"Paris, Two Ways: Following my Compass from the Eiffel Tower to Montmartre

Paris is one of my favorite cities in the world. As we mature, our reasons for travel become different, we look at a destination in a different way. Actually what we are looking for is a feeling of the destination especially if you have visited before. You may have run around checking off the sites, visiting museums and rushing around to see it all.

Maybe you were with an ex-husband or in a relationship. At this point in our lives it is important to visit these cities again, but this time on your own with a different prospective. One that says, I want to feel what it is like to live in Paris. The neighborhoods, the real food, see how the city lives and take it all in. Traveling with intention and following your compass, is how I travel now. My last visit was last November. I love to travel in the off season, to see how the cities lives without the high tourist season. Just to wander and savor the life of each destination.

Join me in Paris as I tell you how I travel in this magical city.

I always feel excited to fly into Paris....Paris is a city of neighborhoods, each with its own rhythm, its own personalty, its own way of welcoming you.

But when you look at a map of the city it seems to large and complicated. Let's break it down so it makes sense for your type of travel now.

You can stay along the Left Bank in the Latin Quarter, where mornings begin with students and professors, moving between cafes and bookshops, and the streets feel lived-in, intellectual and quietly alive. I have stayed here before, and there is something grounding about it - here Paris feels, less like a visit and more like a place you temporarily belong.

Or you might choose Le Marais, where narrow streets are filled with boutiques, galleries, and an effortless energy that carries from morning into evening.

And then there is Montemartre, perched above the city, where Paris softens into something more artistic, more nostalgic...almost like stepping into a painting.

Having experienced Paris in different ways over the years, I've come to the realize that where you stay shapes everthing.

For this visit, we chose to stay near the Eiffel Tower and then move to Montemartre for another couple of days.

Not because it is the quietest part of Paris - it isn't.

And not because it is the quietest part of Paris - it isn't.

And not because the restaurants here are the most refined - they can be a little more touristy, though still very good.

We chose it for somewthing else. In a city this large, this layered, it helps to have something that grounds you.

And the Eiffel Tower does exactly that.

No matter where you wander - along the Seine, across the bridges, through streets you didn't plan to find - you can look up, catch a glimpse of it, and know exactly where you are.

It becomes your compass.

And then, just when the day begins to fade and the last light of sunset slips behind the rooftops...the tower changes. It begins to glow.

A soft, golden light that feels almost unreal at first, until you find yourself stopping , again and again, just to take it in.

You don't plan the first walk. It simply happens. After settling into your room, you find yourself drawn back out again, following the natural pull of the streets until they lead you to the river.

You walk without a map, without a plan, crossing bridges, turning corners, letting the evening unfold in its own time. Every so often, you look up. And there it is again. The Eiffel Tower, glowing softly now, quietly guiding you back.

By the next morning, something shifts. You are no longer arriving...you are in it.

You step out with a general sense of direction and allow the day to take shape as it will. A turn brings you to Notre Dame Cathedral, rising quietly along the Seine. Another path opens into the courtyard of the Louvre Museum, where the scale shifts again.

At some point, the walking gives way to something else. You find a cafe, take a seat, and watch the city move around you.

Locals sit outside year-round, even in November, wrapped in coats and scarves. There is a rhythm to it. And there's something else you notice.

In Paris, you can not smoke inside restaurants, so the outdoor tables are often the smoking section. If you prefer a smoke free experience, you simply ask for a table inside.

There is more to experience. The train to the Palace of Versailles is easy and yet it feels like another world. The gardens stretch endlessly, the pace slows, and the experience lingers.

Four nights here feels just right. There is time to arrive, to wander, to sit, and to experience the city without rushing. Staying near the Eiffel Tower gives you something invaluable. A sense of direction. A quiet confidence as you move through the city.

Your are never lost. Only wandering.

Paris has a way of meeting you where you are.

It does't overwhelm - it unfolds.

In quiet walks, in small pauses, in moments that build gently into lasting.

And always, somewhere in the distance, that soft golden glow reminding you...

you are exactly where you need to be.

"Paris does not ask you to keep up...it simply invites you to slow down, look around, and find your place within it".

-Patri

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Then we move to my favorite neighborhood: Montmartre. While Paris central has so much to see, this is where you go to eat.

Some are elegant, some are grounded....and some feel like they've stepped out of a painting. Montmartre is that place.

Perched above the city, it feels slightly removed from everything below - as though it exists in its own time, with its own rhythm. The streets are narrower, the turns less predictable, and the views...always just a little more dramatic.

You can visit Montmartre for an afternoon. But staying here is something else entirely. You go to Paris to see it...you come to Montmartre to taste Paris,

It is a place where Paris softens, where time stretches a little, where wandering, becomes something lighter and more spontaneous. And in November, when the crowds have thinned and the rhythm slows, you begin to see it differently. Not as a destination...but as a neighborhood. A place where people live, gather, celebrate, and simply enjoy being together.

And for a few days, you get to be part of that. A little higher, a little quieter, and just a bit more playful.

And then, as the day shifts into evening, Montmartre changes again. The light softens. The streets glow. And the energy becomes just a little more alive.

Staying here, even for a few nights, gives you something different from the rest of Paris. It's not about proximity to the main sights. It is about atmosphere. You feel removed from the busier parts of the city, yet still connected to it.

It is perfect after you've already found your rhythm - after you have used your compass, after you have learned how to move through Paris.

This is where you come to enjoy it.

The streets in Montmartre don't ask you to follow them, they invite you to get a little lost. A turn leads to a staircase. A staircase opens into small square. A square leads to a cafe you did not expect.

And somewhere along the way, you find yourself slowing down - not because you planned to, but because the space asks you to. There's a lightness here. A sense that not everything needs to be efficient or purposeful.

There is a charm about this neighborhood and it welcomes you to stroll and just discover every corner. Almost like a fairy tale is opening before you.

Here you take endless photos because it shows you all the details that you want to remember.

Cafes feel different here too. A little smaller. A little more tucked into the street. A little more...playful.

Here the Sacre-Coeur Basilica sits at the top of the hill. And that becomes your compass in Montmartre.

There are about 222 steps for the base of the hill up to the basilica. They are wide, gradual, and broken up naturally as you climb. Most people take them slowly, stopping along the way (which is part of the charm) You don't really climb them in a rushed way...you pause...you turn. You take in the view as it begins to open behind you. And especially in November, with fewer crowds, those pauses feel even more special - almost like the steps belong to you for a moment.

If you do not feel like taking the stairs or you can not walk the stairs, there is a great option for you. There's a funicular (small tram) right besides the stairs. You buy your ticket where it starts and within a minute or two you reach the top.

And once you reach the top, right next to the Church is a little quaint train which will take you around the neighborhood and back down to the main streets of Montmartre and right to the Moulin Rouge. Before we do that lets walk around the amazing area by the church.

There are so many artist in the square that are just waiting to sketch you. What a great memory of being in this area.

When you take the train down you find yourself at the Famous Moulin Rouge

In Montmartre you sit closer to everything - the conversation, the movement, the life of the neighborhood.

"And just like the rest of Paris, there's a rhythm to it. You learn when to sit outside, when to move in, when to linger, and when to simply watch the world pass by."

"Montmartre doesn't rush you. It lets you stay as long as you like."

-Patri