It started with a tea tin.
I was standing in my kitchen drinking a Dammann Frères blend from the St. Regis Jakarta, when I noticed it said Paris. I picked up my phone and texted my mother-in-law one sentence: “You want to drink tea in Paris for Mother’s Day?”
She said yes before I even put my phone down.
That’s the thing about Mimi. She’s been my travel buddy since before the kids came along. Ok, my husband is, but Mimi is more of a “Yes” when it comes to high tea, museums, and fresh cut flowers. We did Amsterdam together, just the two of us, and, thinking back, it was one of those trips that reminded me how fun it is to travel with someone who’s genuinely up for anything. No agenda drama, no food negotiations, no one asking where the nearest playground is. Just two people who share a fondness for a good hotel lobby.
So Paris it is. If we get on the flight. That’s the standby life caveat that lives rent-free in every trip we plan, and I’ve made peace with it. We fly on United employee benefits, which means we show up, we check the loads, and we either board or we don’t. It keeps things interesting. It also means we’ve gotten very good at being flexible and very bad at booking non-refundable anything.
This is the itinerary we’re planning for May 7-10. Three days, two women, one mission: drink very good tea in a very beautiful city and not feel guilty about a single pastry I can’t eat anyway.
Mother’s Day in Paris: The Gluten Free Reality Check
Paris has a reputation for being difficult for celiacs, and look, it’s not wrong. The city is basically a monument to wheat. But it’s gotten significantly better, and if you do a little homework before you land, you won’t spend your trip sad and hungry while everyone else eats a baguette.
A few things that actually help: download the Find Me Gluten Free app before you leave, search specifically in the 7th arrondissement if that’s where you’re staying, and call ahead to any restaurant where you’re planning a real sit-down meal. French restaurants take dietary restrictions seriously when you communicate clearly. They are considerably less sympathetic when you mention it after you’ve ordered.
The afternoon tea situation specifically is manageable. Several of the palace hotels accommodate gluten-free requests with advance notice, and a couple of the independent tea rooms have naturally gluten-free options that don’t taste like cardboard. More on that below.
Where to Stay
We’re looking at the 7th arrondissement, which puts you walking distance from the Eiffel Tower and Musée d’Orsay, with Sainte-Chapelle a short Metro ride away. It’s also one of the quieter neighborhoods in the city, which after a transatlantic flight on no sleep feels like a gift for Mother’s Day in Paris.
Hôtel Duquesne Eiffel keeps coming up as the right call at this price point. It’s a boutique property, some rooms have an actual Eiffel Tower view, the staff gets consistently great reviews, and Rick Steves put it in his book, which is either a green flag or the most bougie thing I’ve ever typed.
For a splurge option, The Sax Paris (LXR by Hilton) is the newest luxury property in the 7th, open since mid-2025 in a converted 1899 neo-Gothic building with a rooftop restaurant facing the Eiffel Tower. It’s bookable on Hilton Honors points.
One non-negotiable for standby travelers: book with free cancellation. Every single time. You cannot lose a deposit because the flight was full. Just don’t do it to yourself. Honestly, I don’t book until the plane door closes, you never know.
Tip: always book directly on hotel websites for the best customer service. Hotels don’t have much compassion when you’re complaining about what Expedia did to you. They don’t have access to that.
Day 1: Land, Decompress, Do Absolutely Nothing Strenuous
You’ve just crossed an ocean. Possibly in first class if the flight gods were smiling. Either way, this is not the day to attempt the Louvre.
Check in, change clothes, and get yourself to a spa. We’re looking at Lanqi Paris on Avenue de Saxe, a Chinese wellness spa right in the 7th with consistently excellent reviews. A 90-minute massage on arrival day resets everything: the cramped seat, the recycled air, the existential anxiety of standby travel.
After that, walk to Le Marais for dinner. It’s one of the best neighborhoods in Paris for gluten-free eating because the restaurant scene is genuinely international and the allergen awareness is high. Wild & The Moon has a fully plant-based menu. Chez Hanna does excellent Middle Eastern food.
Come back to the hotel, watch the Eiffel Tower light show from your window and go to sleep at an embarrassingly reasonable hour.
Day 2: Sainte-Chapelle, Notre-Dame, and the Best Afternoon Tea You’ll Have All Year
This is the day I planned the whole trip around.
Get to Sainte-Chapelle right when it opens at 9am. This is asomething I missed on my innagural trip to Paris, and I am dying to see it. Fifteen Gothic windows, 1,113 biblical scenes, and no photograph will ever do it justice. Book tickets online in advance through the official Paris Museum Pass site because it will sell out, especially in May. It’s a short Metro ride from the 7th.
From there, walk two minutes to Notre-Dame. It reopened in December 2024 after five years of restoration following the 2019 fire, and by all accounts, the restoration is stunning. I wrote my college thesis on Notre-Dame and look forward to seeing her in person once again.
By now it’s early afternoon and you’ve earned the main event.
Mariage Frères in Le Marais is the one. Founded in 1854, over 600 tea blends, and the Marco Polo blend is exactly as good as everyone says. The afternoon tea service includes savory amuse-bouches, scones with tea-infused Chantilly cream, and pastries worth the trip on their own. Call ahead about gluten-free options because they can accommodate with notice and the Marais location specifically has gotten good marks for it.
If you want the full palace experience instead, Hôtel de Crillon does afternoon tea in the Jardin d’Hiver at around €65-80 per person and it is absolutely a special occasion kind of room. Either way, plan two hours minimum. This is not a quick stop.
Wander back through the historic shopping passages on your way home. The Galerie Vivienne is a five-minute detour from the Marais and it’s exactly the kind of Paris moment that doesn’t make it into guidebooks the way it should.
Day 3: Musée d’Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, and One Really Good Dinner
Sleep in a little. You’ve earned it.
Musée d’Orsay in the morning is the right call. It’s smaller and more manageable than the Louvre, the Impressionist collection is world-class, and the building itself, a converted 19th-century railway station, is half the reason to go. Book timed entry online. An hour and a half gets you through the highlights without destroying your feet. I am dying to see Starry Night Over the Rhone in person.
Lunch somewhere light in the 7th, then the Eiffel Tower in the afternoon. The Seine cruise option is lovely in May when the light on the water is genuinely magical and not just something people say. Bateaux Parisiens departs right from the base of the tower and the 90-minute circuit gives you the whole skyline.
For dinner on your last real night, Noglu in the 9th is one of the most celebrated fully gluten free restaurants in Paris and worth the short Metro ride. Entirely celiac-safe kitchen, genuinely excellent food, and you won’t spend the meal interrogating your server. Make a reservation.
A Note on Celine Dion (Because You Need to Know This)
If you’re reading this and thinking Paris sounds incredible but you want more of a reason to go: Celine Dion is returning to the stage for the first time in years with a 16-night residency at Paris La Défense Arena, running September 12 through October 17, 2026. All 16 shows sold out within hours of going on sale. If you got tickets, you already know. If you didn’t, resale exists and this is a once-in-a-career kind of moment.
We’re going in May. Arguably better weather anyway.
The Honest Standby Part
We will show up at IAH on May 6th and check the loads. If there are seats, we’re going. If there aren’t, we try through London and take the Chunnel. Or, maybe we”ll skip Paris entirely and try Munich! That’s the deal we made when we signed up for this life, and most of the time it works out better than we planned.
Paris in May with Mimi, some very good tea, and Sainte-Chapelle on a clear morning. If we get on that flight, it’s going to be a good one.
Flying standby on United employee benefits? Check out our full guide to non-rev travel with kids.
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