolates. I tasted the most wonderful macaron made of vanilla and olive oil. Yes. Olive oil. We walked along the Seine to Notre Dame. What a great way to spend the day!
More Than A Foodie 
Mmm. Vanilla and Olive Oil. I haven’t tried this combination. I need to figure out how to do that…or how to get back to Paris asap.
It was delicious. We stopped at Pierre Herme after Poilane. We also had a salted caramel (mmm) but the olive oil and vanilla was hands down the winner. Chad described it as “candy for adults”! I got in trouble for taking pictures here. Oops! We did buy some Laudree at the airport to spend the rest of our Euro, but I agree Pierre was better. Hope you are well!