10 Jan 48 Hours in Paris

Ahh, Paris! Is there a more magical city? In all honesty, I hadn’t explored Paris yet as an ~adult~; the last time I was there was in 2010. So, when my sister, Emma, and I decided to take a trip to Europe for the holidays, I knew I had to make time for Paris. Due to our tight timeline, we only got to fit 48 hours in Paris, but we made the most of it!

Day 1

We had spent a couple of days outside of Paris with my grandparents and drove into the city on December 20th. By then, we were adjusted to the time, so I was ready to explore the city!

12 PM – Lunch – Bouillon Chartier
A classic French brasserie. I had the duck confit and chocolate mousse for dessert (I might have taken a couple bites of my sister’s chestnut cream too…)

2 PM – Hotel Check-In – The Hoxton – 30-32 Rue du Sentier, 2e Arrondissement
All I can say is wow. I already miss it. The architecture and decor is so beautiful – I snapped a million pics when I was there. I think my favourite part of traveling is the first moment when you walk into an exceptional hotel room. I took a couple steps on the herringbone floor towards the window and the view took my breath away. It was exactly what I had pictured in my mind. The sun was setting, so you know I spent 15 minutes taking pictures of the Parisian rooftops. We got settled into our room and headed out to explore.

4PM – Exploring the neighbourhood
We walked down Rue Montmartre and stopped into a couple boutiques. This might sound crazy to those who haven’t been to France, but I LOVE the grocery stores there. Here, in Canada, the most exciting dairy dessert is rice pudding… In France you have chocolate mousse, crème caramel, viennois, and more. So, obviously, Emma and I stopped by a little gorcery store and picked up a Viennois au Café (basically coffee pudding with whipped cream) to eat for dessert in our hotel room later that night.

8 PM – Dinner
I hadn’t planned our dinner, so I did some googling before going out and found a super cute Italian restaurant called Caffè Stern. It’s in a passage nearby (a glass-roofed laneway with stores and restaurants), but we didn’t realize that you need a reso, so that was a flop. Earlier in the day, we had walked past La Crème de Paris and knew that we wanted a crèpe there at some point, so we went there for dinner instead. I got a classic egg, ham, and cheese buckwheat crepe (I prefer buckwheat batter for savoury crèpes).

9:30 PM – Unwind – The Hoxton
I knew that the next day was going to be a long one, so we headed back to the hotel after dinner. I decided to put on a face mask (my current go-to is the Amalusta Moonlit multi-clay and fruit oil mask) and we ate the dessert we picked up.

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Day 2

8 AM – Breakfast – The Hoxton
Hotel guests get a complimentary express breakfast every morning. They leave a paper bag in the room and the night before, you fill out the number of guests and at what time you want the breakfast by. We set it for 8 AM and left it outside the door overnight, and ta-da! At 8 AM the food was hanging in the bag outside of the door. It comes with a banana, a yoghurt parfait with berry compote, and a bottle of orange juice. There’s also complimentary coffee and tea in the rooms!

9 AM – Brunch – Echo – 95 Rue d’Aboukir, 2e Arrondissement
This Californian-style deli was a five minute walk from the hotel and the walk was cuuuute! What I love about Paris is that every building has beautiful architecture and you can stumble upon the most beautiful doors and window fronts. We got to Echo bright and early for a second breakfast. I wasn’t starving, so I had the Larry David (fried egg, bacon, and avocado) and Emma went for the Avocado Toast. The atmosphere was super chill and cozy – what else do you expect from a Californian chef and owner?
After eating, we walked back to the hotel and on our way, we stumbled upon a plant-covered wall that I had seen on Instagram a couple months ago! Here’s the secret address: 79 Rue d’Aboukir.

11 AM – Shopping
The high-end department store Galeries Lafayette was a 10-minute walk from the hotel, so we decided to stop by there. Christmas was right around the corner, so they had a huge tree in the middle of the store. We walked around, browsed a lot, and I spotted a pair of sneakers at Sandro that I loved. Unfortunately, they didn’t have my size in the colour I wanted, so I dragged my sister to another Sandro location in the 1er arrondissement to see if they had them there. The walk there was beautiful because all of the stores had holiday window decor! We got to the second location and, thankfully, they had them!

2PM – Walking Around
One of my favourite bloggers in Paris (Carin a.k.a. Paris in Four Months) is always walking in the Jardin des Tuileries. We were pretty close to it, so we made our way there. It’s such a typical French garden, with gravel, big trees, chairs for lounging around, and old statues. By that time, Emma and I were starving, so we picked up a little pizza from a bakery food truck at the end of the Jardin. We sat on a bench to eat it but were stalked by crows, so we decided to walk before either of us got attacked. Then, we took the subway in Paris for the first time; it was pretty easy and we got back to the hotel in 5 minutes.

4 PM – Chill Sesh – The Hoxton
We walked for hours that morning, we took a little break (Emma napped). I organized some of our luggage and changed into a new outfit.

5:15 PM – Walking Around
The plan was to go see Brancusi’s Studio at Centre Pompidou, but we got there at 5:50 PM and it closes at 6, so they didn’t let us in. We walked around and stumbled upon a huge mall that’s mainly underground. They have a 3-floor FNAC (a mix of Indigo and Best Buy) and it was pure madness, so we left. Then, we walked down the Seine river and took the subway back to the hotel.

9 PM – Raclette Dinner – The Hoxton
Before the trip, I had seen that the Hoxton was doing raclette dinners at their wine bar, Planche, for the holidays, so I made sure to reserve a spot. It was a set 35€ per person; each person had a charcuterie board and a bowl of potatoes with unlimited cheese (yes, unlimited). For those of you who haven’t experienced a raclette dinner, they have a half wheel of cheese that is heated by a hot grill, and they scrape the melted cheese onto your plate *drooling*. We also tried two of the recommended wines that pair well with the food. Thankfully, dinner was just 3 floors down from our room because I was in a food coma after the meal. I definitely slept well that night.

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Day 3

8 AM – Breakfast – The Hoxton
We got the express breakfast again, but also decided to go downstairs in the lobby for a little pastry and hot drink. I was stressed about getting good photos of the lobby before it got busy, so I headed down at 9 AM and it was nice and empty. We had a pain au chocolat each (so buttery and yummy), I had a chai latte with almond milk, and Emma had a cappuccino.
After that, we headed upstairs to pack our bags.

11 AM – Quick Shopping
L’Appartement Sézane was right around the corner from the hotel, so I went 10 minutes after it opened. I thought it would be dead, but clearly other Parisians had the same idea as me, so there was a lineup to get in. They had a little crèpe stand for people waiting in line and it didn’t take long before I got in. I browsed a bit and headed out. I also stopped by the Socialite Family store for a bit. I felt like a true local roaming around the streets in the morning. It was amazing.

12 PM – Checkout + Goodbye France!
By noon, it was time to check out; the hotel called us a taxi, and we were headed to the Gare de l’Est. Then, it was time for our 4 hour train ride to Germany!

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And that was our time in Paris! It was quick but we made the most of it (on Day 2 we walked 26km…). I can’t wait until I go back!
Let me know what are some of your favourite spots in Paris 🙂

*Complimentary hotel stay; all opinions are my own*