Ah, finally! At last I get to visit this French capital that divides so many opinions. Either you love it or you hate it. I visited Paris in August and this is what I learned!

26 years it took me to finally visit Paris. It has long been on my travel wish list and now it finally happened.

I was happy to learn I still knew some French. I learned some French in school and was glad to notice I could remember some of it and could order tea and bread for myself. Although most of it is long forgotten (and I was happy they did not ask any followup questions too haha!).

Pro tip: if you want to save money, go before you turn 26. A lot of museums are free for 25 and under.

I was visiting my friend Noelle from my exchange in Seoul and it was great. She had a job so I visited the main attraction during the days by myself and met up with her for dinner in the evenings.

All in all I was in Paris for 4 nights and almost 5 days.

Paris in August – here are some interesting things I learned

• Enjoy the artsy parts of Paris in Montmartre

Want to walk around to see artists paint or create a portrait of you? Then the Montmartre area is for you.

• You can check the live waiting times to the Louvre

Through this page you can see how long the lines are to the Louvre right now, if it is closed etc. I learned about this page as it was also advertised close to the entrances.

• The metro stations have fun names and themes

Taking the Paris public transport you’ll find that the stations are named Italy, Orleans and such. There are own themes on different stations such as the potato themed station Parmentier.

Oh and it is really loud in the metro, so you’ll have to put on higher sound on your music or audiobook to be able to hear it.

• Many gave money to beggars in the public transport

I won’t be able to retell what they were speaking as it was in French but still I saw many people doing this in Paris, helping the ones in need.

• The weather in Paris in August can fluctuate from hot to cold

During the mornings I was glad I had my pants on and during afternoon I was glad I could change to a skirt as it was so hot. So pack for everything! Oh and it did rain a couple of days during my visit too.

• The metro is not made for people with wheelchairs or strollers

In some stations there are only stairs so there is no way for people alone with their stroller or wheelchair to get by in a good way. So please help out! At one station I stopped and helped a mother with her stroller too.

• A lot of places might be closed due to renovations

I had some bad luck. After visiting the Eiffel Tower I wanted to go to a couple of museums but they turned out to be closed. But I visited Musée de l’Homme and it was really interesting!

• Not too many 7-elevens nearby

So you’ll have to prepare a bit if you want to have some quick snacks.

(Or maybe I am just used to them having soo many seven elevens in Seoul and Stockholm!)

Four things to do for a budget stay in Paris in the autumn

1. Go window shopping on Champs Elysees or Galeries Lafayettes.
2. Take walks to the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and take the must-have pictures for free. You don’t need to go up unless you want to of course. And this way you get the monument in the picture too instead of looking out from it.
3. Eat at a kiosk rather than a restaurant. You can save up some euros to do this!
4. Visit the Wall of Love in the Montmartre area. There you can find the words I love you written in many languages – can you find yours there?

Paris history

Thanks to Noelle I got a nice VIP tour only for me during my visit in Paris in August when she could tell me more about some history about this city. Let’s get more into this next.

The capital of France is called Paris is called so because of a Celtic group called Parisii

They came in and mingled with the people living in Paris and then decided to name it after themselves. Interesting!

The heaviest history of France is when the king and queen got killed due to treason

In early 1790’s the king and queen – Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette – we’re captured and killed. This was the end of the monarchy.

The Eiffel Tower was not supposed to stay

The Eiffel Tower was created for a Paris exhibition and to stay for only 20 years since it was built 1889.

Oh and fun fact: according to talkinfrench.com, Eiffel Tower was first meant for Spain but got rejected by them.

The city as it looked like today is thanks to Haussmann

A man named Haussmann got selected to renew the city, widen the streets, better the traffic and create new buildings. So it is thanks to him that wee see Paris as it is today. Also why you might see this name around in Paris.

Now you’ve reached the end of this post regarding Paris in August. What did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section – I’d love to hear!