Do it for the Gram in Paris

If Paris hadn't been built way before Instagram one could think that the app motivated the architects to build a city that looks like a living monument. Every corner is picture worth it, every street is blessed with beautiful buildings and amazing views. The metró signs, the street lamps, everything comes in a mixture of functionality and beauty that is above everything pleasing to the eyes. 

On today's blog post I will take you along a few spots I found, in the city of love, that are worth your visit, if you are looking for the perfect snap for the grid. 

This post was highly inspired by Ellies (aka Petitellie) blog post, she gave me the recommendations to all these places but I found a couple she hadn't mentioned so I decided to write this post anyway, but please check her page out!

Something that it's important to note is that I am not a morning person and I never left the house before 10h30 AM, so the spots I'm about to recommend are good during all times of the day, so you don't have to build your itinerary based on what time you have to be in a place in order to be able to get the picture.

Avenue de Camoens: This spot is the absolute best place to snap your picture with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Why? Because it's not a tourist hot spot, so it's empty. It is a bit of a detour if you want to visit the tourist places, however, the view is worth it, and let's faced, every street in Paris could be a tourist attraction. The only people there were bloggers and photographers doing shoots, so I guess this is a popular spot to get your picture taken and I can understand why.

Fun fact:  Avenue de Camoens means Avenida Camões in Portuguese and it's named after one of the biggest Portuguese poets. 

Palais Royal: Another of Ellie's recommendations was Palais Royal. A place I had never heard of in Paris, maybe because is not the number one on any travel guides, but I guarantee you, it is the perfect spot to snap some pictures. It's huge, just by the Louvre (so you are most likely to pass this location on your vacation route anyway) and it is beautiful. This was actually the first place we shot at during our stay and we absolutely loved it.

Square Marcel-Bluestein-Blanchet: If you have visited the Sacré Coeur in the past you know how beautiful the building his, how the view from the staircase is breathtaking and how it is constantly packed with tourists. As I referenced in my Paris Travel Guide Montmartre is my favourite neighbourhood in Paris and the Basilique is an amazing part of it, so like most people I wanted to capture the moment of my visit in a unique way, which can be challenging when there are a lot of people trying to do the same. So if you are looking to get a picture with the beautiful building in the background this square is the place to go! Why? (you ask) Because it's where you can see the back of the building, equally as beautiful to the front but with no one around to bust your picture.

Place de la Concorde: The Place where Louis the XVI and Marie Antoinette were guillotined is, in my humble opinion, one of the most beautiful places in all of Paris and the perfect place to get your picture taken. When around the river people tend to pick Pont Alexandre III, Notre Dame or the Eiffel Tower as their go-to picture-taking location, without even realizing, we stumbled upon Place de la Concorde after descending the Champs Elysées. This place is easy to shoot because it's a passaging spot and people won't care too much to stop and take pictures there because they are either coming or going to the main touristic attractions that are near it (like Arc de Triomphe, de Louvre or Pont Alexandre III). The fountains are beautiful and if you wait long enough you can get your pictures with some water in the background. 

Fun fact: At the end of the film Devil Wears Prada, Andy (Anne Hathaway's character) throws her phone into one of the fountains you can find in Place de la Concorde, so if you are a fan of the movie (like yours truly) this is a must-visit spot.  

The 'other side' of the Arc de Triomphe: And by that, I mean the side of the sidewalk where the metro doesn't exit from. Most people when visiting the attraction stay on the side where the metro exit exists. Based on Ellie's tips and my own experience I found there to be a substantial difference in the number of people waiting to get their picture taken on one side, in comparison to the other. Then it's a waiting game, after all, we are talking about a roundabout with 10 lanes and 12 exits. Honestly, I hope that my pictures prove that IT CAN BE DONE. It is possible to take pictures with the Arc de Triomphe in the background and not much else. Also, I would suggest you get your picture from the waist up because it will be easier to cut passing vehicles. 

And that concludes this post. Obviously, as I stated, in the beginning, there are many other places where you can go and take pictures around the city, these just happened to be 5 I found particularly easy to shoot at, without worrying too much about times, schedules or detours to simply get the pictures. I was (and still am) so proud of the pictures we were creating and the way we were portraying my favourite place on Earth that this post had to happen. Thank you once again to Ellie, for her patience, her time and her friendship. 

 Location: Paris, France

Photography: João Machado