I just got back a week ago from a surprise weekend in Paris! Hubby did an amazing job planning and keeping it a surprise. I was super excited to share one of my favorite cities in the world with him and Baby Veer! We did a combination of eating, sight seeing and shopping. We kept things light and go with the flow since we had already been back in 2019. You can check out that blog post HERE.
Getting there
We took a direct flight out of Philadelphia to Paris. We took a red eye which was perfect for the baby and it would get us into Paris around noon. Prior to boarding the flight we ate and had Baby Veer run around to tire him out, needless to say he was super excited on the flight so getting him to sleep was indeed challenging. But once he fell asleep he was out until we pretty much landed! Coming back to the States we had a daytime flight, however, we had a row of three so that helped. Make sure to bring plenty of snacks, toys and an ipad to keep the little one occupied!
Where to Stay
Paris is divided into a total of 20 arrondissements starting from the center and going outward. Last time we went to Paris we stayed in the 6th arrondissement which is Saint German at the cutest boutique hotel called Hotel Madison. This time we stayed in the 8th arrondissement which is Champs-Elysees at Sofitel Le Scribe. The hotel was actually perfect as it was walkable to most places, plenty of high end shopping and restaurants nearby. The hotel also had a beautiful lobby, a cafe, restaurant and bar. The room for Paris standards was large and was perfect for the three of us.
What to See and Do
Outfit:
Top: ASOS / Blazer: JustFab (Similar) / Jeans: JCrew
Shoes: Cole Haan / Purse: Saint Laurent
Eiffel Tower
Seine River Cruise
Louvre
Musee D’Orsay
Notre Dame
Sainte-Chapelle
Versailles
Arc de Triomphe
Tuileries Garden
One piece of valuable advice I have for any of these places that you need a ticket to get into (i.e. Eiffel Tower, Louvre, etc.) book your ticket ahead of time. The queue for some of these places is insane and it’s always best to book ahead.
Top Places to Eat
Au Pied de Cochan
Balagan
Cafe de Flore
Cafe de l’Homme
Cafe Marly
Cafe Cassette
Cedric Grolet Opera
Chez Julien
Chez Le Libanais
Ferdi
Girafe
Gigi
Hotel Costes
L’Avenue
La Bourse et La Vie
La Fontaine De Mars
L’as Du Fallafel
Le Cinq (at the Four Seasons)
L’Arpege (Vegetarian - one of the World’s Best Restaurants)
Lou Lou
Pink Mamma
Thierry Marx (at the Mandarin Hotel)
Laduree (Macarons)
Pierre Hermes (Macarons)
All of the cafes were wonderful! For breakfast we kept things super simple with a croissant and espresso’s (I’m still dreaming about those wonderful, buttery croissant’s… yummm). Lunch was casual as well since we were usually on the move. Dinnertime we made nightly reservations and some of the views at the restaurants (i.e. Girafe and Gigi are AMAZING!).
Shopping
The best shopping for luxury items is in the Champs Elysées. Any and every high end store you can think of is there! My number one tip for getting into Hermes, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Goyard, Dior, Van Cleef, Cartier, etc. is to get there EARLY since a lot of the designers have their flagship stores in Paris. In all honesty, it is hard to find inventory so don’t go to Paris just to shop. Things are even harder with the Dollar and Euro being pretty much the same and everyone is traveling to Europe. All in all, we still had a good shopping experience.
Another important thing, if you do purchase any luxury items, notify the sales person that you would like to collect the VAT tax. They will then take a copy of your passport and give you a receipt (sometimes the sales person will just do all the paperwork which is what happened at Chanel). Once you get to the airport you need to locate the kiosk to scan your receipts (sometimes they do need to see your actual purchases) and once you come back to the United States you need to declare all goods at customs.
Overall
Paris is such a magical city.
I had such an amazing time and can’t wait to someday go back!