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Paris in Spring!

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I can’t believe it took me 31 years to get there, but it was certainly worth the wait. Paris is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to, full of charm, history and elegance. It was everything I thought it would be but more.

My husband kindly booked the trip for us a few months ago – a little break away (or babymoon!) just the two of us – well, 3 of us I mean, sorry 😉 January and February were pretty full on for me with the 11 days of Fashion Factories, other work commitments and not to mention writing a book at the same time. So you can imagine how much I was looking forward to switching off and enjoying some down time.

We went for 2 nights and 3 days. We opted for an early flight out of Dublin and a late one home, which was a great idea as we got to fit in lots more on the 3rd day.

If you’ve never been and you’re wondering how much time you’d need to see the city, I felt the time we had was more than enough to cover a lot.

Mind you we didn’t do a huge amount of sight seeing. We did the main things but there’s so much more we could have seen but at 30 weeks pregnant I was more interested in relaxing and eating nice food 😉

We stayed in the Four Seasons George V, which was hands down one of the best hotels I’ve ever been to – definitely in Europe anyway. It’s just out of this world. The decor is classical but not old fashioned, very French and elegant. The flower displays are breathtaking and the staff couldn’t have been nicer or more obliging. I honestly couldn’t fault anything about it.

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Pricewise, it’s very expensive, you certainly paid for what you got – it’s somewhere you’d go for a very special treat. I don’t think I’d be bringing kids there, that’s for sure! Obviously there are tons of hotels to choose from in Paris to suit everyone’s budget.

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When Brian had booked the trip originally it was just a coincidence that it was in the middle of Paris Fashion Week. I was obviously thrilled when I realised this, as I knew there would be a great buzz around the city not to mention lots of amazing style to lust over.

I didn’t anticipate however just how many celebs we would see.

Staying in our hotel there was Eva Longoria, we didn’t see her unfortunately.

Pharrell Williams – who we chatted to in the lobby while we were waiting for a car. He was very nice, friendly and normal.

Then on another evening while having a drink at the bar in our hotel Selena Gomez was sitting beside us having a cocktail with a friend. She was very striking, small in height, and dressed beautifully.

One of the mornings I saw Bella Hadid and a friend taking selfies in the hotel garden. She was make up free, in her runners and absolutely gorgeous.

There was constant paparazzi and fans outside the hotel waiting to catch a glimpse of any one of them.

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On our first day we went for a walk to explore what was around us and had a little look around the shops.

I didn’t really buy much other than a few Zara bits. Brian wanted something in there so I ended up getting some nice pieces at the same time. I’ll show you what I got on my Snapchat tonight. If you’re not already following me and you’d like to my username is pippa.oconnor.

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Blue trench coat – River Island (Buy here)

Stripe shirt – River Island (Buy here)

Maternity ‘Jamie’ jeans – Topshop (Buy here)

Tan ankle boots – River Island old season (Similar here)

Chloé ‘Drew’ bag (Buy here)

To be honest I wasn’t even in the mood to shop – crazy coming from me, I know! I really just wanted to experience what Paris had to offer and soak up the atmosphere.

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On night 1 we went to a really authentic Parisian restaurant called d’chex Eux, it was old fashioned and not overly fancy decor wise but the food was absolutely gorgeous.

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Grey ribbed midi dress – ASOS Maternity (Buy here)

Heels – ZARA old season

Chloé ‘Drew’ bag (Buy here)

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The following morning we got up early to have breakfast in the hotel restaurant, which as you can imagine was absolutely amazing. The bread basket alone full of the freshest croissants and the other pastries were to die for!

After breakfast we went to the spa for a massage. I made Brian come with me, even though he insisted he didn’t need/want one. I got a full body pregnancy massage, which was the best I’ve ever had. The therapist was just superb. After Brian saying he didn’t need one he admitted his sports massage was incredible too, I knew he’d love it 😉

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We were so lucky with the weather that day, it was a little chilly but the sun was shining- perfect for a trip to the Eiffel Tower.

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The hotel recommended we meet a tour guide at the bottom of the tower. I wasn’t mad on that idea as I envisioned waiting around and dozens of tourists with us but Brian said we may as well see what it was like and it worked out brilliantly. There was only 3 other couples with us. Our tour guide was a young bubbly girl full of knowledge and interesting information all about the history of the Eiffel tower. She had our tickets, which was brill because we didn’t need to queue to buy them once we got there. Whether you get a tour guide or not I definitely recommend buying your tickets in advance to avoid any further queuing.

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We obviously took the lift the whole way up but you could take the stairs if you were energetic enough with a few hours to spare 🙂

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The views were breathtaking and we got some beautiful clear pictures of the city.

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Cream trench coat – River Island (Buy here)

White shirt – River Island (Buy here)

Maternity ‘Jamie’ jeans – Topshop (Buy here)

Tan ankle boots – River Island old season (Similar here)

Grey scarf – COS

Sunglasses – Quay Australia (Buy here)

Chloé ‘Drew’ bag (Buy here)

March is definitely a good time to visit the Eiffel Tower and other tourist attractions in Paris as it wasn’t at all busy. I’d imagine it’s crazy the closer it gets to summer.

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We also visited an area called Rue De Seine, there were lots of lovely little cafes, bars and shopping stalls here. It’s a great place to people watch and its inexpensive to dine around here.

If you want to go shopping and have everything under one roof you’ll love Galeries Lafayette – it’s a large shopping centre with every brand imaginable.

Our hotel was in the heart of the city, just one street away from the Champs Elysees and minutes away from designer shops like Armani, Louis Vuitton, Tag Heuer. Any Sephora fans will be happy to know there’s a huge store on the Champs Elysees too.

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On our 2nd night, we went to a restaurant in Hotel Maurice, which came highly recommended to us. It was a beautiful hotel and the food was excellent.

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Cream trench coat – River Island (Buy here)

Maternity black dress – Topshop (Buy here)

Heels – Kurt Geiger (Buy here)

We also visited the Peninsula Hotel for lunch after Brian’s friend told us we should have lunch in their roof top restaurant. The design was based on an aeroplane which looked really cool. We had a really lovely lunch here, I had the most amazing pear dessert – I don’t know what it consisted of exactly but it was delicious!!

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The Peninsula was a beautiful hotel. Very big, modern, with amazing interior. I had noticed that Kris Kardashian was staying there this week too, I joked to Brian over lunch that I’d love to see her in person.

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Green blazer – Topshop (Buy here)

White tee – ASOS Maternity (Buy here)

Boyfriend jeans – ASOS Maternity (Buy here)

Scarf – ZARA old season

Nike trainers (Similar here)

Chloé ‘Drew’ bag (Buy here)

After lunch we made our way downstairs, there was a pianist playing in the bar and Brian asked did I want a drink before we left, so in we went. The bar was quiet, with only a few business men chatting and working.

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Who was sitting on the couches right next to us, only Kris and Kendall both with their heads down looking into their phones. After about 5 minutes they got up to leave. Kendall looked incredible in black high waisted trousers and a short black and white cropped top. She’s very tall and very beautiful.

Kris looked amazing too, obviously she’s had a lot of work done but to be fair she didn’t look at all plastic or OTT in real life. Her hair and make up was immaculate, wearing a black coat and big fur scarf.

She walked passed smiling looking at my bump and gave a quiet “hello” – I smiled and said hi and she said, “I’m so tired”. They had a bodyguard with them. He sat at the bar waiting for them. I didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask them – or the other famous faces we saw for a pic. I would of felt like I was bothering them and both hotels were so fancy, no other guests were even batting an eye lid at them so it just felt wrong.

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All in all we had the most amazing break away. It was certainly a babymoon to remember.

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I couldn’t recommend Paris more if you’re contemplating a visit.

I hope you enjoyed my post and pictures.

Much love

Px

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