Arrival in Paris
June 11, 2025
This time, I flew on ANA flight NH215 from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport (see on map).
Using my Priority Pass, I entered the Power Lounge Premium in Haneda’s Terminal 2 and had breakfast there. The lounge was simple, clean, and—best of all—quiet. At that time of the morning, there were only a few people around.
I had curry and fried chicken for breakfast.
The Long Flight
The flight took about 14 hours. To kill time, I kept looking at the flight map and noticed that our plane was avoiding Russian airspace—apparently because of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The route went north over Japan, past the Northern Territories, across Alaska and Iceland, then down through the U.K. before reaching Europe. It felt incredibly long.
Getting to the City
From Charles de Gaulle Airport to central Paris, we took an official airport taxi. The fare was fixed: €56 to the Right Bank and €65 to the Left Bank. Credit cards were accepted, and we could choose to receive an electronic receipt by email or SMS.
The road into Paris was heavily congested.
From Marais to Airbnb
After finishing some errands around the Marais district, we called an Uber and headed to the Airbnb we had booked.
Paris has many one-way streets. Our Uber driver missed a turn, and because of the one-way system, she couldn’t go back. We ended up dragging our suitcases up a slope to our Airbnb.
The Uber ride from the Marais to the area near Belleville Park (see on map) cost €17.93.
Evening in Belleville Park
When we finally arrived and took a short rest, it was already 8 p.m.
But in early June, Paris stays bright until late. The Airbnb host told us, “You can see the Eiffel Tower beautifully at night from Belleville Park,” so we went out for an evening walk.
When we arrived, groups of young people were having rap battles with loud music, a mattress was left on the observation platform, and many others were drinking on the ground. My partner and I agreed that “this park feels a bit unsafe at night,” so we left before the Eiffel Tower lights came on.
Ending the Day
Before returning to our room, we stopped by a nearby supermarket, Carrefour City (see on map), to buy pizza and salad. Back at our place, we baked the pizza in the oven, drizzled olive oil and salt over the salad, brushed our teeth, and went straight to bed.
