We cannot say how easy it is to hop onto the Eurostar from Kings Cross St Pancras International for a pleasant 2 hour train trip the the beautiful city. We will miss Paris weekends a lot when we're back in Australia.
Paris was our final trip as residents of the UK. I stress 'as residents' because coming back into the UK, I was no longer a resident/student but a visitor. I had to re-enter the UK to remain, until we leave this December.
Despite the number of times we have been to Paris, there were still new things to discover on our trip. This trip was our first not staying with and not seeing Herlina and Damien who moved to China temporarily. It was strange to not meet them in Paris. We chose to stay at Hotel le Bellechasse which was right by the Musee d'Orsay.
It was a lovely boutique hotel with cosy rooms designed by the Parisian fashion designer Christian Lacroix.
The location was excellent among the tiny streets of St Germain and within walking distance to a number of places. The service was also wonderful.
When we were back in London, the forecast for Paris over the weekend was rain but we woke up to blue skies and sun. The Autumn colours of the trees were like flames along the banks of the Seine and were stunning.
We had no real plans for this trip, but visited my favourite street, Rue Saint-Honore to pick up a baguette for lunch and make some purchases for friends back in Sydney.
We continued on to Laduree at Rue Royale (turn right off Saint-Honore) which has become our 'regular' on visits to Paris. The flagship Laduree is on the Champs Elysee, but Rue Royale is a lot less busy (note that the line outside Laduree is for take-away macaroons. Enter Laduree on the right to get a table. We've never waited very long). Our afternoon tea was coffees and ice cream macaroons (the ice cream is the filling between the biscuit and so delicious. Only recently discovered thanks to Dad's curiosity at Laduree, Harrods). It was then onto more shopping at St Germain.
We have briefly been to St Germain before, but we discovered more of the area on this trip. It has all the shops of Rue Saint-Honore but everything is dotted around little, leafy streets. We had fun discovering the place and its shops, such as this gorgeous Christian Loubutin store.
We also discovered a stunning Ralph Lauren store on Boulevard St Germain.
There is a Ralph Lauren restaurant and courtyard on the ground floor and then numerous floors of luxe interiors that reflect a mix of American and French interior styles.
The store felt more like someone's home with big fireplaces, chandeliers, art work and antiquities such as an old American flag which presented only 13 states. The store was stunning at each level. For more pictures of the interiors visit this website. After a day of shopping and walking, we found a neat little wine and tapas bar close to our hotel called Da Rosa for a drink.
Sunday was another sunny day and we started with coffee at the bustling Cafe de Flore.
We then visited the Marais as most of Paris is closed on Sundays except this Jewish quarter. It's the busiest we have ever seen the place and it wasn't even summer anymore.
I spent most of my time vintage shopping, with lots of tips from Mel. While I shopped, Geoff visited the Musee Carnavalet, which tells the history of the city. After a day in the Marais, we went back to the hotel before walking to La Fontaine de Mars for a late dinner.
The restaurant was recommended by Tom and Myles. Apparently the Obamas dined there when they visited Paris (yes, very glamourous!). The restaurant was cosy and very traditional French from the toile wallpaper to the menus.
We had a lovely dinner topped off with wonderful desserts such as the La Fontaine de Mars Floating Island below.
When we left the restaurant the Eiffel Tower sparkled for us one last time and we said goodbye to the city of love which has given us many, many wonderful stories and experiences. It was now back to London to make preparations for the big move back to Australia!
