So you have a few days in Paris?

Awesome! It's the best city in the world. 

What should you do?

First of all, you need to find your housing. Try air bnb for cheap housing, otherwise hostelworld has always been my trusty companion. For where to stay, my favorite areas in Paris are probably in arrondissements 3-6 and 18. So basically, le Marais, the areas by the Pantheon and Notre Dame, and Montmartre. Keep in mind, I'm not the biggest fan of the more classy expensive areas, so these areas I'm suggesting are a bit more bohemian. I also feel like if you're in this area, you should be in good walking distance to the best stuff.

Before planning your trip, you should also check the weather. Is it going to rain one of the days you're here? Cool, go to the museums and churches you want to see that day. You'll be inside away from the rain, and you won't miss the city that is the most beautiful place in the world with even a bit of sun. My favorite museum is Musée d'Orsay (I have an unnatural obsession with Édouard Manet), and the Louvre is like a giant fantasy land for anyone who's ever taken art history. Notre Dame is beautiful inside, and so is Sacre Coeur in Montmartre (although you should really just go up there for the view alone). If you want some French history, it's worth the journey to St. Denis to see some dead kings, and obviously you have to go to St. Chapelle.  This should satisfy the inner tourist we all have inside.

Did you get a student ID from your university abroad? Good. Bring it. You'll get free admission into most things (not the Eiffel Tower - it's expensive for everyone). And if the people at the ticket offices argue and say you're not a European student so you can't get in free, just speak whatever language you're learning at the moment (if it's not French, they'll obviously be able to tell by your accent that you're not French) and hope that they think you really are Spanish (or Danish, etc). If they still won't let you in, or if your ID didn't have the birth date on it, with your regular ID that says you're under 26 you should at least get a discount. 

Since you did all the indoor things when it was raining (or not - you can also plan it by where you are in the neighborhood), you can explore. Organize what you want to do by the public transportation and arrondissement. When you get here, you should get a metro pass first thing. That gets you on the metro, the bus, the RER (which goes to Versailles (which is free the first sunday of every month btw) if you're into that), and the tram. Also, knowing where you're going in relationship to the Seine is a good idea. 

For example, one day you could stay southeast of the Seine, and then planning by metro, walk from Sèvres-Babylone to Jussieu (follow the 10). It's a great walk through le Quartier Latin. You'll also go by the Pantheon, Place Monge (which I love especially for the pharmacy there), and you'll see where people actually go to school. 

From Jussieu, you could go North to the area around Pont Marie which is super cool (you'll get the best crêpes around there because it has a larger community from Bretagne, where they're all about them crêpes). You'll walk around Notre Dame that way, and then you'll somehow end up by Hôtel de Ville and Châtelet, or right by le Marais (which will answer your falafel prayers with L'as du Falafel).

Or if you're doing the buses, if you take the 84 from the Pantheon it takes you by Saint Sulpice, which is a super cool area, the Bon Marché, through Place de la Concorde where they cut everyone's heads off during the Revolution, and to Place de la Madeleine. Stop there, get a macaron from Fauchon (not Ladurée - it's not worth the hype, as I've said a billion times before), walk from there to L'Opera (or if you're feeling the bus, get the 52 there), then go to Les Galleries Lafayettes not to shop (because who can afford that?) but to just admire the insane architecture. And right by there, you can walk through Rue Taitbout and eventually run into one of my favorite streets, Rue des Martyrs. Now you're in Montmartre. Feel free to hike up to Sacre Coeur for the view. Of course, it's always fun to see le Moulin Rouge. (It's insanely expensive to enter though for the show, unfortunately, and I'm not talking about my hate-to-pay-for-anything prices, but it's like 200 euro plus).

Now as far as the Eiffel Tower goes, I don't recommend actually climbing up it. Instead, take the metro (or the 63 bus for the more scenic route) to Trocadéro. If you need to take the metro, definitely take the 6 because it runs above ground to the Trocadéro stop (you see more of Paris that way). At Trocadéro, you can get your good pictures of the Eiffel (it's super pretty at night by the way) and it's FREE, y'all. We're students. It's 11 euro to actually go in the Eiffel. I've done it before, and it was lovely, but you'll get the same view from the top of the Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, or L'Arc de Triomphe (all free for students all the time!). However, it's your money, and if you need to do it, go ahead. To do that, I'd suggest walking from Pont Alexandre (metro Invalides) along the Seine until you hit the tower. Do this at sunset. It's incredibly beautiful, and by the time you get to the Eiffel, it should be lit up.

South East Paris is also pretty kick-ass (let's be real, the whole city is amazing, even the non-amazing parts are amazing... Does that make sense?). In metro-plan talk, anywhere from Bastille to Tolbiac is awesome. Bastille has your good bars and clubs at night (when I say clubs, if you're coming from Spain, they're nothing near as intense as Spanish clubs, but I like 'em all the same), and Tolbiac is getting you near good Asian food territory. I studied in Spain for four months, and [good] Asian food was almost non-existent there. Coming here and going to Avenue de Choisy (my favorite for Thai is Thai Vien) was like heaven. Also, at the North end by Belleville (metro 2 and 11), you'll find incredible Chinese food. 

Also, all the gardens and parks are incredible, especially during the spring. (Tuileries, Luxembourg, etc, etc).

But anyway, this is just a basic what's the most awesome in Paris thing. Everything in Paris is amazing, and I want to live here for the rest of my life. 

Sorry for the overuse of the words amazing, incredible, and awesome.

Can you tell I might like Paris just a bit?

Have fun!