3 Days in Paris
We had a jam-packed 3 days in Paris! We didn’t get to see everything we wanted, but we sure did see a lot. We arrived from London, spent 3 days in Paris, and then left to finish our trip in Copenhagen!
In London, we stayed in Holborn, which was pretty close to St. Pancras Station, so we didn’t have to wake up too early for our train which departed at 10am. We spent some time at St. Pancras before going through security and loading ourselves onto the train.
Day 1
We arrived via Gare du Nord in Paris at 1:30pm and went straight to our hotel Villa Madame in the 6th arrondissement, or the St. Germain de Pres neighborhood on the left bank.
Look at this bathtub!!!!
We were thankfully able to check-in slightly early, so we showered and changed, then immediately hit the town to visit the St. Germain christmas market to get some hot chocolate before we made our way to the right bank to visit the Marais.
This was also the same night the Notre Dame reopened, so we faced quite a bit of traffic. It was pretty cool knowing we were so close to so many world leaders though!
We finally arrived in the Marais and I had to have Neal visit Baguette Relais de Entrecote. The sit-down restaurant has become viral, but I love the takeaway option of the steak, fries, and sauce on a baguette to take to the Seine and enjoy there. It’s also not nearly as crowded.
After we gobbled the baguette down, we went shopping! We stopped by Arket, which is right across the street from Baguette Relais de Entrecote, and I got a sweater vest and some cashmere socks, and was so close to buying an off-the-shoulder blazer (I regret not buying it now). I immediately changed into the cashmere socks and they may be my best purchase of the trip. We also stopped by Jimmy Fairley and I was very tempted to buy some cute sunglasses!
Time for dinner at Cafe des Musees, which many say is the best beef bourguignon in Paris. I haven’t been able to have many to compare it to, but this one was pretty incredible. They arrived in their own stew pots with a side plate of mashed potatoes. Divine!
To close out the night, we went back to the 6th and visited Chez Moineau, which I loved! It was empty and I was so surprised by this! I got a perfect passionfruit margarita, Neal got a glass of Argentinian red wine, and we split a dulce de leche crepe. I highly recommend this spot for a sweet treat and a cocktail.
Right across the street is L’avant comptoir du marche - if you like wine, you need to come here. It seemed to be full of locals only and they had the coolest vibe. It is floor to ceiling full of wine. We asked the bartender for a recommendation based on the kind of wine we like, and he pulled some really unique bottles. They also were playing French rap, which I loved.
We decided to try to visit Caveau de la Huchette in the Latin Quarter to listen to some jazz, but this was a huge mistake. It was PACKED to the brim in a basement with no ventilation and no room. It was hot, musty, and we got there when no one was even playing yet, so I cannot imagine how full it gets when there is live jazz playing.
After that, we called it an early night and walked back to the hotel to get a good night sleep.
Day 2
Day 2 started bright and early with kids screaming since our hotel was next to a school :)
We got up and went straight to Le Bon Marche. I’ve been to Galeries Lafayette and Le Bon Marche and I will pick Le Bon Marche everyday. It is so beautiful, not very busy, and in a gorgeous part of town.
I bought Parade by Celine, a gorgeous perfume I describe as smelling like a luxury hotel lobby.
We had lunch reservations at Okuda in the 8th, right off Avenue Montaigne and Avenue George V. We did a 7-course omakase for $125/per person and it was such a fun experience! I’m a picky eater and was nervous for some of the dishes and textures, but overall it was delicious. My favorite dishes were the last 2 - a sticky rice with tuna sashimi wrapped in a seaweed cone, and a citrus dessert with French yogurt gelato and jellied citrus fruits (grapefruit, yuzu, and tangerine).
When we left Okuda, we were surrounded by some of the best shopping Paris has to offer, so we first started at Le Labo. I bought the travel set of 3 (Matcha 26, Santal 33, and Another 13) and a 100ml bottle of Santal 33. It was so cool seeing our sales associate mixing my Santal 33 in front of us, and she put my name on the label!
After Le Labo, we visited Hermes where I bought a re-release of a scarf I’ve been eyeing on the secondhand market!
For dinner, we went to Rue Montegruiel, but we didn’t enjoy our dinner very much so I wouldn’t recommend it.
We ended the night at Crazy Horse which is ALWAYS a good idea!! I love going to the later showing at 10:30pm so you can have dinner and a cocktail before the show. I recommend arriving to the 10:30pm show around 9:45pm so you can see the Eiffel Tower sparkle at 10pm and have time for a quick drink pre-show. The show lasts 90 minutes, and the taxis out front will try to charge you way more than what the drive is worth - so we called an Uber and had no problem.
Day 3
Day 3 was the most exciting…
We woke up and immediately went to Marin Montegut to pick up some souvenirs for my sister and Neal’s mom, then visited Anthony Garcon so Neal could try on a jacket he liked, but ended up not buying, but we needed to hurry back to the hotel and pack for our next adventure :)
At noon, a BMW picked us and our luggage up to take us to the Ritz Paris hotel… Once we arrived to the Ritz Paris, we were immediately greeted by the bellmen and a concierge. The concierge, Anthony, took us on a tour of the hotel and helped us check-in, where they shared we had been upgraded to an Executive Suite (!!!!) and asked us for our newspaper preference.
Once we arrived to our room, we were in awe. We had a salon, a bedroom, 2 balconies, 2 water closets (toilets), and a massive bathroom. They also gave us a bottle of champagne, 2 desserts, and 5 tangerines.
We got a little tipsy on the champagne, and decided to hit the town again and shop a bit. We went back to Hermes where I drunkenly bought 2 dinner plates and a pocket square for my dad. Then, I went to Olympia Le-Tan to get a dream clutch for myself.
Every Olympia Le-Tan clutch is hand-embroidered in Spain and you can only buy them in-person in Paris at their storefront. It was so beautiful being surrounded by these pieces of art! I bought the clutch with The Kiss by Gustav Klimt (my favorite painting) embroidered on the front, and got number 72 out of 77.
Across the street is Bistrot Vivienne, so we stopped in and got steak frites and a coffee before heading back to Ritz Paris.
Once back at the Ritz, we decided to change and go on a bar crawl at the hotel since they have 4 bars onsite. Anthony got us a reservation at Bar Hemingway and gave us the password so we could skip the line, so we started there. I got a French 75 and Neal got a french beer. It can get a bit stuffy in there, so we only had one drink before heading on to the Ritz Bar.
The Ritz Bar is astrologically themed and it is so beautiful with the stars and moon motifs. You can order your drinks via astrological sign or they have options by “flowers, fruits, leaves, and roots & seeds;” for example, a lavender-flavored cocktail, cherry, mint, or ginger.
Finally, we visited Bar Vendome where I ordered a mille-feuille (a puff pastry with pastry creme) and a margarita. Our waiter here was so attentive, kind, and personable - we loved him.
We were quite tired after all of the excitement and drinking, so we finished the night with an evening walk through Place Vendome over to the Louvre to see it at night.
Last Day
Our reservation included breakfast, so on our last day we woke up early, grabbed our newspaper waiting at the door, and headed down for breakfast.
They offer: healthy breakfast, American breakfast, and Japanese breakfast. We ordered the healthy and the American breakfast.
Healthy breakfast included:
avocado toast
fresh mango + granola
granola + coconut yogurt
oatmeal
American breakfast included:
eggs (any style)
bacon or sausage
fruit salad
yogurt parfait
any 2 sides (Neal got tomatoes and fruit salad)
The coffee was also perfect.
Once we wrapped up breakfast, we visited the spa to swim and relax for around 45 minutes.
Then, it was time to leave. While the bellmen were loading our luggage, we ran over to the Schiaparelli atelier so I could look at some pieces. I unfortunately did not buy anything this trip.
Paris tips
The city is so walkable - walk as much as you can
Always greet when you enter a location. A simple “bonjour” during the day, or “bonsoir” in the evening
Not all restaurants are created equally - I always ask locals where they recommend