The BEST hotel in Paris - Hotel Signature St Germain des Pres

Where do you begin when looking for a hotel in Paris? We had a few ideas and wishes. We wanted our stay to be more local and "Parisian" (rather than your normal chain), we were looking for chic but cozy, a hotel located in a great location (and safe), and just welcoming all around. Ta-Daaaaa.....we found it! The Hotel Signature St. Germain des Pres met all of our expectations AND MORE.

We can't say enough about the Hotel Signature St. Germain des Pres. It is a family owned hotel. The family actually runs three "homes" throughout Paris that are operated by the dad, mom and daughter.  This one is the daughter's and if you read the reviews, over and over you'll read how helpful Delphine is. As well as the other fabulous ladies who also are part of the hotel - Manuela, and Alice. They all go above and beyond helping their customers from planning trips, meals, etc... They were life savers for us! We were lucky to meet each one of them throughout the week we were there!

There are only 26 rooms in the hotel, and we reserved ours as soon as we knew we were going! As soon as we reserved they contacted us and sent us information about the area. We stayed in constant contact while planning our trip. If we ever reached out with a question, they quickly gave us the best advice! Through their recommendations we had our favorite tour of the trip (the food tour!) and ate some of our best meals!

Because it's such a small hotel, when we arrived -- they were waiting on us! We had arrived from London fairly early and only had to wait a few minutes before going to our room. It was the CUTEST HOTEL EVER. Super fashionable and trendy, yet immediate warmth and welcome! Here is the lobby. Isn't it great? They always had fresh flowers throughout. Since we were there for a week, we got to see a few varieties of fleurs. Lovely.

 

Our room was finally ready, so we went up the lift to our little home away from home for the week. Everything was so clean and you can tell every detail was thought out to make the most of each aspect of the hotel and room. 

 

 

Little touches like this personal note and a welcoming gift of L'Occitane En Provence products were such a special and personal addition to our stay! Lavender pillow spray for nights of Parisian dreams also included! Ooh la la!

One super neat thing is that our room had a little balcony! We could open the windows and let the air in, and watch the hustle and bustle of the Paris streets.

We only ate breakfast in the hotel one day.  There is a charge, but it was so convenient and such a spread! They call it "A la Francaise". Such a special feast for the lucky ones staying at the hotel!

 

The hotel was the PERFECT BASE to explore the city of lights! We could not have been more happy with the St. Germain neighborhood. It was full of cafes, restaurants, shops, schools (there was one right across the street!) - everything you needed. We could've spent the whole week just getting lost in the little streets around us. We always felt safe, and coming back to the hotel was a welcome treat to rest and rejuvenate! And a nice warm up with some tea and a view! :-) 

We would not hesitate at all to recommend this hotel, and we hope to return one day soon! A big and special thank you to Delphine, Manuela, and Alice for making us feel right at home on our Parisian adventure. Until next time...

XO,

@SisAdventures

Versailles and the BEST soufflé in Paris

We've made it to our last day in Paris! What a wonderful week it had been. We had one more excursion to fit in, a life-changing soufflé to eat, some souvenirs to buy, and of course another fabulous dinner! Cue Picture overload!

We had arranged a small group tour of Versailles, and our tour guide picked us up from our hotel (nice!). There was only one other family with us, so it was a very small group. The traffic was heavy, but we finally made it.

Keep in mind - by now, we have been on our trip for two weeks, have been to many museums, "palaces", etc.. It was too funny. We would walk into a room, do a 360 with our eyes, and then move on. It was almost "old hat" to us. Below are some of the photo highlights of the palace! (which was amazing, by the way!)

The "hall of mirrors"

 

Probably almost as famous as the inside are the Versaille Gardens. We visited in between seasons, so there wasn't too much in bloom. They were actually working on prepping the plants for the fall/winter. It still was such a sight to see! Can't you picture a garden party?!

 

 

 

 

We got back into the city and rested for a bit before heading out for a late lunch. One of @mkmaddox's friends had recommend this "souffle" place, La Recamier. It seemed like the "French" thing to do. We got there and they asked if we had reservations (not many places we go require reservations for lunch!). Thankfully, they were able to find us a table. It was a great place to people watch, and the theme/atmosphere was based on a book and reading. (Already a winner in our books! No pun intended!). You can see below, the ceiling looks like you are opening a book, and there are pages from French novels on the walls.  

We started with a quinoa and artichoke salad. Look at the presentation! It was so beautiful and so flavorful.  

Then. The "piece-de-resistance". This was really the first soufflé we had ever had and didn't quite know what to expect. GUYS. I wish we could provide taste-a-vision. I've never tasted anything like it. Puffy, creamy, savory, light, full, AMAZING. We had chosen the chicken soufflé. I know the picture does not do it justice, but if you are ever in Paris.  RUN, do not walk, to La Recamier.

We aren't quite done with lunch. We had finished our savory soufflé and now had to make the tough decision on what type of sweet we would choose. We picked the toffee soufflé with caramel sauce and sea salt and NO WORDS. It reminded me a little of a bread pudding, but to the extreme next level. Five stars/two thumbs up for this lunch. It was definitely our favorite of the entire trip. @aushellbell said she would go back to Paris to eat at this restaurant alone. It was THAT good. I found this article from Vogue about this "hidden gem" if you'd like to read more!

Happy and full, we left and decided to stroll around the St. Germain for some last minute souvenirs for our family and friends (and us!). One secret we've learned from traveling is that a grocery store is the ideal (and sometimes budget friendly) place to buy little treats to take home. They usually have local treats or candies that are the perfect little gift!

Before we had gone out that day, we had asked one of the girls at the hotel where she would recommend our final dinner, and she made us reservations at L'epi Dupin. It was the quintessential French restaurant. When we arrived, there was a large party behind us. You could tell they were local and were celebrating. That was a great sign as we typically go to our favorite places when we are celebrating! 

The menu was very much in French, so we basically asked our waitress what she would recommend. The chef brought out an amuse-bouche for us to start with. We split a goat cheese and vegetable salad. Then opted for a beef and fish dinner (so we could try both!) for our mains. Everything was local, fresh, and so flavorful!

I know this looks a little funny, but we ended with a taste of sorbets and fruit. It was quite the presentation, and the perfect little bite to end our wonderful dinner.

I think we said it before, but WHAT a day. It was the perfect ending to the perfect birthday trip! We made it back to the hotel and had to pack our bags (boo) since our flight was super early the next morning. Next week we'll do one more post about where we stayed in Paris as it was one of the highlights of our trip and made our Paris experience the best!

Au Revoir until then!

All about the Eiffel Tower

We thought the Eiffel Tower should have a post all to herself. We visited, we toured, we sat, we saw her twinkle. She deserves it!

In most areas of the city, you can see her rising above the buildings. She also can be very deceiving. You think she's just a couple of blocks away. Then you walk, and walk, and walk. :-)

If you want to actually go up inside the tower, you need to reserve tickets in advance. What this does is gives you a time frame when you can "enter the line". There is always a "stand-by" line, but you chance having to wait for hours depending on the crowd. We had planned this months in advance to make sure we had the opportunity. Do keep in mind your tickets are good rain or shine but luckily, we had a lovely and clear day. (Note - there are a few restaurants in the tower, so one option would be to reserve a lunch or dinner. That would allow you to go up at least to that restaurant!).

We finally have made it. 

 

As you can imagine, there is pretty hefty security around the tower, and you have to go through security lines before you can enter. We finally made our way through and now are ready to go up! You can choose to go to the "middle" level or the tip top. We elected to go to the mid-point. That was high enough for us! Look at these views! And notice the shadow of the tower. It was so neat!

  

Up at this level, there is a little video that shows the history of the tower, cafes where you can get a drink or snack, and of course shops to buy memories to take home. Once you get to the level you bought your ticket for, you can take as much time as you want; and also take the stairs or "elevators" down to the next level.

Since we were there, we decided to wait until dark so we could see the twinkle lights. We misjudged how long it would be before dark came, so we sat on the mall/grass for QUIET A WHILE. We saw a lot of people come and go.  :-) It got super cold, and we thought we'd never make it...

 

 

 

 

Then....the MAGIC HOUR came.  It was amazing. Worth every second of the waiting (and freezing). One of those...you'll always remember that moment for the rest of your life. The photos don't do it justice, but it was amazing.

We were worn out (and a little delirious) from a wonderful day, and made our way back to the St. Germain area. We came across the cutest little Italian restaurant, Casa di Mario, and it was the perfect place to warm up and fill up! You know anywhere that gives you bread like this as a complimentary appetizer is going to be good. 

We shared a salad and a pizza. It was a perfect pizza. Thin crust, great ratio of sauce to meats to cheese, and perfectly cooked. MMMM. Definitely a place to pop in if you are craving Italian in good ole Pareee.

 

 

Happy Faces from the happiest of days. 

We have one more day in Paris, and we make our way to Versailles, do some shopping, and end with a perfect French dinner. 

XO,