Love, May Xx: Paris in summer...

Hanging out on our second hotel's balcony and catching the sunset in Paris is.... simply magical....

We were away in Paris for 3 nights, just last week but as we both arrived late in the evening on our first day and left quite early on our 4th day, we officially only had time in Paris for 2 whole days. It was wet and cold, but so charmingly Paris. Reminds me of the film "Midnight in Paris" (which I advise everyone should watch. It'll make you fall in love with Paris, if you haven't already)

We both have visited Paris separately before and was here last Christmas, after our snowboarding trip. Unfortunately, due to injuries, my boy couldn't walk and we spent the days in Paris either sleeping in the hotel or travelling from A to B by cabs.

So, this time round, we visited some of the places I visited when I first came here with a friend, back in 2008 and we went back to the seafood restaurant which we didn't properly enjoyed from our last trip here =)

We spent two nights at Radisson Blu Le Dokhan's Hotel which is just a short stroll to Trocadero metro station.

The boutique hotel with a LV lift. The lift is tiny and once inside, you'll feel like you are inside a LV trunk, which is both cool and frightening at the same time... But I love it =) The concierge is so friendly and extremely helpful.. Heck the reception people are extremely helpful! Love this little treasure place!

Our hotel room is cozy but still loads of space for us two and our luggages

This post is a tad long, so, please click on the link at the end of each page to go to the next

DAY 2:

Song Heng

3 rue Volta, 75003 Paris, France (Notre Dame / Marais)

For our first meal in Paris, I simply had to go looking for Pho... I found this little place which serves only 2 dishes - Pho (beef rice noodle soup) and Bo Bun (beef vermicelli noodles salad)

The restaurant is tiny and they fit in as many people as they could. They are only open for lunch and the queue could get ridiculously long but the wait is definitely so well worth it! So, if you don't mind sharing your table with a stranger and are looking for a cheap-ish meal in Paris, this is a great place to check out!

The big bowls are 8.50 euros and the small ones are 7.90 euros.

The queue is already forming

Tightly packed, and filled with asians and the queues are long... Guess this is a place to be! ;)

Take away Bun bo! Filled to the brim!!

Our large Pho with herbs on the sides. HUGE bowl with a generous amount of sliced raw beef and onions and 3 beef balls. The soup is quite tasty and the rice noodles smooth and silky...

I was tremendously happy with my meal and nearly finished it all.. I was so stuffed by the end of it!!

After that, we need to walk off our lunch, so, took a stroll down to the Notre Dame Cathedral...

Past some building and a Merry Go Round ride..

Walking onto the bridge connecting to where the cathedral is

Paris with tourists...

Cold and windy day...

Notre Dame Cathedral

More queues to get up the cathedral

Everyone looks so busy...

I waited at the front, while the boy went up the cathedral... I think I took about 20 minutes nap on the bench at the front of the cathedral...

Walking around after the cathedral, we were tempted by some French delights...

and decided to taste some of the French sweets with tea...

Sitting upstairs by the window while sipping tea and nibbling on their pastry

Cold and wet Paris = Charming Paris...

We went back to the hotel for a quick rest, and then off we went for dinner.. This time we went back to this seafood place, which was recommended by the concierge at this hotel in January when we were here.

Le Bar a Huitres - Ternes
TERNES
69, av de Wagram
75017 PARIS
+33 (0)1 43 80 63 54
Open midday till 2.30pm and 7.00pm till midnight
Valet parking
Métro Ternes

There were a few branches around and this one is close to our hotel, but we ended up catching a cab here as we were running late.

We ordered a 'signature' seafood platter which was shared by the two of us. It was huge and we couldn't finish everything. Unfortunately, I think I had one too many oysters as my stomach started churning by the end of the evening and I was sitting on my throne for the rest of the evening at the hotel =(

The seafood was fresh, but I thought the serving was sub par. They forgot to give us any wash napkins after we have pried the seafood with our paws.. and when they handed our coats back in the evening, it was simply, 'Here you go!'... and unceremoniously dumped into our hand. I was expecting someone to help us put on our coats!! Was a bit surprised to be honest =O

Condiments on the table. Love the olive oil in a perfume bottle and himalayan salt and some black salt as well!

Our fresh 2 tier seafood platter!

So much dramatic effects! Show me what I can put in my belley already!

Slowly clearing away...

While I madly kept snapping away on my phone!

Wheeeee...

Had to stand up to take a pictures of our shared goodies!

We ordered the 'signature' platter, which is 174 euros for the both of us. There were 1 lobster, 2 king sized Dublin bay prawns, 2 crabs, 18 oysters and an assortments of shellfish such as cockles, shrimps, (big and tiny ones), Spanish mussels etc etc...

My last oyster was this steroid looking oyster! Bigger than the palm of my hand and definitely bigger than the rest of the oysters there!

We were admiring the hugeness of the whole thing!

Seriously huge!!

DAY 3:

We checked into our next hotel, Radisson Blu Le Metropolitan Hotel, which was just a short distance away from our first hotel. We were up on the 5th floor and boy!! We could see the Eiffel Tower just from our balconies!

Firstly, some little French sweets to welcome us.. and a bottle of avian water! I like this place already!

The view of the Eiffel Tower.. So close!

The boy sure knows how to pose!!

Cloudy Paris..

After checking into our hotel, we decided to go for lunch a steak and frittes place, which was just a short walk from Champs Elysees. So, we had our lunch and took a walk around after. Unfortunately, it was slightly drizzly and windy and I didn't want to get my camera wet... =(

Le Relais de l'Entrecote
15,rue Marbeuf
+33 1 49 52 07 17

There were a few branches of this around Paris. No booking. You just need to get there and start queuing up and wait for a table to be free. Once inside, all the servers are female and dressed in black and white French maid outfits. They'll ask you two questions once you are seated. Medium or rare? and Drink?

For the price of 26.50 euros, you get a small salad and two servings of steak and fries each. Everything else is on top of it. They have pretty good selection of dessert as well. Hey! Afterall, you are in Paris!

Majority of the waitresses are quite mature in age... and ours was this older lady with the most sour expression on her face.. Which is a pity ;(

You start with a small salad, consist of greens, walnuts and thinly sliced radishes with a vinaigrette sauce

Serving stations for the waitresses

All the waitresses were in black and white french maids uniforms

Our steak and fries served with a delicious buttery sauce

The dish might look small, but you get two servings! So, take your time eating!

There were around 20 odd desserts which you could pick... The boy picked some cheese while I tried ordering some strawberry tarts, but I ended up with raspberry tarts.. and boy!! They were delicious. The casings had a bite to it and buttery and crumbly and the fillings were sweet and tarty at the same time. So yummy!

After lunch, we walked around Champs Elysees.. Slightly wet and cold with so many tourists and beggars milling about, and I didn't end up taking any pictures =(

Managed a quick snap of the Arc de Triomphe which is having a bit of a face lift..

We took the metro back to our hotel, rested a while and off we ran for our cabaret at Crazy Horse ( I think Kim Kardashian spent her hens party around that week here!). Dita Von Teese, Carmen Electra etc were a few names who have done a bit of dancing here... We were very late, as when we went in, it was just about to get started. We had a bottle of champagne and some canapés for the evening. Unfortunately, I didn't dare to take any pictures.. The ladies were so pretty and were all about the same height and build.. Right down to their.. hmm.. legs! I called this a classy tits and ass show! Gorgeous ladies and so damn fit!