Welcome to the official Paris recap! If you're curious about where we stayed, and general Q&A regarding the current scene in Paris, highlights of the trip, and more, check out yesterday's post here!
If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know I never skimp on the details, so sit back and relax because this is a long one! At the bottom of the post is a map with all of the places we went!
Be sure to come back on Monday for everything I wore in Paris!
Day 1: Saturday, April 8
On Friday, we took a 5:30PM flight from JFK and landed around 6AM on Saturday at Charles De Gaulle. We made it out of the airport closer to 7:30 and rolled up to our hotel around 8AM! Of course, we couldn't check in yet, so we fought our jet lag and went for a really, really long morning walk.
This ended up being one of my highlights of the trip because it was a gorgeous morning, and since it was so early on a Saturday, it felt like we had the city to ourselves. We walked from our hotel to Place de la Concorde, through the Tuileries to the Louvre, over to Saint Germain for breakfast at Les Deux Magots (fabulous people watching! this was recommended by many of you - thank you!), over to the Luxembourg Gardens and the Pantheon, up to Notre Dame, and then back to our hotel via Palais Royal, where we actually had to take a break in the garden for a bit, haha. Basically a giant loop. The best part was that we got such a great lay of the land and got to check off some sights on our list, right off the bat. It was so helpful the rest of the trip having done this and having a better idea of the layout of the city.
Tuileries Garden, view of the Louvre
Les Deux Magots
Jardin du Luxembourg
We got back to our hotel around 1PM and thankfully could check in then. We took a nap and reset, and then went for lunch and our afternoon outing!
We just got lunch at a nearby cafe and then ventured toward the Champs Elysees and Avenue Montaigne for some shopping. I loved the Dior store, but these particular Celine and Chanel locations were kind of lame, honestly haha. We made our way up to Hermes (the Avenue George V location), which was fabulous, and each purchased a scarf, which was so fun and another highlight of the trip!
Hermes, Avenue George V
After shopping, I really wanted to get a good view of the Eiffel Tower, so we navigated ourselves to Place Diana / Flame of Liberty area where we got a few photos! We crossed the Seine and found another cute photo spot/vantage point on the corner of Avenue Rapp & Rue de Monttessuy.
corner of Avenue Rapp & Rue de Monttessuy
Then, we stopped for cocktails! It was like 7:30 PM at this point and it felt like 5PM because the sunset wasn't until 8:30ish - amazing! We stopped at a cute place called Cafe Lignac; we really just stumbled upon it, but apparently, it's known as the most stylish bistro in the 7th arrondissement! We had our favorite drink of the trip here, the Belle Epoque - St Germain, Champagne, mint & lime... soo good.
We then called an Uber back to the hotel, changed, and found a random dinner spot called Le Valois. It was really quiet for a Saturday night, but both the food and the service were great, and by this point, we were so tired, it was nice to be in a relaxing environment.
Day 2: Sunday, April 8
Easter Sunday and Katie's birthday!
We woke up and went to a boulangerie down the block for croissants and coffee before changing and getting ready for the day. We had plans to go to Easter mass at Sacre Couer, and then brunch in Montmartre. If you read yesterday's post, you already know this did not go according to plan. Sacre Couer was packed and we missed mass. I wish we would've just gone to regular church for mass and maybe gone up to Montmartre (the neighborhood of Sacre Couer) another day.
Anyway, we left the 2-hour line and ventured to La Maison Rose for brunch. This cute and iconic spot is surprisingly teeny tiny, but the food was great! We did have a reservation for this.
We had a planning drink - our new fave, a St Germain Spritz - at a cafe in Montmartre before heading back to the hotel to change our shoes and head to Le Marais! OMG. This really turned the whole day around.
Le Marais is a beautiful neighborhood in France, probably my favorite of all of the ones we saw. It's full of shops and restaurants and the streets are absolutely gorgeous. We spritz-hopped for the afternoon and stopped at Camille (great people-watching), Glou (also great people-watching - really cute street), and Mary Celeste, all fabulous and cute spots for a drink. All three of these spots we were able to walk in mid/late afternoon, but likely would have been busier a couple hours later.
we sat outside at Camille (the green corner restaurant!) for a St Germain Spritz
We went back to the hotel to change for dinner. We had dinner at La Coupole, which is a large, iconic brasserie. The vibes were lovely but we agreed the food was just ok.
Afterward, we went to the Ritz to see the Hemingway bar, but once we got there we felt seeing it was enough and opted to just walk home from there. We were happy, however, to see it, because the bar, and the Ritz overall, are so gorgeous, it's worth a stop by.
Day 3: Monday, April 9
We started our day with coffee at Cafe Kitsuné, croissants from a nearby boulangerie, and a walk around Palais Royal. This was such a lovely and scenic morning - I think I posted six photos of my croissant on my Instagram story.
It was a little rainy and chilly, so we walked to Les Halles to do some shopping before lunch. We both went into the mall and popped into a few boutiques in the neighborhood. For lunch, we had crepes at Breizh Cafe (the Montorgueil location) and loved it. Such a perfect lunch spot on a really cute street. We got macarons after at Stohrer (the oldest pâtisserie in Paris!) and then went for a walk to Galeries Lafayette.
By the time Monday afternoon rolled around, we were so tired. I think we'd just packed so much into the first two days and hadn't quite caught up on our sleep, so it was a little tough to come up with a plan. It didn't help that it was raining and our plans to picnic at the Eiffel Tower were squandered. We went back to the hotel to change outfits and rest for an hour.
We decided to head to Printemps and bop around. We ended up heading to the men's building to grab a drink at their seventh-floor bar, which has an incredible view of the city, including the Eiffel Tower, and Sacre Couer. Our bartender was so lovely and gave us a ton of recommendations, so we ran home and changed to make it to a highly recommended spot, Chez Janou, for dinner.
View from the seventh floor of Printemps Homme
Oh my gosh, our Monday evening was one of the highlights of the trip! Chez Janou is in Le Marais, near Place Des Vosges, which is this gorgeous square. It's such a lovely neighborhood. There was even a pianist playing on the street! We walked up to Chez Janou at 6 and discovered they didn't open until 7 for dinner, so we bopped around and came back around 6:45. Good thing we did because, at 6:45, almost all of the tables were full! We were able to snag seats at the bar and it ended up being perfect.
Also want to point out that when we left the restaurant a couple hours later the line of people waiting (even in the pouring rain) was so long, so definitely go early if you're coming here. They technically do take reservations, but not like... legitimately? Only sometimes I think? It seemed like they don't take reservations if your hotel calls for you (that happened to us and we heard someone else say that).
Anyway, we made a friend at the bar who recommended we go to a nearby speakeasy, Candelaria, for one more drink. It was a cool spot, hidden behind a taco shop, with great vibes. When we were heading out, we realized we hadn't yet seen the Eiffel Tower sparkle, so we ubered to Trocadero to see the lights.
This part was kind of a fail - Le Marais is not close to Trocadero, so we missed the 11PM light show. We figured we'd have a glass of champagne at Cafe du Trocadero where there's a direct view of the Eiffel Tower, to see the midnight show. To our surprise, the lights completely shut off at 11:45; the last show was at 11. For reference, every hour for five minutes at the top of the hour, the Eiffel Tower lights twinkle. We were SO sad to miss it because it was our last night, but it just means we'll have to go back! Yet another poor planning moment on our part, LOL.
Day 4: Tuesday, April 10
Last day!!! We woke up, packed up our bags, and dropped them at the front desk for the day. We took the Metro over to Poilâne in the 6th for a croissant. This bakery is supposed to be one of the best in the world, and I will say my croissant was pretty outstanding.
Katie had decided she wanted to get a Celine bag before we left as her birthday present, so we made our way to Le Bon Marche to pick it out! We had a fabulous experience shopping at Le Bon Marche. The staff was so much kinder than the other department stores, and the selection was great. We had so much fun, and she found her perfect purse! We also ventured down the street to check out the Sezane store!
Passed the Hermes location at Rue de Sèvres on our way - this location was *incredible*
After shopping, we had lunch across the street at La Grande Epicerie, which is a large food hall. Think, it's like an Eataly. We had a great lunch and then picked up a few bougie French foodie gifts - if you have any foodies in your life this is a fabulous spot to pick them up a little souvenir.
We took a long walk back to the hotel, soaking in the last streets of Paris, and popping into French pharmacies along the way. There are pharmacies on almost every block, which was perfect because we were both trying to pick up items for ourselves and friends that were sold out at most of the locations. We ended up securing a fabulous skincare/French pharmacy haul, and then we were on our way to the airport!
***
Overall, the trip was lovely. It was so much fun to explore Paris again. I do wish we'd done a bit more research around neighborhoods, restaurants, and boutiques, but overall it was a fabulous trip and I'm so grateful we were able to go, especially during a safe weekend in Paris without strikes, and with (mostly) great weather!
What are some of your Paris recommendations? Already planning my next trip back!
Be sure to come back on Monday for everything I wore in Paris!
xoxo
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