Weekend trip to Paris? Pour quoi pas!

La Ville-Lumiere

When I first moved to London I thought I would take the Eurostar to Paris all the time. Two years later, I finally made it! I was so excited about the weekend that I was worried I was building the city up too much in my mind. I was afraid that the reality of Paris would never live up to the romance and beauty of the city I've been reliving in my memory for the last three years. Of course Paris proved me wrong.

My friends and I spent most of the weekend in the Marais. A week after we got back the New York Times published its new "36 Hours in Paris" all about, you guessed it, the medieval and yet impossibly hip Marais. Either the NY Times is following us or our mini-breaks are just failingly on trend. (Seriously, they should just let me write their 36 hour guides already instead of paying that other guy to follow me and my friends around...).

Anyway, it was a gorgeous crisp and sunny fall weekend and what can I say, add some red wine, some steak tartare, some good friends and one of the most gorgeous cities on earth - and voila - this is what living in Europe is all about.

Recommendations:

Hotel: Pavillion Saint-Louis Bastille. A recently remodeled and efficiently run little hotel. They own a few in the area and I reckon I'd stay in any of them. http://www.saintlouis-hotels.com/

Restaurant: Chez Paul. Order the steak, the gratin dauphinois and a nice red. You can't go wrong. 13, Rue de Charonne. Credit for this find goes to Graeme.

Hidden Gem: On the Right Bank, just off the Pont Louis Philipe and behind Chez Julien is the perfect spot for an afternoon respite. There’s a little cafe, with outdoor seating bien sûr, between an art gallery and an antiques shop. It would all be too disgustingly quaint to stomach except it's Paris so it just feels right.

À la prochaine!

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