I’ve alluded to my ever-growing To Do for Fun list in previous posts, but I never actually talked about what was on it. The list currently stands at 61 items, although a couple have been removed after further research (for example, tickets to the Moulin Rouge are outrageously expensive, so we decided we weren’t interested) and a few are big ol’ maybes (like the Grand Palais, which is beautiful from the outside but only worth going in if you want to see whatever exhibition is going on at the time). Generally I have not added restaurants or shops; I track those separately in Google Maps.

I have so many lists! It’s as though making lists and crossing things off is my full-time job these days! (Funny because it’s true.)

So anyway, by the numbers: We’ve been in Paris for about 7 weeks. Our list is 61 items long. We’ve accomplished 26. That’s an average of almost 4 per week, which I think is pretty darn good considering that 50% of our household is holding down a full-time job.

If you want the full run-down – which, I should warn you, is longer than a transatlantic flight – you can see the list below. To make things less overwhelming, I’ve organized the list into categories and added some photos and notes. I’ll post updates every now and then as things get added or accomplished, and if you have any suggestions for things that should be on La Liste but currently aren’t, let me know!

Museums: 7 accomplished, 7 to go

1. Louvre
2. Musée Eugene Delacroix – this is free with a Louvre ticket
3. Musee de l’Orangerie – home to Monet’s water lily paintings
4. Musée d’Orsay
5. Victor Hugo’s house – free all the time!
6. Centre Georges Pompidou – museum of modern and contemporary art
7. Petit Palais – be sure to eat at the garden cafe
8. Grand Palais? – only open for exhibitions
9. Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle
10. Musée Picasso
11. Musée Rodin
12. Musée des Arts et Métiers – science museum
13. Musée Quai Branly – indigenous art
14. Dôme des Invalides – Napoleon’s tomb

Carved trees at the Pompidou

Winged Victory of Samothrace at the Louvre

The clock at Musée d’Orsay

Monet’s Water Lilies at the Orangerie

Monuments and Landmarks: 9 accomplished, 5 to go

15. Place de la Concorde
16. Champs Élysées
17. Arc de Triomphe
18. Place de Bastille
19. Paris Point Zero – small plaque in the plaza outside Notre Dame
20. Sainte Chapelle – go on a sunny day so the stained glass windows are maximally impressive!
21. Conciergerie – formerly a palace and a prison; where Marie Antoinette was held
22. Pantheon
23. Tower tour of Notre Dame
24. Audio tour of Notre Dame – we’ve walked through several times but never paid for the audio guide
25. Eiffel Tower summit
26. Montmartre, I Love You wall, and top of Sacré Coeur – we’ve walked by but haven’t yet gone into Sacré Coeur
27. Paris Catacombs
28. Ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde

Sainte-Chapelle

Paris Point Zero

Arc de Triomphe

Gargoyle atop Notre Dame

Parks: 8 accomplished, 5 to go

29. Coulée verte – still want to run 5k from Bastille to Bois de Vincennes
30. Jardin des Plantes
31. Place des Vosges
32. Jardin du Luxembourg
33. Square du Vert-Galant – tiny park at the western end of Île de la Cité
34. Parc des Buttes-Chaumont
35. Tuileries
36. Esplanade des Invalides
37. Bois de Vincennes – particularly the Paris Jazz Festival in June/July and Classical Music Festival in August/September
38. Bois de Boulogne
39. Père Lachaise cemetery – check out the guillotine stones nearby
40. Parc de Saint-Cloud
41. Walk the Canal Saint-Martin

Square du Vert-Galant

Jardin des Plantes

Activities and Events: 1 accomplished, 9 to go

42. Paris Walks tours – Montmartre, Marais I, Marais II
43. Jazz club
44. St. Sulpice organ concert
45. Cinema en Plein Air in the summer
46. Salsa/swing dancing along the river in the summer
47. Show at Palais Garnier
48. Show at Opera Bastille
49. Fête de la musique on June 21 – free music festival with bands and performances all across the city
50. Bastille Day, including firemen’s balls, military parade, and fireworks on the Champs de Mars
51. Paris Plages in July/August, including swimming/canoeing in the Canal Saint-Martin

Train Trips: 0 accomplished, 6 to go

52. Versailles
53. Toulouse – city in southern France recommended by multiple friends
54. Giverny – home to Monet’s gardens
55. Cider tasting in Normandy?
56. Fontainebleau? – a fancy château
57. Château de Chambord? – another fancy château

Miscellaneous: 1 accomplished, 3 to go

58. Rue Crémieux – possibly the “most Instagrammed street in the world”
59. Marché aux Enfants Rouges – large covered market with lots of food vendors
60. Thanksgiving grocery store – started by an American ex-pat, this store has every awful processed food item you could want, like PopTarts and Heinz ketchup
61. Macarons from Ladurée

Rue Crémieux

Paris cobblestones