Last week, I needed a change of scenery and headed to Paris for 2 days.
It was a last minute trip, just the way I like them! I booked my train tickets on Tuesday afternoon and departed at sunrise on Wednesday. Paris is a city I like even more now that I no longer live there! When I go, I usually have little plans and get to play tourist, doing things I didn’t have time to do when I lived and worked there.
Two days in Paris is not a lot, far from enough if you want to visit the city and all it has to offer. I’m not going to put together a post on the 10 things to do in Paris in 2 days. I think it’s almost an insult to such a wonderful city.
Exploring Paris is best done slowly (like all cities really!). You should take the time to enjoy cafés, and sights and parks and theaters and museums and shopping and more cafés and restaurants. Take time to linger and admire the view at every corner, to dwell in contemplation of every monument… Don’t plan your days around a fixed schedule, just put on your confortable walking shoes and explore.
That’s mostly what I do when I go to Paris nowadays. I must admit, I have to refrain myself, and it’s hard! But it’s sooo worth it!
Having said all that, I have created a walking tour map of Paris which you might enjoy, especially if you’ve never been. Check it out, it’s free to download like all my maps and there are lots of goodies too!
My 2 days in Paris
On this little trip, I took the opportunity to handle a few business matters but appart from that, my plan was to mostly spend time with one of my friend who was in Paris at the same time. We spent most of my 2 days together, as we had a lot to catch up on. As usual, we also spent time doing what we (almost) always do when together, which is taking pictures. My friend is a true fashionista and we couldn’t not use Paris as our background!
We did a bit of shopping because she can’t resist and I admit to like designer shops as well.
So here are a little list of the things I liked best from this trip:
I’m starting this list by a restaurant because I was super excited to find this place as I had to be around les Halles at lunch time on my first day. Organic vegan lunch on arrival! The best way to start my Parisien stay!!
Le Bio d’Adam et Eve: Check out their Facebook page for some yummy pictures and great info (in French) on organic food.
No need to introduce Beaubourg or the Pompidou center. It would have been great to see the Wilfredo Lam exposition (on until February 2016), but instead I just had time to ponder life, hanging around the Stravinsky Fountain, admiring the Niki de Saint Phalle sculptures!
Making my way to the Hotel de Ville where I was meeting my friend, I stopped by the Saint Merri church because the door was open!!
Paris has one of the most incredible Town Hall. It is simply gorgeous.
Across the street? The mythic BHV, the paradise for DYI girls like me and fashionista girl like my friend so it was the perfect place to meet.
We both wished we had time to see the expo “Le dressing de rêve des Parisiennes” but we both knew we should ‘work’ first. So we went straight to the Ile de la Cité to find a spot for our shooting.
A stop first for Berties’ cupcakes?! No?? But it looks so cute and so good 🙁
After getting some nice pictures done, we actually ended up spending the evening on the Ile de la Cité. We had a wonderful time and Notre Dame by night is just magnificent. (the photo below doesn’t do it justice, but I already had a few glasses of wine…)
On my second day in Paris, we were suppose to move around a lot to shoot in different locations… Obviously, we ended up staying in the same neighborhood all day! I had not been in the Abbesses quarter for quite a while and it was a nice re-discovery.
I can entirely blame my friend for this! 😉 Because she couldn’t resist walking in, in every cute shop that we found along the way and there are quite a lot of them. Yeah, ok, I was willingly following 😉
My favorites?
A super cute store selling independent designer clothes and jewelry.
They also sell those cocktail dolls which are just way too cute! You can chose your dolls from various destinations: Paris, Saint Tropez, Moscow, New York. The napkin is wrap around the doll and when you use it, you discover how the doll is dressed underneath. It’s chic and a little bit sexy!
The other super cute boutique we went to is Lila. Aude, the boutique owner has designed headbands that feel good to wear! No painful elastic, no headache, no messy hair…. and of course super good looking! I almost bought one!
And next to Lila, there is a Juice Bar and across the street THE boutique I wanted to see: L’objet qui parle (86, Rue des Martyrs, 75018).
I had heard so much about this place, I’m super glad I got to finally see it. Walking in the little shop filled with weird antique pieces was heaven to me!
And thanks to the super nice fellow who takes care of the boutique, I finally know where the wooden tray, I bought 2 weeks ago on a flea market, comes from. So whether you are in Florentin style, or if you are looking for weird unusual decoration pieces, or simply like antiques, this place is a must.
After a while, we finally made it to the Sacré Coeur which was originally one of our destinations for our 2nd shooting. It just took much longer to reach then expected!
It was quite an experience to take fashion pictures in such a crowded place… I’m not quite sure I’m in a hurry to do that again. But it was interesting and fun somehow. And the result is pretty good so it was worth the awkwardness.
I’m not quite sure I’m often going to talk about shopping on this blog. If you want to see more, just let me know below in the comment section below… I’d love to hear from you.
