They say Paris is always a good idea, and when it's a two hour train journey from London and you get to stay at the amazing Hoxton Hotel, I couldn't agree more!
Cramming in everything we wanted to do and see in just 36 hours was always going to be a challenge but with a couple of 25k step days we managed to squeeze pretty much everything in. After jumping on an early Eurostar from London we arrive in Gay Paree at midday just in time to check-in to the beautiful Hoxton Hotel. Rach and I both really wanted to stay here having heard (and seen) so many good things about it and it definitely stood up to all the hype. Our room was beautiful and the service was awesome, they even put balloons and chocolate in our room to celebrate Rachael's Birthday.
After checking in and taking a load of snaps of all the beaut decor we headed straight to Sezane l'appartement which was conveniently located a 2 minute walk from the hotel. The store is as beautiful as it looks on instagram, tall ceilings, great interiors and merchandised to perfection. We then headed down into La Marias for more shopping at Merci, The Frankie Shop, Maison LaBiche, Acne, APC.. and the list goes on. We finished the day with amazing cocktails and burgers in the secret Jacques Bar at the Hoxton - c'était magnifique.
On Saturday morning, after a complimentary petit breakfast at the Hoxton, we hopped on the metro straight to brunch (or so we thought) at Café de Flore. After hollering down four different waiters, complaining to the manager for the forty minute wait and eventually moving tables into an area where the waiter didn't completely ignore us, we found out there were no more pastries left! Feeling very miffed by the whole experience we swiftly departed - I must say it was the single worst service I've ever had and we didn't even get our coffees on the house - très merde.
However, the Parisian culinary scene redeemed itself shortly afterwards as we hot footed it down to Au P'tit Grec and had the best crepe of my life (and that's big coming from someone who claims pancake day as their favourite holiday). Expect a queue if you visit, especially on the weekend but it's well worth the wait. I had one of their specials, the savoury Savoyarde - onion, Raclette cheese, thinly sliced potatoes, Jamon de Pays (iberico ham) tomatoes and salad - délicieux!
After a quick chocolat chaude stop we walked from Saint Germain up to Notre-Dame and my favourite shop in Paris - Shakespeare and Company. I could literally spend hours in there as they always have the best selection of books and I love the library upstairs, not to mention the cutest bookshop cat. I whittled down my 8 books to 4 and we headed off down the Seine to the Louvre and Tuileries gardens, stopping at a number of antique stalls on the way.
With time almost running out before we had to be on our Eurostar home we made our final touristy stop in Montmartre and Sacré-Coeur. We even had time to sneak in a visit to the APC discount outlet right by it and grab a final crepe before heading back to Blighty.
