Paris en Printemps: Part 1

I have decided that Paris in Spring time is my favourite time to go. I'm pretty sure Hemingway himself said so and if Hemingway said it, who am I to disagree.

For the Easter weekend my sister, brother in law and I took the 5 hour car ride from home to Paris to spend a few precious days with my aunty who is in hospital and with my parents who i haven't seen in weeks.

We only had a couple of days and because the hospital doesn't let you visit until the afternoon Papa Chester and I decided to fit as much as we physically could into one morning. We did so much I've decided to split this post in two.

First stop was the famous Eclairs de Genie in the Marais quarter. I have already gone on about how the Marais is my favourite part of Paris in a previous Paris post and this is one of the reasons.

The most expensive eclairs money can buy but boy are they worth it! Usually there is a queue half way up the street for these guys but luckily we got their early so grabbed half a dozen to eat later.

If eclairs aren't your thing they also have every flavoured truffle imaginable.

We then set off for la Place des Vosges. One of many beautiful squares in Paris. We walked through the Hotel de Sully - not actually a hotel just an old beautiful mansion which used to be owned by one of King Henri IV advisors.

Straight through the courtyard is a door that takes you to la Place des Vosges. If I lived in Paris this is one of the places I would come and spend my Saturdays with a coffee in one hand and a good book in the other.

It's definitely a spot that Parisians go to rather than being swarmed with tourists so shhh don't tell anyone.

Really conveniently placed in the square is the famous Carette tea rooms. I had heard really good things from various blogs on Paris so I wanted to check it out for myself.

Too many options!

I went for the raspberry and lavender tart in the end and we both chose the Carette hot chocolate which is so rich and delicious.

For those of you with a keen eye, yes I have changed my hair colour (again!) What do you think?

Dad has been in Paris for about a month now so was playing tour guide for the day which I loved as usually I'm the one leading the way. Here he was telling me about how Victor Hugo used to live on this square.

Reluctantly we finished our hot chocolates and started making our way to our next stop Le Jardin des Plantes.

Le Jardin des Plantes is the main and largest botanical garden in France and naturally, as it was spring time, was absolutely flush with flowers.

Trust me we kept walking... more on that in part 2!

x