Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Episode 16
Guest: Paul McVeigh
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Want ideas for a week in Paris with your chéri? My then partner, now husband Paul and I visited the “city of love” for our first trip in 2018.
We stayed in an Airbnb on the Île Saint Louis arriving in the evening to head straight to sleep in an attempt to avoid jet lag! On waking the following morning after a visit to my favourite Café St Regis, we walked to Notre Dame to find there was no queue to head to the top, so up we went! A climb to the spire wasn’t easy but now years later post-fire we realise what a special memory it was. To have had the opportunity to walk between the towers and right next to the spire, as well as hear the bells peel and see the layers of history up there is something I am privileged to have experienced. It was well worth the leg pain from the squillions of stairs in the days following our climb! We were also fortunate enough to be there during mass in the church back downstairs.
In all my previous trips to Paris I had never taken advantage of the red open top bus tour on the Paris Pass, but after the exertion of the morning at Notre Dame Paul & I decided this would be a good option for the afternoon. I cannot recommend the buses highly enough. As much of the getting around in Paris happens below ground on the Metro, getting a view of the arrondissements to see how everything fits together up on the streets is a definite plus when visiting for the first time.
During this visit we encountered artists in Montmartre, lunch at Les Deux Magots in the Saint-Germain-des-Pres area, shopping and champagne atop Galeries Lafayette and living like the locals in the Marais with a beautiful session at Le Petit Fer a Cheval which is positioned in a teeny tiny laneway opposite a Librairie (or bookshop) which is a wonderful browsing opportunity when waiting for a table at the popular eatery.
We also visited my fave macarons boutique “Odette” in the street behind Shakespeare & Co in the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank. I adored this place so much that I named my treasured kitty after it.
As for each visit to Paris this visit included a spell at my preferred coiffure Charlene Ramon in the St Paul area of the Marais. My Paul visited for a life changing experience and to be gifted the “GC”. Charlene said this was her special haircut for him, the “George Clooney”! Every visit to Charlene has been exceptional, but this was next level!
Take a moment to immerse and escape in the loveliness of Paris with me and Paul listening to this chat. We include a fave recipe of Paul’s and one of his choices for French music to keep your Frenchy vibes a flutter!
Recette
Paul’s fave Coq au Vin (the Gourmet Traveller version!)
Musique
Déjeuner en paix by Stephan Eicher
Instagram posts with all the pics xx
Living like a Paris local – Au petit fer a cheval
View of Notre Dame spire (pre fire)
View from the top of Notre Dame
The peeling bells of Notre Dame
