I wrote this blog post on Monday during my flight home from an amazing weekend in Paris. The trip was a surprise from my boyfriend and he was not giving anything away when it came to where we were staying or what we would be doing - I simply knew the travel days and times.
The first leg of the journey was by train to London as I'd been hoping to make a visit there sometime soon. The hotel was booked through Expedia's Secret Saver deal, which I would 100% recommend. You are basically provided with a description of the hotel, however you are not told the name until you've booked this. We ended up with a booking at London's Sofitel Hotel - a five star boutique located on Waterloo Place, close to many of London's to attractions. Booking the hotel through Expedia's Secret Saver deal resulted in a discount of over 50% on the usual rate. The room was beautiful and had everything you'd need - including a beautiful bathroom and Hermes toiletries. The staff were very attentive, and the hotel is located near Soho - a great place to visit for drinks, food and atmosphere.
We were visiting Old Bond Street that afternoon and it happened to be Vogue's Fashion Night Out that evening. Most of the designer shops on Old Bond Street opened their doors and provided drinks, canapés and goody bags. It was an impromptu evening but definitely enjoyable – although I did end up buying a pair of Jimmy Choos, which was a bit of a fail for the first night!
Following our night in London, we headed to St Pancras to catch the Eurostar over to Paris. This was a reasonably short journey - taking around two hours - and we arrived in the centre of Paris just after 1pm, giving us the rest of the afternoon to explore.
Paris has an extensive Metro system, which is easy to navigate and very reasonably priced. The tickets are bought on a single journey basis, at a cost of €1.70 (£1.20). You can pretty much get anywhere by the Metro and they run every few minutes meaning you're not waiting around for long.
After a few wrong turns we arrived at our hotel which, if we'd gone the right way originally, was about a 10 minute walk from the station. The hotel was called The Five and part of a chain called Elegancia Hotels. First impressions were very good and I wasn't disappointed. The hotel is located in the Latin Quarter of Paris and the decor matched the area. They had a Love Capsule bar, which provided a modern and funky theme, and offered an 'honesty bar' service where you took your drinks and logged them down to pay on checkout. We didn't take advantage of the bar but it looked well stocked and a great place to chill out when you weren't exploring.
We made our way up to our room and I was very pleasantly surprised. Each room has a theme and we were allocated the Peace Room that was decorated with LED lights in black and red surroundings. The bathroom had a light up shower (something which I'd never seen before) and LED lights in the tiles. Although the room was small there was enough space to move around and my main aim was to see as much of Paris as possible so this did not bother me. The whole hotel had a modern and contemporary ambience and I absolutely loved the décor.
As for pricing, The Five was about average for a three star hotel in the centre of Paris. I believe they do run deals on their website when booking more than two nights so I'd certainly suggest taking a look before booking. Our booking was made direct with the hotel and we paid on check out.
Our journey home was a simple EasyJet flight that took around 90 minutes. We did look at flying with Air France but their one-way rates were extremely expensive so bear this in mind when booking. I'd guess most people would do a return flight so it's worth checking both airlines to ensure you get the best deal.
There is a train that runs from the centre of Paris to the Charles De Gaulle airport and I'd suggest this if you'd like to avoid the hefty taxi fare. The train costs €9.25 per person and takes you straight to the terminal (although the walk did take a little while so I'd suggest factoring some extra time in, just incase). Be aware also that there are two airports, so ensure you get on the right train if you’re travelling to the airport via this method.
I received a lot of recommendations of places to visit in Paris and I'll share them in a blog post soon as they're definitely worth considering if you're planning a trip to Paris.
The place is amazing and is an ideal distance for a weekend break. With great food, sights and shopping, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!
If you have any questions about Paris please do feel free to post, below, or !
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