Exploring Paris with Small Luxury Hotels of The World - PART 1

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In April, I spent 4 glorious days exploring some of the best boutique hotels that Paris has to offer, with Small Luxury Hotels of The World.

Our first stop and the hotel we spent our first night in, was Pavillon de la Reine. Hidden within a courtyard in the heart of the Marais district, Pavillon de la Reine is a stunning 17th century building covered in cascading ivy that changes colour with the seasons. 

The beautiful Place des Vosges is right outside the hotel's courtyard and is lined with restaurants, pretty cafes, shops, art galleries and even an ice cream parlour. The hotel also provides bikes free of charge for it's guests if you feel in the mood to explore the local area on wheels!

Pavillon de la Reine has 56 rooms and suites, all decorated in their own individual way. The rooms are luxurious and full of personality - filled with period furniture, geometric patterns and exposed beams. Upon arrival to my suite, I was greeted with a handwritten note and a box of colourful Carette macarons - a patisserie conveniently located in the adjoining square if you develop a taste for them! I had my own beautifully furnished sitting room, bedroom, bathroom and separate toilet (which is always convenient if there's more than one person staying in the room!) joined together by a beautiful corridor lined with windows - all featuring the original, dark wooden beams. 

The next morning, I was greeted with breakfast in bed and blue skies. I opted for freshly baked pastries, juice and a cappuccino. Many more options were available, including hot food, but this truly was my idea of a perfect Parisian breakfast. We had such beautiful weather for our trip, so I opened all of the windows and enjoyed my breakfast in my giant bed, accompanied by a pleasant morning breeze and the sounds of Paris waking.

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Next, we visited Paris' smallest 5 star hotel - L'Hotel. This hidden gem, located in St-Germain-des-Prés on a small, quiet street, was the former and final home of Oscar Wilde. The architectural crown of this hotel is surely it's stunning, circular atrium; almost as soon as you walk through the hotel's doors you can look up and see its corridors winding high above you. The outside of L'Hotel is relatively unassuming, which makes it's dramatic and flamboyant interior all the more of an intriguing surprise.

L'Hotel also boasts a Michelin starred restaurant specialising in french cuisine, headed by chef Julien Montbabut, as well as a bar, spa and traditional Turkish Hammam pool. As a guest here, there's almost no need to leave. 

The 20 rooms at L'Hotel echo the property's colourful history. The rooms are stylishly decorated - all individually themed, with baroque prints, fabric covered walls and dramatic, tasseled drapes.
Some of the rooms even have their own private terrace, so you can take breakfast in bed to an entirely new level; breakfast on balcony.

So, if you're a lover of decadent decor, attentive service and fine dining, french cuisine, L'Hotel can deliver it all - right on your doorstep.

Later that evening, we drove through the Parisian golden hour for a sumptuous dinner at Hotel de Vendôme, located in the famous and architectural masterpiece that is Place Vendome - one of my favourite locations in Paris because of it's stunning buildings and huge, colourful doors. The mansion that is now the hotel started life in 1723, as the private residence of The Duke of Vendome. After this, it was purchased by Louis XIV to create the Place Vendome we know today.

Place Vendôme is not only a beautiful location, but a well-placed location surrounded by art, culture, antiques and high-end shops, with the Opera and the Louvre both within walking distance.

The mansion hotel has 29 lavishly decorated rooms and suites, within which you can expect to find anything from decadent antique chandeliers to art deco themes. Hotel de Vendome also hides a very stylish and recently renovated restaurant headed by up and coming new chef, Josselin Marie, with haute couture decor inspired by Chanel and Dior. 

Hotel du Vendome is another Parisian gem, with all of the luxuries one could possibly hope for.

Have you visited any of these hotels? Let me know!

Hotels mentioned:

Pavillon de la Reine - http://www.pavillon-de-la-reine.com/fr/

L'Hotel - http://www.l-hotel.com

Hotel du Vendome - http://www.hoteldevendome.com/fr/

Thank you to Small Luxury Hotels of The World for inviting me on this wonderful trip. 

Sunset in Paris - Magenta Dress and Dinner by The Seine

Belt & Dress; ASOS (the dress was purchased ages ago I'm afraid!) Earrings: J. Crew at Net-a-porter  c/o ASAP. Shoes: Zara (really old again, sorry!)
Hello all!
This post is one that I've been really looking forward to sharing. These photos were taken as we strolled along the Seine at sunset, on our way to have dinner near Notre Dame. Whenever I go to Paris, I seem to always end up eating burgers - not the most sophisticated (or French?) image, I realise. There's just something inexplicably good about burgers in Paris, in my humble, burger-loving opinion. 
Anyway, it also happened to be Bastille Day, so after enjoying the parade (and a little shopping) during the day, we decided upon a late dinner, then a stroll to a nearby bridge to watch the Eiffel Tower fireworks at 11pm. We wondered around enjoying the warm weather, beautiful surroundings and generally glorious atmosphere, until I eventually chose my perfect burger-touting venue (photo included, obviously.) My evening restaurant criteria isn't too unreasonable - it must have cocktails, outside seating & preferably burgers, when I'm in a burger type mood. Essentially that evening I was burger in one hand and a cocktail in the other. Classy gal. 
On to the outfit - I'm afraid I've done that really irritating thing where I parade something in front of you that you (most likely) can't have. I hope if nothing else, it provides some inspiration or even just serves as something nice to look at. I bought this dress from ASOS many, many months ago and decided to save it for a special occasion because it was so elegantly pretty. It's now out of stock, so I've linked the navy version below, which is now in the sale!
You may laugh, but I had to actually psyche myself up to wear this dress due to it's (in my opinion) rather plunging neckline. Call me old fashioned, but when in public I prefer a more demure look. If I'm going to get attention, I'd rather receive it for my outfit, face or personality, not my... assets (not that there's anything wrong with that, if you want to get your assets out, you go for it!) - so for me, this dress is like... flashing the flesh. You know when you're not used to wearing something and so feel self-concious wearing it, like every single person you pass is staring at that area of you? I felt like that. That said - I wanted to push myself to wear it and I'm glad I did. I felt nicely turned out everywhere but that deep V neck. I admit, I'm ridiculous. 
Do you ever feel the same about a piece of clothing? Let me know in the comments, I'd love to hear your thoughts! and here's what I'm wearing (in this case, the same style of dress is in the sale, in stock, in navy - so I've tried to co-ordinate the accessories with that!)

Popping to Paris - Duck Egg Midi Skirt by The Eiffel Tower

Click to item; Skirt: c/o Coast. Top: Topshop. Shoes: Kurt Geiger. Bag: Zara. Sunglasses: c/o Sunglasses Shop. Earrings: Chanel.

Hello all!
Quite the change of scenery - no classic London street or back garden for me this evening.  Last week I hopped on the Eurostar and headed off to Paris for a few days of devouring lots (and lots) of pastries, crepes & carbs, making the stereotypical visit to Laduree and a bit a lot of prancing about, speaking french badly. 
Before I left for Paris, the ever-lovely ladies at Coast had this skirt sped over to me by special delivery in time for my trip (thank you again, Chloe!) and honestly, what can I say? What do I need to say? Just look at it. Gaze upon it. Just, BEHOLD. You'll be able to see that this was a very wet day - the photos were a struggle but I couldn't not take the opportunity!
You may already be aware of the attachment I have to Coast's 'Rita' skirts, after I wore the black and gold version to the last London Fashion Week (click here to see that post if you'd like) - they've released it in a few different colours and I'll tell you now with a slight tinge of shame, that I now own them all. YES. Shun me. Sometimes I wonder if I own too many midi skirts, but then I laugh and realise that's impossible. I think of them as my version of jeans, in the sense that I wear them frequently and they just go with everything. (Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against jeans, they just look horrendous on me.)
Back to the skirt - I appreciate that this is an undeniably more 'formal' piece, but if you're like me and simply don't care about the odd look (how does that man staring quizzically know I'm not going to a ball.. hmmm?) I'd be totally happy, and quite honestly feel like a princess wearing this in the daytime. Life is short, so wear whatever makes you happy (or what the young ragamuffins these days say, 'YOLO'). Although that said, I've already planned how I'm going to style this for the evening; with a little ruffled black bralet to make it a little bit more.. flesh exposing? There's probably a nicer way to say that. Sexy? Evening-appropriate? You get my drift. & here's what I'm wearing! (or similar...)