After an incredibly busy and highly enjoyable week- I can finally get round to sitting down and properly talking about my mini trip to Paris with Joe earlier this week- having stayed two nights and three incredibly jam packed days it flew by very quickly, but was completely wonderful nonetheless.
Booked on a slight whim one evening in early January- before I knew it, Joe and I had booked our second visit to Paris- all with thanks to incredibly cheap trains and the bargainous and equally amazing Mama Shelter we seem to have become quite attached to. Having booked the first train on the Monday morning (before you ask- they were the last seats) we had arrived before 10am and swiftly refuelled on flaky pastries and bacon baguettes (you can take a boy out of London…) before dropping our cases off and heading off to the heart of the city.
Having done a lot of the tourist attractions last summer (which, due to the weather this time round was indefinitely a good thing) we spend a pretty big fraction of our trip visiting new shops, cafes and generally having a wonder- which is quite a luxury in such a beautiful city. We spent the first day strolling around rue St-Honoré and the Tuileries, stopping into (incredibly) cool concept store Colette– which equated in a rather long session musing over beautiful Carven (and pawsh designer) pieces and some pretty bad-ass t shirts. We also made tracks back to the Champs-Élysées to peek in some more lovely shops (and check the ‘French Zara’ didn’t have anything different to my local one) as well as the obligatory Laduree stop- to which my love affair with the chocolate coconut macaron began…
After heading back early due to incredibly cold fingers and tired feet, we rose after a long lie in for another day of exploring and fawning over the incredible architecture (we’re closet building nerds) and was especially excited to see the sunshine had joined us! Our first stop was a beautiful boulangerie situated a stones throw away from our hotel, and was the supplier for many croissant fuelled breakfasts (and my first sighting of a real Tarte Tatin- Mary Berry would be proud)! After a metro ride we took a stroll across the Pont des Arts (before doing the soppy padlock thing and taking some overly cheesy couple snaps) and hopped and skipped it to Notre Dame- one of Joe’s favourite places in the capital.
I also insisted we visit the birth place of Chanel on rue Cambon- even if just to stand outside and absorb the quintessentially luxurious French location. We did, however end up popping inside and after weeping at the beautiful bags and shoes ended up on the make up counter (to which I purchased a classic red lipstick- and was given a pretty big bag for it- so yes, if you’re asking I did buy a purse…cough…) It was an incredible store- and with Ms. Chanel’s original apartment perched upstairs, it oozed history and something pretty special. Now, in my opinion the perfect way to wind down after a long day is a burger. Okay- I know we’re not in London- but I couldn’t resist. We sat down for a quick cup of tea (and, erm popcorn) before heading to a seriously awesome burger joint- which you can expect to see a review of soon!
Before we knew it the trip was coming to an end, and after one more big breakfast, a pretty moving visit to Père Lachaise (which was absolutely stunning and surreal) and a last trip to the ‘French’ Paul- we were back on the train. Thank you for having us Paris- see you soon!
x
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