Waking up in Paris for our first full day, we headed downstairs to the cafe for a petit dejeuner, lots of espresso, and headed out as a group to buy flowers from the local flower shop and to explore the neighborhood. 

We left the bustling circle full of buses, cars and bikes careening down the street and headed into a quieter, pedestrian friendly cobblestone street where we walked along as the locals shopped the markets for fresh baguette, seafood and various necessities from the patisseries, the smell of sugar wafting out from their open storefronts.

Our first stop was a scarf shop called Diwali, a bright, teal building with every surface draped in either silk, cotton or linen scarves in every possible color and pattern imaginable. We spent a fair deal of time (and money) on a few beautiful options to add a little bit of french flare to our outfits and set out to slowly make our way back to the hotel. 

We stopped at a cute little restaurant for some impromptu photos and then over to “Dose-caffeine dealer” for some more much needed coffee. The cafe itself had a little spot under an overpass where you could sit, under a heater and on their colorful cushions, shielded from the hot sun or rain and watch Paris go by. We opted to swing by the takeaway window and sipped our coffees en route to the flower market.

On what seems like every corner in Paris there is a boulangerie, patisserie and a flower shop. It’s an instagram worthy dream and it was difficult to get to our next destination for want to stop and take more photos. We ddid eventually make it to Gerard Patout to pick up some beautiful blooms to style and fill our room with brightly colored peonies, roses, freesia and all manner of happiness.

After gathering myself up a vivid bouquet full of pink peonies, white and hot pink spray roses, and some happy little white flowers whose name I didn’t know, we went back to the hotel where I popped them into a couple vessels that we borrowed from the hotel. 

We gathered ourselves and headed out to Rue Crémieux, a colorful street of brightly colored facades not unlike the famed Rainbow Row in Charleston.

After spending a good amount of time soaking in the sunshine, snapping photos and existing in this magical little place, we decided on a picnic lunch on the hi-line, an old converted train station that now hosts a park across it’s roof where one can find a perfect shady spot for a picnic lunch, or lay comatose in the sunshine after eating more bread in one day than a person consumes in an entire year. 

We walked around Bastille and skirted the edges of  Le Marais to search out some vintage shops before settling along the Seine to enjoy the afternoon people watching. 

We popped back on the metro to our hotel and I took a couple quick photos on the side street next to the hotel in the afternoon sun. Afterwards we got back on the metro to our dinner in my favorite neighborhood, Montmartre, at Terrass hotel. Montmartre is one of my absolute favorite parts of Paris. It feels more like a cozy little mountainside town than part of the big city. But the charm also includes great nightlife and some of the most delicious restaurants! Alicia planned out this dinner and it was absolutely stellar! I could not say more amazing things about the meal and our table, set just beside the kitchen was perfect for watching the expertly trained chefs work on their masterpieces.

The views from the hotel were absolutely beautiful and overlooked the city including the Eiffel Tower that sparkled at the end of our meal. We made our way back to the metro, headed back to the hotel and then met up with Bree and her boyfriend for a quick nightcap drink at Le Particular all the while beckoning the dogs at nearby tables to come over for a visit. We called it some time around midnight and went to sleep off the day and prepare for more adventures in the morning!