Travel is a wonderful and inspirational activity. I use my travels for professional and cultural inspiration, which is why I love doing it, taking the road less traveled and returning to favorite destinations.
Paris, the romantic city of style and sophistication, is one of my favorite city destinations. Of course being Miss Jennifly, I had to turn the city out in style. It was a weekend trip for my best friend’s 30th birthday in and what a cool and sexy weekend we had.
Paris brings back memories of when I first got the travel bug. It was about eight years ago when some friends and I went back-packing through Europe. It was a comedy of errors, my first taste of travel, non- stop fun, running for trains, missing boats and almost getting arrested. We started and ended our journey in Paris, and it’s been a long distance love affair with the city since.
I arrived Friday morning; my hotel was just off the famous Champs Elysees (Elyzay), Hotel le A, a fabulous and beautiful boutique hotel with a cool library in the foyer. As soon as I arrived, I dumped my bags and luxuriated with a hot bubble bath.
Fresh and clean I headed to LaDuree for chocolat chaud. LaDuree is a renowned French institution founded in 1862, a bakery and restaurant. It’s classy with a luxurious and plush interior, it gives off a very special feeling, a great place to sit and have tea be served by impeccably dressed and handsome waiters. The last time I came here I got a sugar high from the rich chocolate I consumed. Do you know what that feels like? They have the best hot chocolate and are renowned for their sweet tasting pastries… uhmm uhmmm uhmmmmm.
After I enjoyed my chocolat chaud, I strolled down the famous Champs Elysees in my Burberry trench and heels beaming all the way. The weather was ok, not cold not warm just mild. I decided to stroll around hopping the metro and visit some familiar spots. Bastille, a cool area with lots of restaurants and people and home to the new Opera house, Rue de Rivoli is famous for its department stores and high street fashions. I strolled through the little back streets in between checking out the boutiques until my friends, Faridah and Pier Paulo arrived later that evening from London via Eurostar. Faridah I call her ‘Fabulous’ Faridah, because she is, as crazy as she can sometimes be, think Absolutely Fabulous…Eddi Eddi Eddi!…, I could only go to Paris with her. We went to St Tropez this past summer and had a fabulous time.
I met my friends at Gare du Nord, and headed back to the hotel. We had dinner reservations at Castille a cute old school French/Venetian restaurant that evening, we had an hour max to get ready. Faridah slipped on her birthday dress a beautiful beaded navy blue Matthew Williamson piece, paired with Black heels. At Castille, we met up with Pier Paulo’s brother and friends who were in town from Italy and another friend from London, Gorgeous George in tow with his girlfriend.
Three courses and three bottles of wine later, we descended downstairs to the club in the basement of the hotel/restaurant, which at midnight was already packed and smoky with revelers, our first party of the night. After about two hours of dancing, we left, with every intention of hitting another spot. By that time everyone else had called it a night, except Faridah, Pier Paulo and I. We jumped in a cab and instructed the driver ‘nous sommes aller a la Suite, a boite de nuit (night club) last stop before we headed back to the hotel.
Saturday afternoon in Paris, the best way to recover from a hangover is to have a big brunch, of course we had to go to the most trendiest spot in Paris, Hotel Costes, c’est tres chic, famous for their CD compilation series, and plush setting. The waiters and waitress are all beautiful to look at – mostly models and ex-models. The patrons were a mix of hip and old school, families and couples. It’s the place to go, a scene in itself with its velvet-upholstered soft chairs, it’s a well designed opulent setting. Located on Rue Saint Honore, the equivalent would be London’s bond Street. Rue Saint Honore is the location for flagship designers stores including Hermes and Colette the hip style concept store, the one stop ultimate fashion experience that houses top designers, art, food, design, music and cool gadgets, I hear Karl Lagerfeld is a regular shopper.
Fast forward to Saturday nite. Girls and the Italians went for dinner at the famous MandalaRay formally ManRay, owned by Johnny Depp, Sean Penn and John Malkovich. It was the hippest place five years ago, but is still a hot spot today. The interior was akin to a Buddhist temple, the food was a Thai fusion, accompanied by live music, a guy on a keyboard singing renditions of Frank Sinatra.
What I loved most about Mandalaray was that it turned into party at about 1am. A steady crowd started gathering upstairs waiting to descend onto the empty space in the middle that would turn into a dance floor. Sure enough after the last food check was cleared, bottles service replaced cutlery and plates, the Buddha statues removed, the crowd was allowed to descended on to the dance floor while the live singer was replaced by a DJ who played soulful electronica and house. We stayed until the music got top 40, then headed over to V.I.P. boite de nuit.
V.I.P. was literally across the road on the Champs Elysees. With a big crowd of people outside, busy explaining themselves, we all naturally walked to the front, no questions asked and were escorted downstairs into the club. Inside reminded me of New York, everyone dancing on tables to familiar sounds of Justin Timberlake etc, with the occasional French hip-hop tune, the only difference was that there was a showgirl performance every hour. Also, and I think this may be a French thing that I have seen adopted in some London clubs and in St Tropez, when a Magnum of Champagne is ordered, the DJ would switch the music and play the Superman theme, followed by group of waiters carrying a bucket with sparklers on top of the bottles….It was quite a scene but too much when your song is interrupted for the umpteenth time. A bit too conspicuous for me, which is why I moved away from our table when the sparklers came towards us and delivered a bottle of Krug.
Sunday marked our last night of the weekend, and it was low- key evening. During the day we done a little sightseeing, had lunch at another Hotel Costes franchise on the top floor of the Centre Pompidou, the hub of modernity in Paris. From the top you have a panoramic view of Paris and all its sights as we settled into our late…late lunch. This was a nice cool spot with a mix of young and old dining listening to a chilled lounge selection by a DJ.
After lunch you have the option to see an exhibition or browse in the bookstore on the ground floor. Sunday is a great day to take a stroll and sightsee. Walk off our food we went through the Musee Du Louvre courtyard, the building is a great work of architecture. The Lourve is home to the Venus de Milo and Leonardo de Vincis’ Mona Lisa. From there is a nice stroll back to the hotel up the Champs Elysees which begins at Place de Concorde, which is marked by a tall Egyptian obelisk to the Arc de Triomphe and back to the hotel.
Exhausted we had a siesta before dinner at Pershing Hall, another sexy hot spot to add to my fabulous trip. Pershing Hall had to be the second most stylish place after Hotel Costes. Equipped with a dizzying vertical garden, yes… an array of forestry that ascends up the wall. It gives you a feeling that you are dining in a garden patio that is nicely lit with hues of red, green and purple, with a DJ spinning lo-fi and soulful electronica adding a nice touch to a very cool and sexy dining experience, and a fabulous place to end my weekend in Gai Paree.
J’adore Paris. Chic and sexy, fabulous and classy and stylishly ahead.
~JenniFly
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Thx JenniFly (www.myspace.com/jenniflyone)……
~YG
YG Note: JenniFly hails from London and has a passion for music, fashion and travelling. She works as a fashion publicist as well as a part-time music selector at Popburger every Tuesday night spinning soulful electronica, nu jazz, 80s soul and broken beat.
Filed under: Guest Bloggers, YG Travel Guide by !YG
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