Our September Parisian Adventure.

The French capital is one that has been drawing visitors for years. Beautiful buildings, museums, gardens, cafes, delicious cuisine, shopping – it really is a city like no other.

I recently spent 4 magical days in the city with my best friend and couldn’t wait to start tiptapping away putting together a write-up of our incredible girls trip.

This post is a long one so let’s just jump right in to it!

Day 1 : Tuesday AM.

Starting with an extremely early 4am alarm, we got the first train into London St. Pancras ready for our 7am departure time on the Eurostar. Having never been on it before, I was SO excited. Promising to take just over 2 hours, I couldn’t believe we’d be in Paris by 10am (including the time difference).

We arrived, checked in, bought coffee (ofc), found our seats and that was it! Comfy seats and extra leg room, we couldn’t have asked for more. Having not made any real plans, we thought we’d use the time travelling to plan our days. Other than wanting to see the main sights, we wanted to keep our plans relatively relaxed so that we could actually take things at a semi-relaxed pace. City breaks can often be so jam-packed that you come home feeling like you need a second holiday!

Prior to booking the trip, we both said that we wanted to be relatively cautious with spending money so we decided to use public transport as opposed to getting taxis everywhere. Absolutely fine by me, I love travelling and exploring new cities like a local. We got our metro tickets and made our way to the hotel.

We had a one night gifted stay at the beautiful Hotel des Grands Boulevards which my good friend Pip * kindly helped us arrange! In a word – WOW.

Boutique, Parisian, modern and chic – it was b-e-a-u-tiful.

We checked in just after 11am, had a quick look around the stunning hotel, dropped our bags off and set out to explore.

First point of call? Coffee, of course. We were so lucky with the weather – blue skies and straight sunshine. Not a cloud in the sky!

Not having any real plans was a godsend. We could take our time exploring hidden streets, heading in to coffee shops when we needed a caffeine fix and also be picky over what we wanted to eat. Emma like myself, is a big foodie.

Question #1 : What do you get when you put two foodies in a food-centric city? More choice than you know what to do with. It took us probably, a good hour before every meal to decide what we wanted. BUT, that meant when we actually decided, we really, really enjoyed it.

Our first meal was at Croco du Marais – located in a well animated area that was buzzing with locals. I think we were the only English people in the resturant!

Refuelled and ready to check out our room, we made our way back to the hotel. Our room was located on the 4th floor, convienetly the same floor as the roof terrace.

Wanting to make the most of the sunshine, we decided to head out for another little explore. Making our way to the Louvre, then walking along The River Seine to the Eiffel Tower. 25.000 steps later, we were ravenous and thinking about pizza!

Ems received LOADS of great food recommendations and we made our way through the list! Picking up an ice cream on the way home, an early night was definitely on the cards as we had an early start the next morning!

Day 2: Wednesday.

Question #2: What do you get when you combine two fitness fanatics in a foreign country? Two girls who decide to go to a 7am French Crossfit class. OH, but arrive at the wrong studio. And yes, that actually happened.

Don’t worry, we (somehow) managed to get to another studio just in time for the workout. An hour flew by and before we knew it, we were getting selfies with the coaches (because you know #Instagram). We were also invited back the next day!

Next on the agenda for the day? The breakfast buffet.

We got back to the hotel absolutely s t a r v e d. Breakfast was served until 10:30am and you can be sure we stayed until then.

Filling our boots, we started with coffee and fruits, before diving in head first to the pastries, smoked salmon and fresh baguettes. What is it about French bread that makes it just so good?!

Suitably stuffed, we headed back to the room to doll ourselves up for another day of exploring. Check out time was 12pm and luckily, we were able to leave our cases with the hotel staff so we didn’t have to drag them around the city with us.

Another relaxed day that involved a self-timer photoshoot at the Eiffel Tower and quite possibly the biggest plate of Moules Frites you can imagine! Perfection.

For the two remaining nights, we booked an Air B&B which was located right next to the Moulin Rouge.

Day 3: Thursday.

Another early morning session at r2 Training! I managed to master double unders, Ems perfected her power cleans and managed to get a PB. Both super pleased with ourselves, we left the gym on the hunt for one thing and one thing only : crepes.

We headed to Brezih Cafe which apparently, has the best crepes in the city. And I can vouch for that.

We started with savoury – smoked salmon & cream cheese, then shared the most decedent warm chocolate and banana sweet crepe! Absoutely worth a visit, but is on the slightly more expensive side of life.

Similar to our previous days, we took it at a leisurely pace. Ticking off more of the sights including the Sacre Coeur, Notre Damn and Montmartre before getting ready for a night out.

Oh, and feasting on yet another mamouth serving of Moules Frites. When in Paris right?

Thanks to Pip once again, we were kindly invited to Grand Pigalle Hotel for cocktails! Espresso Martinis in the heart of Paris – cliche but fabulous.

Day 4: Friday.

Our final day in Paris and a little jaded, we treated ourselves to a lie in.

Plans for the day were once again, relaxed. The only thing we really wanted to do was have a picnic in the Tuileries Gardens.

We stopped at a local supermarket to pick up picnic essentials before sourcing a bakery for baguettes – 1 each might I add.

Feeling a little more human after our feast, we made our way to the Champs-Élysées for Macarons.

Now, if you’ve watched Gossip girl you’ll know just how special Ladurée Macarons are. They’re my all time favourite treat. HOWEVER, instead of just heading straight there, we thought why not make this an experiment. So, we bought 2 from McDonalds and decided to do a comparison.

McDonalds Macaroons vs. Ladurée.

You don’t need me to tell you who won, but it was hilarious nonetheless.

I honestly, cannot find fault with our trip. It was a real slice of heaven.

Paris will always have a special place in my heart and now I’ve got even more memories to add to the bank.

I’d really like to say a huge thank you to Hotel des Grands Boulevards, Grand Pigalle Hotel and of course, Pippa for helping us with the hotels.

*Pippa Rose Lifestyle is everything that hotel-sourcing websites and cut-price airlines are not. She ensures that everything is personalised and tailored to your needs. It’s like having your own concierge but better because she has such a large network of contacts!

Anyone can Google ‘hotels in Paris’ but Pip has first hand experience of what each hotel is like. Real honest opinions and advice.

So whether you’re looking to book the trip of a lifetime or a city-break with the girls, I promise you Pip has all the answers!!

Stay at Hotel des Grands Boulevards from £284 p/n.
For more information or to book through Pippa be sure to visit her website.
Follow Hotel des Grands Boulevards on Instagram here.

Click here to visit The Grand Pigalle.
Follow The Grand Pigalle on Instagram here.

Amy xo.

*Our stay at Hotel des Grands Boulevards was complimentary but, as always, all views are my own*.