Rest In Paris

Righto, today, we are going to REST!!! It has been exhausting walking hours and hours each day, and its time to stop. Buuuut I guess going to Printemps wouldnt hurt, its just wandering around a shopping centre right?.....

Mum was determined to get make-up and perfume in Paris - Im sure just so when people ask, she can say "I bought it in Paris" - mind you, who wouldnt?!?!? So, on our "rest day" we went to Printepms, and made our way to the gorgeous cosmetic and purfume section - it takes up an entire floor. This shopping centre has a whole floor dedicated to each thing - eg a whole floor for SHOES!!!!! I must admit both mum and I had regular spells of hyperventilation and had to calm ourselves down when in that section - "deeeep breaths, slooooow, deeeep breaths..."

Mum was sprayed by a sweetie at the Chanel counter and was covered head-to-toe in Coco Chanel - seriously, he pulled open her jacket on each side and sprayed like, 3 times, then her neck, her arms and her legs. So funny. Good way to make someone unable to smell, and therefore buy any other perfume!! Trickyyyyy.

We looked at everything, with lots of "Ohhh look at that" and "ohmygod thats so cute!" before settling at the Estee Lauder section with a stunning, lovely lady. She spent a good half hour, maybe longer pampering mum and doing her make-up. She was just lovely and when mum was telling her (like she does everyone we meet) "My daughter has taken me here to Paris as a present for Christmas" mum started to cry - I yelled "Noooo, you'll ruin your make-up!!!" hahahha. It was wonderful, the lady was so sweet, and made mum look and feel a million bucks. I took photos but had forgotten to put in my memory card so they are locked away in my cameras memory until I get home and get the cable to upload them - sorry!

So, no pics for today but we just shopped, had lunch at a brasserie, shopped some more, then went to Galleries Lafayette for some nibbles and more champagne, and ended up getting home about 6pm - ummm, what was that about a rest day? We shopped for 6 1/2 hours!!!!

** UPDATE - now have a couple photos of mums pampering...

Regardless, we were determined to get out at night, so we had a nap and then had sme champers, got all spruced up and ventured out into the night to find a nice bar to have a couple drinks and soak up the Parisian atmosphere.

Mum trying to open her champers

Problem was, what do you wear?!? Its below zero outside but hot inside?!? We opted for pants with no thermals underneath (yes it is that cold here), and I just had on a silk top, mum had a cotton shirt. Then we threw on our warm coats and decided not to ruin our hair with a beanie, and I decided not bother with a scarf I would later need to carry. We figured we wouldnt be in the cold for too long - WRONG!!

We caught a cab to the top of Champs Elysee near the Arc de Triomphe, and walked along, having been told by our concierge (and also the cabbie) that there are plenty of bars and we would have many to choose from. Well, either we were blind, or their idea of a bar is different to ours. We saw many restaurants, but no bars. As we walked along in the -4 degree night, with a strong wind making it feel like -50 degrees, we quickly felt our legs go numb and our faces freeze - did you know that when a freezing wind whips at your face, the muscles freeze and you actually cant make facial expressions or talk properly? Hahahaha so funny, it was like we had a bit  too much at a botox party!!

We walked in the freezing cold for about 15-20 minutes before we found a place that had bouncer-looking doormen outside and it looked kind of dark and dingy. We were very hesitant as it looked like some S&M nightclub, but what the hell, we were freezing so we headed in. Mum asked the doorman "Is this a place where we can have a drink?" the doorman replied "But of course madame, come inside and I will show you" and he ushered us inside to this amazing, lush and very french bar/restaurant "Ere is ze bar, ladies, please relax and we will take very good care of you". We loved it!!!!! The place is called Louis XXV, ot Loius 25. We sat and drank in the atmosphere, it was decadant, we loooove, looove LOVED it! Aaaaaand then we looked at the prices - mum got the cheapest glass of champagne (Moet) for $19 euro (about AU$25), and I had a mojito for a mere $24 euro ($AU30). Yeeeah, we decided just to have one drink there. But we did enjoy it, it was fabulous! We took our time, sipped slowly and enjoyed the ambiance.

Of course neither of us thought to bring a camera so I have included ones I found on the internet (they have a facebook page even! haha). It really was just stunning.

We reluctantly left the beautiful bar, and walked - yes walked, in the freezing cold, most of the way back up to the top of Champes Elysee before jumping into a cab and heading back to our hotel. We had a leisurely drink at the bar in our hotel before heading upstairs to bed.

Not the night out we were expecting, but lovely nonetheless. Its just too cold to go wandering around trying to find "the right" bar, and we really did enjoy Louis XXV.

Another lovely Parisian adventure, but not the rest in Paris we had planned, ahh perhaps tomorrow we shall rest....