Two sisters, the Eurostar, a chic Hotel and a dream of doing exactly what we wanted for three whole nights. Where we stayed, where we shopped, what we bought, where we ate and what we did.
Two sisters, the Eurostar, a chic Hotel and a dream of doing exactly what we wanted for three whole nights. Where we stayed, where we shopped, what we bought, where we ate and what we did.
My experience of visiting Paris has not, to date, been particularly exciting. The first time I went was when I was working for Cisco Systems who used to run training courses in a sixties box build just outside the centre. The most exciting part of the day was when we would be taken out for lunch, where without fail we would be served cassoulet. I made this trip on multiple occasions, eating multiple bowls of cassoulet and it could never have been described as fun. The next time I visited was at the end of a two week driving holiday with my then husband, where quite frankly we were so knackered that we didn’t go anywhere but for dinner and that was Paris for me until my kids heard of Euro Disney.
I have never been a theme park fan. I have never visited Orlando or even had the faintest inclination to do so, so when I realised I could tick the Disney box without having to get on a plane or take two weeks off, I booked it. It rained the entire time we were there, we didn’t have Fast Track tickets so did It’s A Small World on repeat as it had the shortest queue, a can of Coke cost a fiver (this was in 2008) and we paid over £120 to have breakfast with Mickey Mouse and Goofy who looked slightly battered and as if they’d rather be elsewhere.
Paris 2010, a brief visit to the Eiffel Tower after two days of solid rain at Euro Disney with three kids and a buggy.
Anyway, that was Paris for me for a while until I started working on Instagram and once again started visiting for work; Maison Objet, trips with brands, product launches. But despite the loveliness of the location, I never really got to see very much of it at all. So when my sister and I decided to go on a couple of days break, it seemed like the perfection place to visit. And even better, we could do exactly what we wanted to do. No children, no work, no husbands. What more could we ask for? We could browse the markets, peruse the galleries, drink French wine in small glasses sitting on little tables on the pavement. All the stuff. So we booked.
And had the BEST time. I accosted my Instagram audience for tips beforehand and we ticked them off, one by one, seeing everything that we wanted to and covering many bases during our three night break. Here’s a rundown of what we did, what we saw, where we shopped, where we ate and what we bought. And do feel free to add your own recommendations to the comments here for other people who are planning a visit.
Let’s Start With The Basics. Where Did We Stay?
My sister, Annabel, and I are very Hotel fussy. Not from a price perspective (the cheaper the better, obvs) but from an aesthetic perspective. Yes, this might make us a little difficult to please but we make no excuses for it. There is a list (prepare yourselves). We do not do grey sofas, white gloss furniture, artwork that looks like it comes from The Range, anything sparkly or glittered, any decor that is dark purple or black. Nothing that houses a high backed easy clean leather dining chair. But the problem is when you are looking for a budget Hotel, there are a lot of them that look like this. And Annabel and I are not for turning. I know, we are intolerable.
Obviously in an ideal world, we would have stayed in the Hotel Les Deux Gares but sadly for us, we didn’t have a) a budget to suit our aspirations or b) a budget that would even buy us one night there, let alone three, so we had to reconvene and reassess. And after trawling booking.com for a full afternoon, we came across the 30 room Hotel Arvor which was situated in South Pigalle, close to two Metro stations (Saint-Georges and Notre-Dame-De-Lorette) and was on a very quiet street, yet still in the centre of everything. The decor was simple, it had art on the walls (literally on the walls - the rooms are decorated with hand painted murals by artist Nina Koltchiskaia) and what’s more, we liked the website font (I know, I know). I went straight to the Hotel website where it gave me a discount (better than booking.com, even with my top tier Genius level) and the job was done.
The Hotel was perfect, on a quiet street but so central.
We had high expectations and upon arrival, it turned out to be exactly as we hoped it would be. French, chic, neutral, good artwork, a tiny courtyard, a cream sofa’d lounge area with a bar and lots of bookshelves. There were even tiny little boxes of matches on reception with the artists designs on them (LOVE this about France, they care not about smoking rules). We’d asked for a twin room and it was simple to the point of extreme, with two very comfortable single beds, a desk, chair, TV and built in wardrobe and that was it. The shower room was also simple but inoffensive. And most of all, it was all very clean and due to the location, lovely and quiet, even with the windows open (it also had aircon). We were on the 5th floor so had an excellent view across the rooftops. Our only complaint was that there were no tea and coffee facilities, although you could go down to the Reception room at any point to ask for a drink.
Hand painted murals on the wall.
Simple, no frills and clean.
South Pigalle is in the 9th arrondissement and within walking distance of Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur so perfectly positioned. Within a moment of the Hotel there was a coffee shop and a Carrefour City, plus multiple bars and restaurants to sit outside and people watch. A good choice and we paid £700 for our room for three nights, which is £350 each equating to around £116 a night. Breakfast was not included, but there was a buffet downstairs every morning for €14 a head. But with the most amazing cafes and bakeries nearby, it seemed rude not to try them.
The cosy bar area.
How Did We Get There?
We started our investigations with the idea of getting a flight (me from Leeds, Annabel from Heathrow) but quickly realised that that was going to be a massive slog. By the time we had travelled to the airport, got there in the two hour before zone, flown and then travelled from the airport to the Hotel, it would have been HOURS. So we booked the 9.30am Eurostar from St Pancras on a Friday morning. That enabled me to get the 6am train from York, arriving at 8.15am and in plenty of time for our booking. One thing we didn’t realise until the day before (and I had to change myYork train time) is that in order to get through security and passport control, you need to be at St Pancras an hour at least before your train is due to depart.
However, we picked up breakfast at M&S, boarded our train and it was all good. Another good thing about getting the Eurostar? You can take two large suitcases each, if you’re so inclined. No trying to stuff your bag into the Ryanair measurement box. Heaven. We paid £240 each but it would have been much cheaper if we were able to depart prior to 9.30am (we couldn’t as I was coming from York). From arrival at the Gare De Nord, we walked to our Hotel which took 20 minutes. No Uber required.
So we had a list and my sister obsessively ticked off our achievements. Despite getting loads of information in advance, we had both been busy and were rather poorly prepared, so we spent a lot of time looking at phones whilst walking and trying not to be run over by bikes. However, we managed to cram in pretty much everything that we wanted to so I thought it was worth listing it day by day, in case you are planning a similar length of visit.
Arrival 2pm - Friday
We couldn’t check into our rooms until 3pm so we dumped our bags in Reception, changed our shoes (the weather was HOT) and went for a walk to find somewhere for lunch. The first place we found was the Le Pigalle Hotel, about which we knew nothing but it became immediately apparent that it was VERY cool. Excellent decor, so in true Kerman sister style, we stayed for lunch.
We sat outside on the street and ordered a glass of wine whilst we perused the menu, ordering a selection of starters. We did find that a lot of the main courses were quite meat heavy and Annabel is vegetarian, but the appetisers were varied at almost all the restaurants we visited. One thing that we loved about Paris was that they didn’t give you a choice of wine glass size - there was no small, medium or large. There was just a good glass of wine in a nice small, stubby glass which was much more appealing than a massive glass of Sauvignon a la Wetherspoons. French people are much more sensible about wine drinking than we are, quite frankly. I honestly think that all these UK pubs that encourage you to shove massive bargain glasses down your throat have a lot to answer for, mostly the amount of drunk people on our streets at night. Anyway, I am digressing. Lunch was delish and I would highly recommend, not least for the fact that the loos are also really cool. I am nothing if not predictable.
Carpaccio, hummus and anchovies.
Sacre Coeur, APC Outlet
We decided to head to the Basilica Sacre Coeur which was about a 25 minute walk away. It has amazing views of Paris from the top, but in order to get there, you have to climb the steps. It was steep - it’s a long way to the top and even when you think you are there, you are not. So if you have any sort of walking issues, think twice before starting the ascent. However, it’s worth it when you get there - it’s a really beautiful Church and the railings are filled with love tokens where couples have attached locks with their names on. Oh, and then you get to walk down afterwards which is MUCH better, ha. Just think of the steps we’re doing, we kept telling ourselves.
All the love.
Deeply impressive.
Next we hit the APC Surplus Store. Annabel had been before and confirmed that there were excellent discounts and we are ALWAYS here for a good discount, so we stuck it into the phone and headed there immediately. It’s in the 18th arrondissement near Montmartre and the address is 22 Rue André del Sarte, 75018 Paris. It’s a good place to hit after you’ve seen the Sacre Coeur as it’s just off the steps. There’s between 40% and 70% discount on everything, divided into a mens shop, a womens shop and a sample shop where things are SUPER cheap. We both picked up handbags at 60% off and I also bought a jumper - if you spend over €100 then you can claim back the tax. The shop staff fill in all the forms for you (you’ll need your passport to hand and a bank card) and all you have to do is upload the Global Blue app and register. The when you get to the Gare De Nord to board your train home, you just tap the screens and it’s approved.
Bags at 70% off. I mean, what more do you need?
The APC Surplus location.
After a successful shop, we walked back to our Hotel for check in, stopping at a pharmacy so that I could stock up on A313 cream, although in fairness it was barely any cheaper than buying it on Amazon, and some Rose moisturiser that is a basic go to that I love.
It was at this point that we realised that we hadn’t booked anywhere for dinner and had a slight panic as after checking the majority of restaurants on my list from my audience, we discovered they were all booked. Unless you wanted to eat at 10pm which was WAY too late for us, particularly as I’d got up at 4.15am. So we decided to cut our losses and Googled ‘local rooftop restaurants’ and found that Maggie bar at the top of Hotel Rochechouart was the one to go to. We walked there - it took about 20 minutes - and asked for a table upstairs, to be told that there was a wait and that they’d come and get us when one was free.
Picture postcard view from the rooftop.
Annabel and I looking like we are off to a business meeting, as taken by the apparently slightly drunk waiter.
So we got a glass of wine (€7 a glass) from the downstairs bar (which was VERY pretty) and waited. And waited. And bought another glass of wine. And waited. And then decided we were quite annoyed as it was over an hour so we went and asked the concierge who was standing guard over the rooftop lift if our table was ready who told us that ‘miraculously’ there was now space. The view, admittedly, was absolutely amazing, the Sacre Coeur lit up on one side, the Eiffel Tower flashing to the other. The food and service? It was okay, but not exceptional. It had started to busy up as we left so I think that it’s probably more of a late night drinking bar than a 9.30pm meal type of place, but it’s quite cool and the panoramic view is worth the effort. It cost about £60 for two of us with a bottle of wine.
Tuna tartare, anchovy toast, guacamole.
We stopped at Le Pigalle as we passed it on the way home and it was in full swing with a DJ, dancing and packed tables. We ordered an exceptionally good cocktail, realised that we were the oldest people in the room by about 20 years and decided that perhaps it was time to call it the end of a long day. Ha.
After a quick croissant we ordered an Uber and headed to the markets, after working out it would only cost £15 and could take us to the exact spot, rather than us wandering aimlessly trying to find it - 99 Rue Des Rosiers, which was the entrance to the Marche Vernaison. This is a sprawling market area with lots of traders selling everything from jewelry, paintings, ceramics through to vintage clothes, lighting and small furniture. It’s open from 10am until 6pm on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays and is well worth a visit. I bought vintage rings but very much wish that I’d invested in an oil painting to bring home. Also there’s a shop that only sells ashtrays and I am FUMING I didn’t buy one as a souvenir.
The perfect place to browse.
This painting was another thing I wish I’d bought.
Everything you could ever need at the market.
Map of the market.
From here, we walked to Marche Delphine which is in the heart of Saint Ouen which is the area where all the flea markets are, again on the Rue Des Rosiers. This is undercover and on several levels with an original Futuro home in the centre. Lots of buy and loads of vintage magazines, books and records alongside plenty of vintage clothing stalls. It’s so worth a wander. It’s open on the same days as the Marche Vernaison.
Marche Dauphine is on two floors and is huge.
Furniture of dreams.
A Futuro home in the centre.
Lunch - Bar Du Marche Des Blancs Manteaux
We then walked to Porte De Cligancourt Metro and got the train to the Le Marais area, getting off at Saint-Sébastien - Froissart. After a quick stop at the Fragonard shop where I bought some pillow cases (they are SO good), we found a small restaurant for lunch that was on the main street and madly busy (address is 53 Rue Vieille du Temple, 75004 Paris). We had sharing plates of goats cheese parcels, avocado tartare (recipe on my post from Wednesday), prawns, frites and a carafe of wine and it came to €40 including tip. Bargain.
A ten minute walk and we were at the Picasso Museum and it’s a very gorgeous building. It costs €16 per person to walk around but it’s well worth it if you are a fan, it has lots of his later work and the exhibition is huge. Just make sure you turn off your phone volume as Ella decided to FaceTime me half way around to ask me which shoes she should wear out that night and I got some really terrible looks.
I had heard a lot about this shop and had very high expectations, not least the infamous red Fiat outside the front. It’s a lovely, albeit busy shop, but I wasn’t that overwhelmed. I think we are really lucky here in the UK to have loads of great independent concept style stores, particularly in London, and this was just a really big one. Was worth a visit though, I think, especially as they had a huge display of the Dragon Diffusion bag I have just invested in at much more than I paid for it in the Sale at Fenwick, ha. We didn’t buy anything, but it was all nice to look at. We then left the building, only to discover that we were walking straight out into a hardcore house music street festival. God help us. We escaped to the Metro station, got on the train back to Saint-Georges and went for a cup of tea at La Rimaudiere Cafe (2 Rue des Martyrs) on the corner of the road our Hotel was on before we went for a lie down. Ha.
Luckily, we had got with the booking programme and had booked a restaurant in Canal St Martin which is a cool part of Paris, apparently. We got an Uber and it was, very cool, with lots of people sitting on the river banks as the sun went down. We were early for our reservation so we had a couple of drinks at the Canaletto Cafe a few doors down where we sat outside people watching with excellent rose. Le Comptoir General was inside in what was kind of like a massive indoor garden and quite cool, although very dark so it was impossible to take a good picture, but we liked it. The food was really good, big prawns, toasted artichokes, padras peppers and a bottle of wine came to around £80 including tip.
Prawns (huge ones), roasted artichokes and padron peppers.
After a quick coffee and croissant, we walked to Richelieu-Drouot Metro and went to Alma-Marceau before walking to the Musee D’Art Moderne for the Kerry James Marshall - The Histories exhibition which rather excellently had started the day before. We booked tickets online before we visited as it was super busy - it’s on until 27 January 2027 if you are Paris bound as it’s well worth a visit. Kerry James Marshall creates large scale works that centre Black people, confronting stereotypes within contemporary American society whilst also referencing Western art. It was SO GOOD. Honestly, if you are able to go I would highly recommend. The museum also has a permanent exhibition which was interesting, but the main attraction was definitely The Histories. Side note: only managed to find representation of two female artists in the whole place.
We walked across the river and towards Cafe Jacques which is in the very beautiful grounds of the Quai Branly Museum (we were quite museumed out by this point so we didn’t go in). It’s set within gardens designed by Gilles Clement and they are really lovely, plus we had the most perfect view of the Eiffel Tower from where we sat outside. We had toasted sandwiches and salad for lunch, which was served by a host who obviously hated us on sight but the food was good, ha. It was quite expensive at €54 but I didn’t leave a tip due to her rudeness.
Terrible service but a great view from our table. I mean, look!
Hmm. This is where is went a bit wrong as we decided to get a boat down the river to see the sights (by this time it looked like it was going to rain and was very gloomy) and accidentally booked one that was basically the Seine equivalent of the hop on hop off bus at a cost of €24 each. This was a rookie error as we thought we were booking one where we could sit on the top. But no. However, this would be a VERY good idea if you were looking for a hop on hop off type of thing that would enable you to see everything and not have to worry about Metros. So we decided to cut our losses and get off at the Louvre before walking back home to our Hotel. Which we did. And lay on the bed for a bit. Ha.
Batobus view of Korean Instagrammers in wedding dresses.
Again, we had managed to book our dinner ahead and had taken a suggestion from someone Annabel used to work with. Hotel Particulier is in Montmartre, so we booked a table in the garden and then got there a little earlier so that we could have a walk around. Montmartre is VERY pretty, very Wes Anderson, with lots of tourists but also lots of really lovely looking bistros and bars. We stopped for a drink at La Bonne Franquette where we sat outside and watched even more Korean tourists in ball gowns swap their trainers for heels in order to take Instagram photos. There’s some nice shops to peruse and in the main square, there are lots of restaurants under a big awning which were all rammed. Some really very lovely views to be seen, though.
This was a great spot to people watch.
Accidentally Wes Anderson.
Such a pretty view from the main steps from the square in Montmartre.
The Hotel Particulier was exactly what we needed after our Batobus faux pas and it didn’t disappoint. It’s totally gorgeous, super chic, amazing interiors, beautiful setting and the hosts are excellent. Our garden table was beautiful, we ordered a selection of starters to share instead of a main course, plus a bottle of wine and it was around £100. It’s not cheap, but it’s worth it for the absolute glamour of it. We then went to the Hotel bar and had excellent cherry cocktails and sat in lovely surroundings and it was great. The Hotel organised a taxi for us home and the whole thing was just FAB. The perfect end to our mini break.
A dream of a Hotel, perfect for dinner and drinks.
Very cool bar.
Pork croquettes, tuna tartare, tomatoes and artichokes.
The next day, we had booked the 12.30pm Eurostar so spent the morning having pastries at a gorgeous bakery just around the back of our Hotel called Le Pain Retrouve which was on Rue Des Martyrs with the very nicest of coffee. We were back at St Pancras for 2pm and I was home in York by 4.30pm, all of which was much more relaxing than getting on a plane.
Au revoir, Paris. Just one last little pastry.
We had the BEST time. We didn’t buy much - bar some I Heart Paris t shirts - but it was so relaxing, laid back and so good to create our own itinerary and do all the things that we really wanted to do. Paris, je t’aime. And I didn’t have cassoulet once, either.
PS: We used the Splitwise app which is free and absolute GENIUS. You set up a group, then every time one of you pays for something you stick it in and it tallies it up. It also tells you exactly what you’ve spent in total over the whole trip. Well worth downloading.
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