Quoted as being one of the most romantic getaway cities, Paris truly is a wonderful city to spend time with your sweetheart. Each year, thousands of hands are asked in marriage at the Eiffel Tower, topping our list of romantic activities to do on your visit here! With a Paris Visite pass and Museum Pass, a Paris Pass,  or a special Wine tour, you can make the time you spend in Paris with your loved one, unbelievably romantic and memorable!

For this post, we have put together our top 10 romantic activities for you to do on your next trip to Paris. Of course, there are countless other activities but these are some of our favorites, enjoy!

10. Stroll through the Latin Quarter, hand-in-hand with your sweetheart. Treat yourselves to a traditionally French meal at any one of the fine restaurants that surround the area (at a fraction of the cost compared to the really fancy places found in the heart of Paris!).

9. Take a relaxing walk along the Seine while sharing a warm crêpe (filled with strawberries, or chocolate perhaps!). Stop and have your picture drawn or painted by one of the talented artists that fill the sidewalk. A few Euros for the drawing will be worth the masterpiece you bring home, with the love you share captured, forever, in the artist’s work.

8. Treat yourselves to a day in Strasbourg. Using a France Railpass, hop aboard the TGV and embark on your romantic journey. The train offers fantastic scenery to add ambiance to your trip – that is if you can keep your eyes off each other! Meander through the streets of Strasbourg taking in the German-French culture, a total transformation from what you see in Paris. A great city to spend a day in, and you can get there by train in just over 2 hours!

7. Indulge in a wine and cheese tasting lunch together. Learn what makes a bottle of wine a good bottle. Savor the wine along with some delectable cheeses and breads. Don’t forget to take notes as you may have an upcoming special event or occasion that you’ll want a good bottle of fancy French wine served at!

6. Take some time wandering down the long halls of the Louvre, embracing the magnificent work that fills the museum. Make a point of viewing the Mona Lisa and playfully debate the mood of the subject as well as who is being portrayed in the painting. Is it the artist’s lover? Self-portrait? You be the judge!

5. Hop on the RER with your Paris Visite Pass and head to the Palace of Versailles. Here you can have a look around the golden palace. Stroll at your leisure through the amazing gardens. Then be sure to gaze upon yourselves in the renowned Hall of Mirrors. Don’t forget to snap some pictures of the gorgeous fountains; they’ll make a nice addition to your photo album!

4. Stop by the Hotel Concorde La Fayette (with a reservation, of course!) and dine in the panoramic bar. Enjoy fantastically prepared food that is the perfect accent to the stunning views of Paris set before you. This will be a night all of your friends will be envious of when you return home!

3. Embark on a fabulous Tour of Paris with the luxury of hopping on and off at your leisure. Stop by sights such as l’Opéra, Notre-Dame, Champs Elysées, Trocadero and many more. A wonderful ending to this day of discovery would be a walk back to Trocadero to catch a glimpse of the city, twinkling with lights. From this vantage point you can snap some amazing shots of you and your love with the Eiffel Tower standing tall in the distance.

2. Delight in a wonderfully romantic dinner cruise along the Seine River. Watch notable attractions pass by as you and your special someone float on your own piece of paradise. Along with breathtaking scenery, you’ll enjoy a terrific meal, prepared by Chef Yves Gras of the French Culinary Academy, presented with a fine assortment of wine and cheese. Live music fills the vessel and you can enjoy a special moment on the dance floor. The evening ends at the base of the Eiffel Tower…it doesn’t get more romantic then that!

Topping off our Top 10 most romantic activities to do while in Paris list involves a climb up the Eiffel Tower. For years, Paris has been synonymous with love, and the Eiffel Tower always seems to emit that certain je ne sais quoi, “romantic vibe”…

1. There is no better way to conclude your tour of Paris than to reach the top of the Eiffel Tower with the one you love. Stare out across the city and embrace the vision before you. Take your partner in your arms and practice the fine art of kissing (which the French have perfected as well as they have wine making!). Not married or engaged? There’s no time like the present to pop the question! If you’ve already crossed that bridge,  simply enjoy the moment. Do whatever you need to do to ensure you will never forget the way you feel at that very moment!

Whether you’ve experienced some of the things on our list or not, one thing is for certain, you don’t need to look very hard for romance in Paris. Do whatever you think will be special, feel free to use some of our ideas or create your very own magical memories!

And remember, it doesn’t have to be Valentine’s Day to share tender moments with the one you love!

We want to express our thanks to everyone who participated in our Twitter Your Way to France with TGV, the High-Speed Train contest. This exciting contest began on December 14th and ran each weekday until December 24th. We tested the knowledge of our followers on the TGV. Each day, a TGV trivia question was tweeted at 3pm Eastern Time. One hour was given for entrants to submit their answer. At 4pm, the daily contest closed and the day’s winners were announced.

Each day, after the race against the clock to submit the right answer, the first five people to tweet the correct answer were deemed the winners for that day. These winners were awarded with a $200 credit to be used toward the purchase of a TGV train ticket, allowing them to experience the excitement of the TGV for themselves. All correct tweets submitted during the span of the contest were entered into the Grand Prize drawing. Meaning, even if a follower was not one of the first five to answer correctly, they still had a shot at the Grand Prize–a trip to France for two!

Congratulations to all of our winners and thanks for making our TGV contest such a great success! We hope that everyone gained not only some TGV knowledge, but the desire to travel by TGV on your next visit to France! Be sure to follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date with all European rail travel, and future contests and promotions!

If you’d prefer not to drive in France, a France Rail Pass provides you with unlimited travel on the entire French rail system. With services such as the TGV, trains can take you where you want to go.

It’s best to take the train from Paris to Rouen or Caen. Rouen can be reached by TGV in about an hour and a half. Caen is just over a 2-hour trip by train.

Rouen is the capital of Normandy, and the 5th largest port in France. Victor Hugo once called Rouen “the city of a hundred spires”. Most of these spires were destroyed during WWII. After the war however, crafts and talents from the Middle Ages once again emerged and aided in the reconstruction of the city.

The Rue du Gros-Horloge, in Rouen, is the “street of the Great Clock”. This street is named for the ornate gilt renaissance clock that can be found mounted on the arch. The clock is Rouen’s most popular monument.

Pay a visit to Place du Vieux-Marche, site of Joan of Arc’s execution. She was killed for heresy. Joan was tied to a stake and burned in 1431. Her ashes were gathered and spread in the River Seine. Visitors can pay homage to a monument in her honor, it can be found in the square. Be sure to take note of the bronze cross on the statue, the cross marks the position of St. Joan’s stake.

Don’t miss the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen. This Cathedral has been immortalized through Monet’s paintings. Notre Dame is a gorgeous cathedral which underwent some reconstruction after WWII. Inside this revered house of worship you will find entombed, the heart of Richard the Lion-Hearted. It was given to the cathedral as a token of his affection for the people of Rouen.

Caen is situated on the banks of the Orne. This port city suffered great damage in 1944 during the Invasion of Normandy. About three-quarters of the buildings in Caen were destroyed during the war, 10,000 in total. Today, Caen has been built back up and is a very cosmopolitan city. Be sure to stop by the Caen Memorial, it can be found 10 minutes away from the Pegasus Bridge and a mere fifteen minutes from the landing beaches.

Honfleur, Deauville, and Trouville are some other stops along the Normandy coast that you will want to make.

Honfleur is a quaint and charming port. It is a nice place to stop and have a look around. Many boutiques and galleries can be visited in this city. A perfect setting for an afternoon lunch.

Deauville has been dubbed as Paris’ 21st arrondissement. Located on the Touques River, this very rich and hip city is where Coco Chanel launched her career. Take some time and have a look around the city, once you’ve seen it all, cross the bridge to Trouville.

On the other side of the Touques River you will find Trouville, neighbor to Deauville. This city is much more low-key and less expensive than it’s neighbor. Trouville has more the feel of a fishing port, similar to Honfleur, but containing fewer boutiques and art galleries.

You certainly can’t visit Normandy without making a trip to Mont-St. Michel! This island Abbey is surrounded by massive walls that measure more than half a mile around. The island masterpiece is connected to the shore by a causeway, crowning the rocky islet at the border of Normandy and Brittany, standing 256 feet high. You can explore this amazing island on your own, or check with the local tourist office for guided tours available. If you go, make sure you visit La Mere Poulard. It is a must especially if you are a fan of the omelet! Established in 1888, the omelets made here are tantalizing! They are more like soufflés.

And probably the most sought-after destination in Normandy is of course, the infamous D-Day beaches. Most of us are, in one way or another, related to someone that stood on these beaches in 1944.

Start your tour of the D-Day beaches at Arromanches-Les-Bains. See where the 50th British Division took over.

Move along the coast and arrive at Omaha Beach. This beach is probably the most notable. Still visible today on this beach, is the wreckage from the invasion. Men of the 1st and 29th American Divisions occupied the shores of Omaha Beach. Take a moment to pay tribute to the monument commemorating the heroism of the invaders.

On 173 acres of Omaha Beach you will find the Normandy American Cemetery. Here the ground is filled with Crosses and Stars of David in Lasa marble. The remains of 9,386 American soldiers can be found here. The cemetery is now owned by the United States, it was a gift from the French Nation. You can pay your respects at the cemetery daily, from 9am-5pm.

Continue along the coast until you reach the jagged lime cliffs of Pointe du Hoc. Here you will find a cross honoring a group of American Rangers. These men scaled the cliffs using hooks to get at the gun emplacements (pillboxes). The wounds of the war, here, are more visible than on any other point along the beach.

Just go a bit farther down the coast and you’ll arrive at Utah Beach. This is where the 4th U.S. Infantry Division landed early that morning. They landed just under two miles south of their intended landing destination. The Infantry had cleared the beach by midday, and today on the beach you can find a U.S. monument commemorating their heroism and victory.

The other three beaches involved in Operation Overlord (Normandy Invasion) were Juno Beach, Sword Beach, and Gold Beach. These, along with Omaha and Utah beach, are all found on the shores of the Normandy coastline.

Normandy is rich in history, history that not only remains in US books, but worldwide. If you have not been to this region yet, go today. Don’t let another day go by. Visit the beaches, and see where history was made. Pay homage to those who fought, and those who lost their lives. Though the exact number of those killed during the invasion will never be known, visit Normandy today to pay your respects to all.

Stand on the somber shores where Operation Overlord occurred; open your mind up to places you have only read about in history books. Take a walk through Normandy’s ominous past, then indulge in all the beauty and culture that thrives throughout the region today.

Those Veterans who returned from Normandy after the war have taken trips to the region to see it once more, on better terms. It is a very emotional journey for them, for obvious reasons, yet many find comfort and closure in the visit.

The Avignon Festival was started in 1947 by Jean Vilar. Since its start until current day, the festival has gained much prestige and awareness. Spectators wait all year for this event to occur!

You will see quite a variety of performances including singers, dancers, musicians, actors/actresses and many different art developers.  With so much spirit and life going on around you, you will not regret going to this festival! And, it takes place right at the Pope’s Palace, one of the most sought out structures in Avignon.

No need to worry about language barriers either, some of the acts are performed in English, however, once you embrace everything around you, you’ll come to realize, art has it’s own, universal language.

And the truly great part, you can take a TGV train from Paris, travel direct to Avignon, and arrive in under 3 hours! The perfect day, traveling in style aboard the TGV, embracing nature right outside your train window along the way, then embracing the arts and being blown away by the amount of talent being performed all around you. Enjoy!