Je t'adore Paris

We were heading for Paris, so it seemed entirely reasonable that we should be wearing hats....

 A sunny day at Versailles, escaping most of the other tourists at Petit Trianon put us in a holiday mood

I loved the rich colours and patterns

and came away with grandiose ideas of turning my bedroom into a boudoir...

We stayed in a wonderful little flat right in the centre of the city. I loved the area, near Les Halles, it was busy and lively and full of Parisians rather than tourists.

We were even invited to a Private View on our first evening! I prefer to stay in a house rather than a hotel, you can pretend it's your pied-a-terre and that you are  just popping over for the weekend...

Antiques stalls and Brocantes tempted us next day (and the next one too, actually). We pottered for hours  looking, lusting and occasionally treating ourselves

Whilst wandering, we came at one point to this overgrown house, tucked away, half hidden by the greenery. How we wished we could stay there!

We didn't visit many of the tourist attractions but I love Sainte Chapelle. Its one of the few places where opulent colour does not look gaudy but beautiful.

And as always, it's the details that touch my heart-

Paris is not only full of beautiful, uplifting art, it is also the perfect place for indulging in a little temptation...

We visited the oldest cake shop in Paris
And came away with a lunch that would seduce a Saint

On our last night we headed to the place that for many, sums up the spirit of the city

We found a quirky bar where the walls were covered with cards and notes and drawings by the guests and then treated ourselves to a fabulous meal at our favourite restaurant

later that night we watched the Eiffel Tower sparkling above the city, whilst a thunderstorm and lightening lit up the rest of the sky. It was a magical moment but one which I couldn't quite catch on camera...

The weekend was such a treat for me, it was wonderful to spend time with Emily and she well deserved her holiday. She has a 2.1 Hons in Drama and Creative Writing. I am very proud of her, she worked so hard.

I will always love Paris, it was the first foreign city I visited when young and it still has a slightly magical quality. It never disappoints or lets me down-

Bookstore on the banks of the Seine

Marie Antionette's private theatre

Golden Snails

A shoe decorated with flower petals and fruit

Paris Je t'adore.

The apartment -
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/1876098?euid=6b3f696d-ecb7-e420-dab6-c3851a4f2d62

A Tale of Two Cities... ( Paris, 1st version )

Champagne, ma cherie?

Our stairs were perfection, the view - so French

Our days were filled with art, sculpture, and music-

At rest we remained poised and cosmopolitan, far from the worries of an ordinary world-

Even traveling home we remained calm and aloof...

No, it's no good, we just can't keep this up...

Please see next blog for a true picture...

A Tale of Two Cities... ( Paris, 2nd Version)

We decided that we would move immediately into Paris time when boarding Eurostar... which mean that it was past 6 o'clock and we could open the champagne!  A 'Mothers Day' gift from my parents, this seemed the perfect occasion.

We had booked a studio apartment but due to its rather eccentric rules we had to pick up our keys from a metro station. We were informed-

" Go to the platform on line 6, heading towards Charles de Gaulle, there a man will meet you at 20.00 hours. He will be holding a beige envelope. Hand over the 25 euros and he will give you your keys"

 It felt as if we were taking part in a low budget spy film but to my great relief everything went like clockwork!

We were expecting the studio to be small but everything in the building was crammed into the smallest possible space! The lift was minute but our apartment being 6 floors up, we took our life and our luggage into our hands ...

and arrived... it was tiny but just so French!

We both know Paris well, so this was to be a working holiday. Next morning we headed to Antique Lover's heaven-

One look at the prices however sent us scurrying outside to places more suited to our meagre pockets!

Here we had some great finds-

Stopping only for some light refreshment-

 Truthfully, we spent rather a lot of our time 'refreshing' ourselves.

This was breakfast...

This a light lunch...

It's probably a good thing that there are no photographic records of our sumptuous suppers!

We did walk however, if fact I think we walked the length and breadth of Paris-

Our shoes had to be rested outside at night...

Oh, but we DID enjoy ourselves, I'm so lucky to have such a lovely daughter!

With love and thanks to Emily for her company and her photographs.