… with my school bestie!
Last month, my bestie and I hopped from London to Paris for four days of summer fun. I love a girl’s trip, but it’s been years since I took one, so I was excited.
Travel & Stay
We flew into Paris Orly Airport, which is a little south of the city but is super accessible by a relatively cheap and regular bus from the airport right into the city center. Paris is made for walking; we covered 48km in just four days – a whopping 65,617 steps – so it’s worth knowing that to get on the buses around the city, you need to get a ticket from a bus or metro station before getting on, there’s no way to buy a ticket on board. Disappointment and confusion for this pair of Londoners after a long day’s walking; we got an Uber instead. Another pro tip, there’s a company called Bolt that operates in Europe, Africa, and Latin America that is the same as Uber but often offers cheaper fares (use my code REBECCADSB to get a discount on your first ride!).
Arriving mid-afternoon, we took a Bolt to our hotel, Hotel Square Louvois, a gorgeous spot amid the 2nd Arrondissement. We booked this stay through secretescapes; if you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it. secretescapes do “luxury” travel, so a little more expensive than your typical discount site, but if you’re looking for something a little fancier with a few dollars off, they’ve got it. From weekend city breaks to full long-haul tropical trips, you can find offers on any holiday type – I’ve previously done a week’s all-inclusive on the Greek island of Kos through them, which was dreamy.
Eating & Drinking
On night one, we had a reservation at the gorgeous pasta restaurant called Daroco; there are two locations, Daroco Bourse (a 5 min walk from our hotel) and Darco 16 in the 16th Arrondissement just along from the Eiffel Tower. We ordered a crisp bottle of rosé, the Caesar Salad, the Rigatoni Alla Vodka, and Crispy Focaccia with Parmesan; it was divine. A Parisian friend recommended our post-dinner drinks at Chai Brongniart and served the perfect midnight Aperol Spritz.
For breakfast each day, the hotel served a continental breakfast with fresh coffee, eggs, and bacon. But it’s Paris, so there’s a boulangerie around every corner where you can pick up second breakfast pastries. However, if you’re a coffee lover and staying on the right bank (north of the river to us non-Parisians), you must treat yourself to a Cafe Nuances coffee; they served the best three cups of coffee I’ve ever had.
Our main meal on day two was a late lunch in one of the more touristy spots of the city, Montparnasse. We ate at a restaurant called Le Dôme, which has a rather large and diverse menu – which usually tends to put me off – but we ate fish burgers al fresco with a view of the Eiffel Tower, which was most enjoyable. There are lots of gorgeous places to eat around here, so you can’t go wrong by just wandering around and picking a spot that looks cute.
After a first and second breakfast on day three, we skipped lunch. We headed up towards the Sacre-Coeur, where we stopped for a 3 pm gelato and cocktail at a beautiful little street corner just at the bottom of the Sacre-Coeur steps (which are exceptionally steep but equally rewarding). We ate chocolate-banana ice cream and mango sorbet in the street from the ice cream shop aptly named GELATO and then sat down to people-watch and absorbed the Parisian atmosphere at Le Bimbo on Rue des Trois Frères.
Our final dinner location was the super Instagrammable Cali Sisters, which serves “Californian” dishes. We had the DIY Fish Tacos & Cali Fries followed by the Choco Cream & Berries dessert, but everything that came out for other guests looked so good, so I don’t think you can make a wrong choice; I would go back for the brunch menu. We also enjoyed another delicious bottle of rosé here and toasted pink shots to twenty years of friendship.
Before heading home, we had a late brunch at another Instagrammable location which was worth the 25-minute queue—tucked away just north of the 3rd Arr. And a few minute’s walks from the Gare du Nord, the Holybelly 5 cafe has big breakfasts, fresh coffee, pancakes, and even bougie granola for the crazy people. Don’t let the clunky website put you off; check out their Instagram profile instead.
Explore
One of the great joys of Paris is that it’s stunning to walk around. I love a city where I can wander and feel as if I live there myself, and that’s precisely the feeling I had during this short trip. However, there’s also a lot to see in this city. If you’re keen to tick off the tourist spots, then the Eiffel Tower, the Sacre-Coeur, and the Notre Dame are all beautiful; you can also visit the Louvre museum (there’s always a queue), take a boat ride down the Seine, or visit the Palace of Versailles (needs most of the day).
For a more “living in the city” style exploration, you can walk from one “end” of the city to the other in about 2-3 hours. From the east to west you can visit the famous Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in the 20th Arr. Start on the left at the Jardin de Plantes on the right bank in the 5th Arr. You can stroll along the river to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame, visit Place Dauphine, and cross the Pont Neuf to the Louvre Museum. Continuing west from the Louvre, stroll through the Jardin des Tuileries, following the river until you travel to the Pont Alexandre III (there’s a super fun bar on the right bank next to this bridge called Rosa Bonheur). Walking west along the Quai d’Orsay for another 15 minutes, you’ll eventually reach the Eiffel Tower, which despite every cliché, is a sight to behold. If you cross the river again over to the Jardins du Trocadéro, you’ll get a brilliant view of the Tour Eiffel with a much smaller crowd.
If you’ve done any research for a Paris trip, you’ll have heard of the Moulin Rouge. But if you’re up for something a little more raunchy, get tickets to the Crazy Horse instead. We went to the 8 pm showing on a Wednesday night and bought the show and champagne tickets; it was 90 mins of butts, boobies, and burlesque, and if you go with an open mind and a glass of champagne down you, it’s a lot of fun. Afterward, we strolled just two minutes down to the Pont de l’Alma, where you have the *perfect* view of the Eiffel Tower in all its sparkling glory; it sparkles for 5 minutes on the hour every hour from dusk until 1 am.
We are a fashion magazine, so it would be remiss not to include some of Paris’ fashion elements, of which there are many. Although Yves Saint Laurent’s collections are displayed across five of Paris’ key attractions, the Musée Yves Saint Laurent is a small yet curious display of YSL’s early design process. It features many of his early pencil drawings and fabric swatches and allows you to step into the most beautiful studio lined with floor-to-ceiling windows and mirrors at his former haute couture house. We spent about 90 minutes here and enjoyed it.
I’m proud to say that having packed two looks a day for this trip, only one item I wore was “new-new.” I typically have the pre-trip panic that I haven’t got something suitable to wear, but I intentionally shopped my wardrobe for this trip; except for one top, everything was thrifted or borrowed, and I surprised myself with how great it felt! Check out our resources for thrifting and building a more sustainable wardrobe so you can do the same for your next trip!
