A Perfect Day In Paris

An Itinerary To Follow

I was going to make this Subscriber only but I’ve changed my mind because had I not just had a perfect day in Paris I would definitely want to know how to do it! It’s a thing of myth really – like other peoples’ holidays where they always somehow blend seamlessly with the locals and only eat at secret cafes and stay off the beaten track. My experience of family holidays when my children were little was doing everything you always need to do but in a much more inconvenient location where nobody will feed you until way past their bedtime.

Of course, if you live in London, everything is made much easier by the proximity of the Eurostar. My trip was with two friends who were treating me to a belated birthday present and we took an 08.01am train. Since none of us lives next to St Pancras, this involved getting up very, very early. I’d planned to take a bag of make up with me and doing it on the train but I woke at 5.30am rather than be woken by my 5.45 alarm so I had time to make myself presentable (ish). Funnily enough, I didn’t have any expectations for the day – the fact that it was planned by someone other than myself took all of the pressure off and I was just happy to go with the flow. We had a quick breakfast waiting for the Eurostar to onboard and then off we went.

It was the most seamless trip – apart from the surprise of leaving the UK border and arriving at the French border in a matter of ten strides (because once you pass through passport control you are then in French territory) which always takes me aback, it could not have been smoother. We had fun, fueled on coffee and pastries and the time passed very quickly.

From the Eurostar terminal in Paris (about 11.30), we took a taxi to the Louvre. It’s years since I’ve been to the Louvre and I’d forgotten about the queues. Our tickets to see the Art & Fashion Statement Pieces were for 12.30 and the timing was perfect. Outfits taken from the archives of 45 fashion houses – yes, Chanel and Dior, but also Alaia, Alexander McQueen and Schiaparelli to name but a few – intermingled with the artworks in the Decorative Arts department. Let me tell you, we saw some chandeliers! We didn’t do a full immersion (tickets are £12.50) and just wandered about taking it all in without stopping to read up on absolutely everything. Despite the Louvre feeling very full, the part we were in wasn’t particularly busy.

From the Louvre, we stopped for a coffee in the sunshine at a nearby café called Palais Royal. We planned to walk the 25 minutes to lunch but in the event called an Uber. Lunch was a genius stroke by Kelly who Googled ‘Emily in Paris restaurants’ and so we found ourselves at 2.30 at the picturesque Le Flore En L’ile by the side of the Seine. With an outside table booked, we were made very welcome and each of us had a different salad variation – with chips, obviously – and a glass of Cote de Provence Rose. I was brought a firework candle (stuck in a banana!) and a little plate of chocolates, so if it’s a special occasion, do make sure that you tell the wait staff.

Quai d’Orleans, where Le Flore En L’ile is, is very near Le Marais which Genevieve had suggested so we decided to walk there after lunch. Our path took us past a beautiful church with stained glass windows so we dipped in to have a better look before discovering a vintage market on Pont Louis-Philippe which takes you directly to the shops in Le Marais. It was so lovely – lots of vintage Chanel and Dior. I bought a non-vintage necklace there and while sorely tempted, managed to stay away from the handbags!

By the time we’d looked in a few independent fashion shops and stopped at a café for a cup of minty tea and a white chocolate and pistachio cookie, it was time to call Uber again to take us back to the Gare du Nord for our 19.01 (local time) train home. Kelly had spotted that we weren’t allowed to bring any cheese or meat back – I would definitely have taken some cheese home but new regulations state that you can’t. Our Eurostar train was twenty minutes late but apart from that, again, seamless. I was home (and more than ready for bed) by 9.30pm.

My take-outs from this wonderful day are:

Don’t try to do too much

Use Ubers if you can because the day goes so fast

Book a lunch spot to give you a middle to your day.

Our itinerary was as follows:

8.01 Eurostar to Paris, arriving 11.30am local time.

11.45 Arrive at Louvre – the queues are long.

12.30 Exhibition HERE

1.30 Coffee then Uber to Quai d’Orleans

2.30 Lunch at Le Flore en L’ile HERE

3.30 Walk to the Pont Louis-Philippe and Le Marais shops including a fantastic pet supply shop where I bought a little gift for Dora HERE.

4.30 Stop for tea and cake.

5.00 A quick last shop look and Uber to Gare du Nord for the 7.01 train home to arrive 8.30pm UK time.

Although it was a whistlestop day, by not over estimating how much we could do, we were never rushed or worried about time. If I did it again, I’d skip the Louvre entirely and walk around more. You don’t have to have a esoteric reason for going to Paris – you can literally just go for lunch and shopping.