Well, as promised, here's my photo diary of our time in Paris with TravelSupermarket! I think I covered pretty much everything in my video (find it here if you missed it!) but I really love putting together travel posts so that I can go into more depth for you guys. Plus they'll be fun to look back on when I'm old and grey. It's quite a long 'un so maybe grab a cup of tea (or a red bull) before you settle down to it.
We stayed in Hotel de Banville, which is situated on the most perfect little street and - bonus - is in walking distance of the Champs-Elysees. The longest metro ride we had to take to reach any of the places we were going (apart from the airport of course) was about twenty five minutes. Our room was bright, spacious and airy as well as being beautifully decorated, as you can see in the photos above, and also came complete with a little balcony that had the most perfect views.
Breakfast was a continental affair for us both mornings (when in Paris and all that) but they had everything you could ever want; from pastries, to fruit, to a full English, to omelettes. And - how could I forget - freshly squeezed orange juice every morning, Oh mumma.
We dined at Restaurant L'Encrier on the first night and ate like absolute kings. It's quite a small little restaurant, but has this amazing Parisian feel to it and the food... Oh my god. I'll let the pictures do the talking, but if you do go there then make sure and try their home-made profiteroles (bottom right) no matter how full you think you are - promise you won't regret it.
Our first challenge on the Saturday morning was to complete a treasure hunt with ThatLou around The Louvre which was so much fun. Me and Rob just did it together and timed ourselves (spoiler alert: we took forever and only got through half of it) but if you're there as a group it's a great way to explore The Louvre whilst finding out some fun facts about the paintings and sculptures along the way.
We then stopped off at a little pizzeria for lunch which was EXACTLY what I needed. It was 24 degrees that day (in November, I know, what's going on) so we got to eat outside and people watch over our pizzas which was lovely.
Our next two challenges involved wandering around Marche Aux Puces and going to a bar to choose the strongest cocktail on the menu, so here's a few quick snaps from those! Marche aux Puces is one of the biggest flea markets in Europe - I think some say it's the very biggest - and is well worth a visit if you're in Paris; it's filled to the brim with authentic vintage clothing and jewellery (fun fact: a lot of the shops actually loan their pieces out to film sets) and every kind of home-ware imaginable. It's far from cheap though, so make sure and save some pennies if you plan to head along! The last snap of the trio is from one of the little stalls set up along the Seine - Rob had to physically restrain me from clearing out the postcards. I don't actually know what's wrong with me.
Thankfully we had a little bit of spare time between our cocktail challenge finishing and dinner starting, so we headed towards the Seine and managed to get there just as the sun was setting. We had a good browse of the stalls, admired the beautiful view and then waited for the sun to fully set so we could watch the Eiffel Tower lights show from the edge of the bridge.
Olive pate with crusty bread and snails for starters. It was my first time trying snails and I was pleasantly surprised, they just tasted like very (very) garlic-y meat. Not bad at aaall.
Three of the many varieties of frogs legs they have available. Again it was my first time trying them and, again, I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not very good when it comes to eating food straight off the bone (what am I, a caveman?) but it was cooked to perfection and the meat just slid straight off. They're not the most appealing thing to look at, but they taste just like chicken!
Dessert was a particularly high point of the meal - we both went for the trio of desserts so we could get a good tasting session in, and they even let us choose which specific puddings we'd included. The sweet crispy bread was the overall winner in my eyes, but really they all were delicious and the edible flowers were the poifect touch.
We ate at Roger la Grenouille on the Saturday evening, which was one of the highlights of the trip for me. The staff really looked after us and were so accommodating, bringing us many a little taster in between courses. The food was honestly just incredible; it's up there with one of the best meals I've ever had. My starter of chorizo, chanterelle mushrooms and spinach in a balsamic glaze - which I didn't photograph because, well, I ate it too quickly - would have won first prize in Masterchef hands down. I can't fault any part of our evening there, so really, really couldn't recommend it more if you're in Paris. Obviously their speciality is frogs legs (they had something like 10 different variations on the menu that night), but if they're not to your liking then there's a whole other variety of delicious dishes waiting for you.
A quick snap in the street just outside out hotel. Honestly, what a sauve little bastard he is.
Wandering through all the colourful flower stalls on the street that leads up to the cemetery
Our first and only challenge on the Sunday involved heading along to the Pere Lachaise cemetery, which I'd pop down as another must-do. It's not somewhere I'd have gone of my own accord, although I don't know why, so I'm really happy it was included in one of the challenges. It's one of the biggest in Europe and is such a peaceful place to walk through. as well as being truly breathtaking in some parts. Again, we were really lucky with the weather this day which made all the difference! The last snap there is of Jim Morisson's grave which is littered with tributes to him; there's everything from stickers to plastic syringes there. I implore you all to adorn my grave with bits of coloured chewing gum when I die please.
And that's us come to the end of the trip, sadly! It was such an amazing, whirlwind experience and was one of the most fun campaigns I've had the pleasure of being involved in, so I really hope you guys liked this post (and the video!). If you fancy booking a similar trip for yourself you can find a whole range of city breaks over on the TravelSupermarket website.
Catch you on the flipside!
Amy
