A Travel Diary
Nine days in the City of Light — May 30 to June 7, 2026
From the marble halls of the Louvre to the bone-lined Catacombs, the gilded excess of Versailles to a thousand little café tables — this is the trip, day by day, in the order it happened. Tap any photo to view it full size, or open the map to see where each moment was captured.
Paris rewards a slow pace, and nine days gave us room to take the city one neighbourhood at a time rather than sprinting between landmarks. We based ourselves in a single apartment for the whole stay, so mornings could start with a coffee and a croissant and no particular rush — and the unscheduled hours between the big sights turned out to be the ones worth keeping.
The trip built around the icons without being ruled by them. Two of the world's great museums, the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay, anchored the first half of the week. The Catacombs and the Panthéon gave the middle days a quieter, stranger texture — a city's memory kept underground. Then a day out to Versailles traded the streets for gilded halls and gardens that seem to run clear to the horizon, best seen from a rowboat on the Grand Canal.
The last stretch belonged to the river and the light. We climbed the Eiffel Tower for the long view back over everything we'd walked, and timed the evening to catch it sparkling on the hour. The newly reopened Notre-Dame, luminous after years of restoration, and the stained glass of Sainte-Chapelle made a fitting close — two rooms that do more with light than any photograph can hold.
This trip ran 9 days, May 30 – June 7, 2026. Along the way we spent time at Catacombes de Paris, Château de Versailles, Musée du Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Top of the Eiffel Tower, Cathédrale Notre-Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Panthéon, and Sainte-Chapelle. The gallery below tells it day by day, in 221 photographs.
Planning your own trip? Read Paris with kids: our 9-day itinerary & tips →
Fri 30 May
Musée du Louvre
Sat 31 May
Musée du Louvre · Along the Seine · Jardin des Tuileries · Place de la Concorde
Sun 1 Jun
Tour Eiffel · Arc de Triomphe · Champs-Élysées / Ladurée · La Défense (from afar)
Mon 2 Jun
Musée d'Orsay · Along the Seine
Tue 3 Jun
Catacombes de Paris · Jardin du Luxembourg · Panthéon
Wed 4 Jun
Trocadéro · Tour Eiffel · Top of the Eiffel Tower · Champ de Mars
Thu 5 Jun
Château de Versailles · Gardens of Versailles
Fri 6 Jun
Cathédrale Notre-Dame · Along the Seine · Sainte-Chapelle
Sat 7 Jun