Two weeks ago my friend Katrien and I went to Paris for a daytrip. Last week you could read all about how we spent our morning and where we had lunch… today I will tell you all about our afternoon and evening!

After our little pause in front of the immense Notre Dame, we continued our walk. Next stop was the city hall, Hôtel de Ville. This 19th century building is built in Neo-Renaissance and it houses the local administration. On the place before the city hall (Place de l’Hôtel de Ville) many executions have taken place, especially so during the French revolution. The last execution occurred in 1830. Luckily things were much more peaceful when we visited the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville 🙂

We then strolled towards the Marais neighbourhood. I had printed out a walk, but we only used that as a bit of a guideline. We actually wanted to get lost a bit in the many little streets of the Marais. It is a popular neighbourhood with lots of trendy shops, galleries and restaurants… Just wander around a bit and let yourself be surprised by this little village inside the big city!

The Marais is also home to a lot of fine museums like the Musée Picasso, Musée Cognacq-Jay and the Musée Carnavalet… Take your pick!

At about 5pm we thought it was time to give our feet a bit of a rest. We stopped at the Café Suedois which is actually located at the Swedish embassy. There’s a terrace on the courtyard, but we went inside the café. At only 7 EUR we enjoyed a large coffee and a piece of carrot cake with a dollop of chantilly on the side!

With a happily filled stomach, we made our way towards Place des Vosges, stopping in some shops and galleries here and there. The Place des Vosges is the oldest place of Paris and it is surrounded by 39 red-brick houses that all look the same. We were lucky enough to arrive at the Place des Vosges just as the sun was starting to set. I love the golden glow on the red brick houses, don’t you?!

Underneath the arches surrounding the Place des Vosges, are many fancy hotels, restaurants, shops and art galleries. Make sure to enter some shops or art galleries as you will be welcomed very hospitable.

We visited the perfume shop of Christian Louis and we were greeted by the parfumier himself. We let this very kind and passionate man help us decide which perfumes would be perfect for us, which perfumes would be characteristic for us. As I already bought perfume at Fragonard earlier that day, I could resist temptation. My friend however bought a bottle of a very nice fragrance. She ended up buying a completely different perfume than the one that was actually on her mind, but this fragrance really suits her! I’m sure that next time we’re in Paris, chances will be great we will visit Christian Louis’ shop again!

Before taking the metro to the Place de la Concorde, we sat down on one of the heated terraces at Place des Vosges, enjoying a glass of Côte du Rhone, letting Parisian life pass us by for a little while… Just like our last visit to Paris (in October last year) we ended our day in Bar Buddha near Place de la Concorde. We ordered some lovely tapas with our wine and enjoyed the music and overall atmosphere of the bar.

At 9.30 we made our way towards the Bateaux Mouches were the bus picked us up at about 10pm to start our journey home. We enjoyed a last stroll in the city. I couldn’t resist taking a couple of more photos of the city of lights… I’ve got a new flash on my camera, so it was the perfect time to try that out! I really like how some of my photos turned out. Another fab day in Paris… I do hope many more will come!

Make sure to scroll all the way down as there are lots of more photos to come!!

Love, Kathleen

Read here all about our Parisian adventures during fashion week last year in October!