A typical 24 hour layover in PARIS❣️

My go-to routine for when I'm working a trip to the City of Love including how I prevent jet lag, what I eat, how long I snooze, and how to maximize my time in the city

Mar 01, 2024

Bonjour!

Before I get into all the deets, I feel like I should put a little disclaimer in here saying this is my routine for when I’m WORKING a trip to Paris, which is drastically different than if I were visiting as a tourist/ on vacation. With that being said, enjoy the read and glimpse into the life of a flight attendant :)

The City of Love

Paris has always been one of my favorite cities— it was the first city I ever visited in Europe, the architecture is some of the most beautiful in the world, the language is romantic, and the fashion is incredibly chic. My love for all things Parisian runs deep— I even had a Paris themed bedroom at one point growing up, so there’s no surprise Paris is my most frequented layover (domestically and internationally) as well as my most traveled route to date.

The Day Of Departure

Most of my international trips are very last minute, as in I find out the same day I leave. My report time for this week’s trip to Paris was 9:00pm, and I found out I was going on the trip at 12:00pm the same day. To make my trip a good one, I always have a certified lazy day on the day of departure to preserve my energy and fight the jet lag.

My Lazy Day To Do List:

Binge Watch TV (This week’s binge was Lessons in Chemistry)
A fat nap in the afternoon (As a Flight Attendant, the ability to take a nap at any time comes in handy)
Drink a TON of water (The more water I drink = The better I feel on the flight)
Eat a solid meal before I leave for the airport (No girl dinners allowed on day of departure)

Bonjour, Paris!

As soon as we land + deplane, the crew goes straight to the hotel. Depending on traffic, the drive can be anywhere from 25 minutes to an hour. On the bus, I either take a nap (the ability to nap at any time comes in handy once again) or I listen to a playlist to get me in the mood and look at the views like I’m in a romcom from the early 2000’s (or at least that’s what I like to think I look like).

This playlist is sure to get you in the mood for a trip to Paris.

A Typical Paris Itinerary

First things first, food. I tend to stay away from airplane food (we can cover the reasonings behind that in another post), so I am usually starving by the time I get to the hotel. Before I even check into the hotel, I’m getting a ham and cheese baguette + pain au chocolate from a local cafe. It’s always the same cafe, same 2 items, and the same man working the register telling me to have a nice stay, which is incredibly endearing.

After securing the goods and checking in, I head up to my room to take the best shower of my life. Our Paris hotel has one of the best shower and bed combos in the game, which is one of the reasons I enjoy the layover so much. The longer you fly, the pickier you get when it comes to the hotel you stay in. After my shower, it’s time to eat my baguette + croissant while watching something on tv (usually NCIS, which is one of the only shows in English on the TV).

Live footage of me enjoying my baguette + croissant. In case you're wondering why sandwiches are much better in France, it's because the French put a layer of butter on the sandwiches, try it at home ;)

Now that I’m full, a nap is in order. With my lazy day the day before combined with my crew rest* on the flight, I usually take a 2 hour nap and that gets me through the day.

*Side Note-Crew Rest is essentially a break we get on the flight where we can go to our bunk beds above/ below the plane and take a nap, watch Netflix, read, play games on our phone, etc. between services. This week’s crew rest was 1.75 hours going to Paris and 2.5 hours going home from Paris. I choose to take a nap every time; it helps fight the jet lag.

After waking up, it’s time to get moving! The day awaits! My first stop in Paris is always the grocery store. Something I didn't know before starting this job was how many flight attendants grocery shop in other countries. While there are still rules we have to follow about bringing certain foods back to the US, the rules are more flexible for crew members than tourists traveling abroad.

My Typical Grocery List in Paris:

Butter
Wine
Pain au Chocolates
Bread
Fun Noodle Shapes
Flavored chips we don’t have in the US (chicken flavor or any of the truffle flavor items are usually good)
This week's trip to the grocery store

Depending on my crew, I either meet up with other flight attendants/ pilots or fly solo for the rest of my layover. Paris is typically one I fly solo on which I don’t mind. I usually head out on a walk around the city next. Our hotel is not a far walk from the Arc de Triomph so I head that way and see where I end up. The streets are so beautiful, you never know what you’ll stumble upon.

For dinner, I’ll stop at a restaurant that looks like it has a good ambience and outdoor seating (I’m a sucker for a view). I try to eat at restaurants with food that I don’t have at home or something different than what I would normally eat.

Special shoutout to some of my favorite meals- A seafood restaurant that I went to with some crew members where the shrimp were the size of my hand, a fondue restaurant in Montmartre, and this pizza that lives in my head rent free.

After dinner, I’ll take a walk along the Seine and enjoy the views. This usually includes a sweet treat— because if you know me, you know I have the biggest sweet tooth. My favorite sweet treats in Paris include a Nutella and banana crepe, churros with Nutella, and gelato. What’s a trip to Paris without a sweet treat?

Next Up: The Eiffel Tower. There’s something so special about watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle and hearing the collective gasp on the hour when the twinkling starts. As many times as I’ve seen it twinkle, this is still one of my favorite things to do in Paris.

After exploring the city for the day, I head back to the hotel to pack up and get everything together for a good night’s rest. I try to sleep at least 10 hours at night before flying home the next day.

Go Home Day

“Go Home Day” is a frequent saying amongst flight attendants and trust me, we all LOVE Go Home Day. It simply means… we go home that day. It’s our version of TGIF for corporate workers. My Go Home routine in Paris is quite simple. I go to a bakery and get a pain au chocolate and a 5 count of beignets (the apple filled are my favorite) and enjoy them either on the bus to the airport or on a nice early morning walk, depending on the weather and what time pick up is.