I discovered hidden views of the Eiffel Tower by exploring this lesser-known neighbourhood in Paris

Angling my camera above the bobbing heads of the tourist crowd, one of the first things I do when I get to Paris is take a picture of the Eiffel Tower while on the Trocadero esplanade.

At five feet tall, my photos of any well-known landmark never turn out very well, but I still cannot help myself from joining the brigade of overseas visitors armed with selfie sticks and camera phones trying to capture an image of one of the world's most famous structures.

Fortunately for me, that morning I was due to join an Intrepid Travel tour group that aimed to show off the Eiffel Tower while also steering us away from oversaturated areas of Paris buckling under the weight of overtourism. Developed by local teams, the new “Uncommon” day trips launching in Paris, Venice and Barcelona have been designed to show that popular cities can still be explored somewhat responsibly by visiting lesser-known neighbourhoods, supporting local businesses, and having meaningful cultural experiences.

I met my guide and creator of the tour, Cecilia Garcia Riglos, outside the Musée de l’Homme on the Trocadero esplanade. This spot on the esplanade is famous for its unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower; one that invariably attracts visitors in their masses. It is in quiet contrast of the places we would then visit. The aim of the day was to spot the tower while discovering the delights of Passy, an affluent neighbourhood in the city’s 16th arrondissement that is not as frequented by tourists as Trocadero right next door.

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Just a few minutes later we reached our first stop on the edge of Passy, the tranquil English-style gardens on the west side of the Trocadero Gardens, filled with winding paths, dainty ponds, bridges and bundles of greenery that lie over landscaped rock walls. The trees give way to a leafy view of the Eiffel Tower, while ruins salvaged from the destruction of monuments and buildings during the Paris Commune revolutionary insurrection of 1871 line the paths, making for equally interesting scenery at eye level.

As we meandered, I was struck by how few people were here. Such a beautiful garden would be filled to the brim in central London. I considered that this could be due to it being a weekday, but Cecilia told me that tourists are often so distracted by the famous Trocadero esplanade viewpoint just steps away that the park is overlooked.

We continued to what is known as the Eiffel Tower’s “Silent Neighbour” – Passy Cemetery – which has a clear view of the landmark from over the Seine, and allowed me to snap an undisturbed picture.

More impressively, the cemetery is filled with elegantly designed mausoleums that are works of art in themselves, many of which belong to 19th-century French aristocrats and creatives such as composer Claude Debussy, known for his piano piece Clair de Lune. With only one or two other visitors in the small graveyard, it allowed us to have a quiet moment of contemplation and adoration for our surroundings.

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The Passy neighbourhood has long been one of Paris's more affluent areas, characterised by its cream-coloured Haussmann building blocks neatly arranged with wrought iron balconies and windows aligning perfectly with each other. The area was once a village, which was then absorbed into the city.

We stopped at Passy’s covered market for a buttery-rich pastry at Golosa Patisserie, which tasted like a cross between a croissant and a brioche, and still managed to make room for a crepe and a coffee at Chez Marie-Do. I tried to embrace the French habit for taking coffee black, but quickly relented and asked for a splash of milk. Fuelled on caffeine and carbs, we browsed the rest of the market, alongside a few locals wandering the aisles purchasing cheese, fresh fish and delicacies from its Portuguese section.

We ambled along Rue de l’Annonciation, Passy’s pedestrianised street, replete with restaurants, grocers and cafes, ending up at Maison de Balzac, the former home of French novelist Honoré de Balzac. The small courtyard garden is free to enter, filled with landscaped lawns and espaliered fruit trees, as well as another good view of the Eiffel Tower. It's hard to contemplate that a 20-minute walk away would bring me back to one of Paris’ most crowded areas. Here, I have breathing space.

Towards the end of our tour, we stumbled upon Avenue de Camoens, a short cobblestone street known as a photo opportunity location with the Eiffel Tower perfectly poised in the background. As people lined up to perch on the staircase to grab a pic for the ‘Gram, I spotted a box of padlocks lying on the floor.

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These decorations, known as “love locks”, are a long-held tradition adopted by tourists in Paris that has spread across the world, usually to symbolise a couple’s adoration for each other as they clip it onto a railing and toss the key. The practice has now been banned on bridges in Paris after the Pont d'Iéna bridge started to collapse under their weight, causing concern for public safety, but people still replicate the act on fences and other railings.

While the locks may have been used in a special moment during a trip to Paris, the reality is they create something that the community has to dispose of. It reminds me that, as a tourist, it's important to leave a meaningful impression on the place you are making memories in, such as spending money at small businesses and lightening the footfall in parts of the city struggling with overtourism and seeking out lesser-visited locations.

We traced the cobblestone streets of Passy’s former life as a village to Park de Passy, another patch of greenery that appears to be a secret kept by locals, before we wound our way down to the Seine to stand on Bir Hakeim Bridge. It's not the prettiest of structures with its steel arms holding up two decks, one for trains and another for vehicles, yet the views across the Seine are cinematic.

I couldn't help but snap another picture of the Eiffel Tower here when Cecilia pointed to a cluster of silhouettes on the next bridge over at Pont d'Iéna, which lies directly in front of the monument. She told me that they are tourists who are all crowding to get their phones and take a picture, but here on Bir Hakeim with an equally good view, we were completely alone.

How to do it

Book the two-hour Uncommon Paris day tour with Intrepid from £47.50 per person. Tours can be part of a group of up to 12, or a private tour with a minimum of two people. The package includes a guided walking tour, entrance to Passy Cemetery, local pastry tasting, and a classic French coffee.

The tour meets outside Musée de l'Homme on Tuesday to Sunday at 10am, with additional departures on Saturdays at 3pm.

Amelia travelled as a guest of Intrepid.

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