Had you asked me a month ago if I foresaw a trip to Paris during the Olympics on my 2024 bingo card, I likely would have laughed at you. “Paris, during the Olympics? Yeah, right.” Well, as life would have it, I somehow ended up in the French capital during the world’s largest sporting event—after only a few days of planning.
I guess you can say that grief technically led me there, as I literally planned the trip two days after my maternal grandfather’s funeral. Realizing that I needed a change of scenery, and after my Instagram algorithm voluntarily curated itself to show mostly Paris-related content, I knew where I wanted to go.
I am a pretty avid traveler, but planning an impromptu trip to Europe in about a day and a half isn’t for the weak. Luckily, I’m not one to gatekeep, so I’m going to share how I successfully mapped out my escape. From booking a last-minute flight to snagging tickets to one of the actual Olympic events, here’s how I did it with just six days to spare.
My first order of business was securing a flight. I’m based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and we’re a major hub for American Airlines. Because of this, departing flights tend to skew higher, and add to that, it was a last-minute flight during a high-demand time. I wasn’t willing to pay upwards of $1500 – $2000 for a few days in Paris, so I opted to use airline miles instead. After playing around with a small window of date options based on my schedule, I landed on a nonstop flight leaving on a Saturday and returning on Wednesday, which cost me right at 100,000 miles plus the $90 tax. Yes, this is high for an award flight, but hey, when else can I say that I went to Paris for the Olympics? And also, self-care.
Next was the hotel, and this was probably the hardest part for me because I’m very picky with hotels. I’ve been to Paris twice before, and one of those was a work trip, so I didn’t have to pay for my hotel then. After scouring sites like Booking.com and Tripadvisor for hours, I landed on a newly renovated boutique hotel called Hotel Basss in the Montmartre neighborhood. I read reviews, looked at traveler photos (those are key), and compared prices to similar accommodations. For my three-night stay, I paid around $530 for a room with a double bed. It was a standard Parisian hotel, meaning it was pretty small, but since I was rolling solo, it didn’t bother me. Plus, I was already used to the size of the hotels in the area from previous visits.
You can’t go all the way to Paris during the Olympic Games and not actually attend an event. So, my next order of business was to see if I could make that happen for myself. When the tickets initially opened up in 2023, I started searching just to get a general idea of how much it would cost to attend one day. So, I already knew how it worked as far as the official 2024 Paris Olympics ticketing site. For this recent trip, I filtered the site by my specific travel dates to see what was still available—and within my budget. Since people were actively purchasing in real time, there were a few events that I wanted to attend but they ended up selling out before I could reach the checkout screen. I landed on a lower-level seat to the third round of the women’s tennis play, which was 135 euros.
Now that all the hard stuff was done, I took time to begin mapping out my on-the-ground travel and understanding how Paris transportation systems were running with the Games happening. After reading blogs, I found that an unlimited rides pass was being offered across most of the city for around 16 euros per day (and even more discounted the more days you purchase at once). That meant I could take the train from the airport to my Olympic event and to Disneyland Paris—which I ended up buying a 1-day ticket to as well—with this pass. I initially bought a 2-day ride pass through the Bonjour RATP app for 30 euros to see how I liked it. It turned out to be the best decision.
Once in Paris, I spent day one just exploring, mostly. I pulled up on the free Joe Fresh Goods pop-up art show, perused the designer sections of Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, and grabbed lunch at Black-owned Malibu African Kitchen. After a nap and recharge, I met up with a friend who lives in Paris for dinner and drinks at a super cute speakeasy.
Day two was my Disneyland day. I took the train out to the park, which has its own stop on the RER B line. Surprisingly, the lines weren’t long at all, and I was able to get on five rides and view a show and a parade before I left. The single-day, single-park ticket (because there are technically two parks) cost me $113. I think it was money well spent because Disney has always been a place that just makes me happy in general, and I needed that boost after losing my grandad less than two weeks prior.
My last full day was reserved for Olympic-related things. I ended up with a late start to my day, though, because jet lag was getting the best of me. Once up, I took the train to Trocadéro to get my signature Eiffel Tower picture. The plan was to then try to visit one of the free fan zones as well, but the heat that day had other plans. Instead, I swung by Louis Vuitton to make a big girl purchase because that VAT discount will always get me, and I simply deserve it. After a quick recharge and outfit change, it was time to head to Roland Garros Stadium for my tennis match.
The energy in the stadium was electrifying. People from all over the world gathered to cheer on the two women, although most of us weren’t from Poland or China—the competitors’ countries. After grabbing a few official Paris 2024 souvenirs, I was finally able to say that I had done all I wanted on this short trip. And it was worth every penny.
Would I take another last-minute trip in the future as an act of self-care? Absolutely. After all, if you don’t care for yourself, then who will?
