E
FR · paris frParisthe capital · four days, walked, no metro after dark
DOSSIERFrance · First-time · 8 days · 3 cities
3 citiesFirst-timeTGV-routedBest: September · June · May
Eight days in France: Paris, Lyon, Mont-Saint-Michel
Paris for the icons. Lyon for the food. Mont-Saint-Michel for the silence.
Eight days, three cities, two TGVs, one tide. France is too big for a week and too small for a month — eight days is the honest middle. You get the icons in Paris, the bouchon dinner in Lyon that ruins you for any other dining room, and the dawn at Mont-Saint-Michel where the bay drains and the abbey looks like it's floating.
Paris is Days 1–4. Right Bank, Left Bank, Montmartre + Marais, then a slow day so you actually feel the city instead of just photographing it.
Lyon is Days 5–6. Two hours from Paris on the TGV, gastro capital of France, and the only place in the country where you can eat three Michelin-starred meals and a quenelle de brochet at a tiled-floor bouchon in the same week.
Mont-Saint-Michel is Days 7–8. The hardest to reach, the easiest to remember. You arrive in the late afternoon, walk the causeway as the tide is going out, and you have the abbey almost to yourself by 6pm because the day-trippers are on the bus back to Paris.
Total walking: ~50,000 steps. Total TGV time: ~5 hours. Skip August (Paris empties out, Lyon shuts down, MSM bakes). Best window: late April to late June, then September.
TL;DR
- —Paris (D1–4): Right Bank icons → Left Bank + islands → Montmartre/Marais → slow day
- —TGV Paris → Lyon (D4): 2h, Gare de Lyon → Lyon Part-Dieu
- —Lyon (D5): Fourvière, Vieux Lyon traboules, bouchon dinner
- —TGV Lyon → MSM (D6): ~5.5h via Paris-Montparnasse + TER to Pontorson
- —MSM (D7): abbey at opening, bay walk at low tide, Tombelaine view
- —Best months: May, June, September. Avoid August.
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The 3 postcards
one per city, ticket stubs in between
E
FR · lyon frLyongastro capital · two days, one bouchon, one Roman hill
E
FR · mont saint michel frMont-Saint-Michelthe island abbey · two days, one tide, one omelette
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8 days, end to end
color-coded by city · ticket stubs mark the trains
Right Bank icons
Louvre at opening, Tuileries promenade, Eiffel at sunset.
Louvre · Tuileries · Étoile · Trocadéro
- ⚡ 8 stops · ~9 km · 18,000 steps
- 🎫 Louvre: book 9am via official site
- 🏛️ Carrousel entrance, not the pyramid
- 🌅 Trocadéro for the Eiffel photo at sunset
- 🥖 Lunch on rue Sainte-Anne (Japanese row) or rue de l'Échelle
- 🚇 Métro: Line 1 east-west spine — covers all of Day 1
Left Bank + the islands
Sainte-Chapelle stained glass, Pantheon, Orsay before close.
Île de la Cité · Latin · Saint-Germain · Orsay
- ⚡ 7 stops · ~8 km · 16,000 steps
- 🪟 Sainte-Chapelle 9am opening — empty
- ⛪ Notre-Dame: exterior only (re-opened, timed entry)
- 📚 Shakespeare & Co. for the photo, not the books
- 🎨 Orsay closes 18h (21h45 Thursdays) — go late
- 🥗 Lunch in the 5th, dinner Saint-Germain
Montmartre + Marais
Sacré-Cœur at sunrise, Pompidou after lunch, Marais by night.
Sacré-Cœur · Pigalle · Pompidou · Marais
- ⚡ 7 stops · ~10 km · 21,000 steps
- 🌅 Sacré-Cœur at sunrise — empty + light
- 🎨 Pompidou: top floor for the city view
- 🥙 L'As du Fallafel: take-away window, not seated
- 🕍 Marais — Picasso Museum, Place des Vosges
- 🍷 Dinner: rue Vieille du Temple natural-wine bars
Slow day · pack for Lyon tomorrow
One last museum, one long lunch, one canal walk. TGV is 14:00 tomorrow.
Marmottan · Bois de Boulogne · Saint-Germain
- ⚡ 5 stops · ~7 km · 14,000 steps
- 🎨 Marmottan-Monet — Impression, Sunrise lives here
- 🌳 Bois de Boulogne for the Foundation
- 🏛️ Foundation Vuitton: Frank Gehry sailboat
- 🥐 Long lunch in Saint-Germain
- 🎒 Lay out tomorrow's packing tonight
Arrival + Vieux Lyon
TGV in by lunch, traboules in the afternoon, bouchon at 19:30.
Part-Dieu → Vieux Lyon · Bellecour
- 🚄 TGV Paris GdL → Lyon Part-Dieu, ~2h
- 🎫 TCL day pass €6.50 — funicular included
- 🚶 Traboules: rue du Bœuf 27, rue Saint-Jean 54
- ⛪ Lyon Cathedral — Astronomical Clock at noon
- 🍷 Pot lyonnais (46cl) of Côtes du Rhône
- 🍴 Reserve the bouchon BEFORE you board the TGV
Fourvière + Confluences
Roman ruins by morning, modern museum by afternoon, market wine.
Fourvière · Confluence · Croix-Rousse
- 🚠 Funicular F2 from Vieux Lyon to Fourvière
- 🏛️ Roman theatre — free, atmospheric, empty at 9am
- 📿 Fourvière basilica — gold mosaics, 360° city view
- 🏛️ Musée des Confluences — silver geometry, anthropology
- 🧀 Halles Paul Bocuse — Saint-Marcellin from Mère Richard
- 🌃 Croix-Rousse market evening
Arrival + the bay at sunset
Long transit day. Drop bags, walk the causeway as the tide drains.
Pontorson → MSM rock
- 🚄 Lyon → Paris-GdL → Métro to Montparnasse → TGV+TER → Pontorson
- 🚐 Free bay-shuttle Pontorson → MSM parking, 12 min
- 🚶 Causeway walk from parking to rock — 35 min, or ride the navette
- 🌅 Tide chart: aim for low tide between 19:00–21:00
- 🍷 Apéro on the ramparts before dinner
- 🛏️ Hotel inside the walls — porter your bag from the navette stop
Abbey at opening + bay walk
Abbey at 9am with no one. Bay floor at low tide. Train back via Pontorson.
Abbey · ramparts · Tombelaine view
- ⛪ Abbey opens 9h30 — be at the door 9:15
- 🎫 €13 abbey ticket, included with Pass Sites
- 👟 Sturdy shoes — the cloister floor is uneven, the bay is muddy
- 🌊 Low tide at 11:30 today (check before booking)
- 🐑 Lunch at La Mère Poulard if doing the omelette experience
- 🚄 TER Pontorson → Rennes 16:00 → Paris-Montparnasse 18:30
Pick a city
eat · sleep · shop · what travelers saidfor Paris
Eat well
four pastas, one pizza, no creamParis food is two things: the morning ritual (croissant, espresso, standing at the counter) and the long lunch (one wine, three courses, two hours, no rushing). Skip the dinner-on-the-Champs-Élysées fantasy.
showing 6 dishes, 5 places
Must-try
Croissant au beurre· croissant au beurre
Real butter, not margarine. Fresh-baked, not from a freezer bag. The good ones shatter when you tear them. €1.50 at a serious boulangerie, €4.50 at a hotel.
Best at Du Pain et des Idées (10th) or Cyril Lignac (multiple).
Steak frites· steak frites
Hangar steak (onglet) or rump (bavette), shallot sauce or béarnaise, hand-cut fries, one glass of Côtes du Rhône. The bistro standard.
Best at Le Relais de l'Entrecôte (no menu, just the steak).
Soupe à l'oignon gratinée· soupe à l'oignon
Caramelized onions in beef stock, baguette toast, melted Gruyère broiled on top. Old-school bistro warmth — order it after a long museum day.
Best at Au Pied de Cochon (Les Halles, open 24/7).
Falafel· falafel sabich
Pitas stuffed with chickpea fritters, eggplant, hummus, harissa. The Marais's contribution to Paris street food, and the best vegan lunch in the city.
Best at L'As du Fallafel, rue des Rosiers (the green awning).
Pain au chocolat· pain au chocolat
Two batons of dark chocolate in laminated dough. Northerners call it chocolatine — that's a different argument. Eat warm, ideally walking.
Best at Any boulangerie with a Best Baguette plaque.
Espresso noir· un café
Stand at the counter (au comptoir), pay €1.20. Sit at a sidewalk table, pay €4.50. Same coffee, two prices, both legit.
Best at Coutume Café or Café Verlet (1er) for the modern wave.
Hot spots
Le Comptoir du Relais
$$$bistro · Saint-Germain
Yves Camdeborde's tiny dining room. Lunch is walk-in, dinner is reserved 2 months out.
Onglet à l'échalote, île flottante
Breizh Café
$$crêperie · Le Marais
Buckwheat galettes, raw-milk butter, hard cider in earthenware bowls. Brittany on a plate.
Galette complète, caramel beurre salé crêpe
Frenchie To Go
$$sandwich + brunch · 2nd · rue du Nil
Greg Marchand's casual annex. The pastrami sandwich and the lobster roll are the play.
Pastrami on rye, fish & chips
L'As du Fallafel
$street food · Le Marais · rue des Rosiers
The green-awning institution. Take-away window — the seated room is half the speed at twice the price.
Falafel spécial
Pierre Hermé
$$pâtisserie · multiple · 6th flagship on rue Bonaparte
The macaron benchmark. Ispahan (rose-lychee-raspberry) is the one that got copied everywhere.
Ispahan macaron, Plénitude tart
Walk past these
- Anything with a sandwich-board photo on the Champs-Élysées or rue de Rivoli — €25 for a microwaved croque.
- 'Crêpe Nutella' carts at the Eiffel Tower base — €8 for a folded supermarket pancake.
- Onion-soup tourist menus near Notre-Dame — they reheat from a freezer bag, you can taste it.
- Booking a 'Seine dinner cruise' — overcooked food, prerecorded accordion, you can't see anything in the dark.
From travelers
what people said, unvarnishedTake the Métro line 6 across the elevated stretch from Bir-Hakeim to Passy at sunset. Eiffel Tower out the right-side window, no €30 ticket required, no queue. Hands down the best free thing in Paris.
— r/ParisTravelGuideTip
Pickpockets on Métro Line 1 between Châtelet and Champs-Élysées are aggressive — they work in groups of 3-4 teenagers. Phone in your front pocket, bag in front of you, don't engage with the 'do you speak English?' kid. They're not asking for directions.
— r/ParisTravelGuideHeads-up
Buy your Louvre ticket online with a 9am timed entry. Use the Carrousel entrance (the underground mall, not the pyramid) — 30 seconds through security vs. 45 minutes at the pyramid. Same museum.
— travel.stackexchange.comTip
Before you go
things the guidebooks left out№ 01
Book the TGV early
Prem's fares (€30–80) appear ~4 months before travel and sell out for popular weekends. Same-day walk-up is €100–180. Book Paris→Lyon and Lyon→Pontorson together via SNCF Connect (the official site) — third-party resellers add €5–15 per leg.
№ 02
Mont-Saint-Michel: check the tides
The bay tide chart (horaire-maree.fr/mont-saint-michel) tells you when the causeway parking is dry and when the abbey looks like it's floating. Aim to arrive within 2 hours of high tide for the postcard view, then walk the bay 4 hours later when it's drained.
№ 03
Carte Nationale d'Identité won't get you in
France is in Schengen — non-EU travelers need a passport valid for 3+ months past departure. ETIAS authorization launches mid-2026; check europa.eu/etias before booking summer 2026 onwards. Your driver's license is not ID at hotels.
№ 04
Cash is dead in cities, alive at MSM
Paris and Lyon: contactless everywhere, even at the bakery. Mont-Saint-Michel village: many small spots are cash-or-Mastercard-only. Pull €100 in cash before you leave Lyon — there are exactly two ATMs in Pontorson and they run dry on summer weekends.
№ 05
Lunch at 12:30, dinner at 19:30
Restaurants in France serve in two strict shifts. Show up at 14:00 and the kitchen is closed; show up at 18:30 and they're not open yet. Bouchons in Lyon often only do dinner. Reserve everywhere — La Fourchette is the local OpenTable equivalent.
№ 06
'Bonjour' is not optional
Walking into a shop, café, or hotel without saying 'Bonjour' first is the single biggest reason Anglophones think the French are rude. Lead with bonjour. Always. The whole interaction warms 10°C immediately.
The walk
streets, stops, and the shape of the dayUnfolding the map…
Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5Day 6Day 7Day 8
One version of many
Tell me your pace, dietary, days, budget — and I'll rebuild Paris + Lyon + Mont-Saint-Michel to match.