As I’m writing this, I am sat on the Eurostar with my laptop, a can of coke, a hot chocolate - 100% necessary to have as many artery clogging liquids that you can manage - a gluten free brownie (and impending diabetes) crying. Sort of embarrassingly obviously and then sort of tragically privately. I’m also laughing now because I look - and might actually be - insane but the thing is, the last few days have been a total blur. A blur of laughter, 2am chats, sore throats from talking so much, working, travel stress, reliving old memories with people no longer in my life (and, oh wait, there’s those tears again), wine, lots of wine, even more wine, hot chocolate and all of the food.
Sometimes it’s been a little tough and a little surreal, but mostly it’s been the most amount of fun and so, so, so needed.
No matter how perfect - or imperfect - life is, sometimes we all just need to escape. I think I’d got myself into this rut of working my goddamn arse off, really proud of upcoming collabs and general… things, having good days of laughter and happiness and then having a crashing day of omfg breakups are the worst thing imaginable FML. Oh, and then feeling disappointed at myself for feeling like that. I think, in short (because I am aware that I could turn a word into 10 paragraphs), despite it only being two weeks into the new year, I just needed a break.
In fact, not a break, but to escape.
The incredible thing about my job is that I’m my own boss so for the most part I can just up and leave and lol bye world see ya in a week, so I booked a Eurostar ticket, arranged to meet Hayley and have a couple of babe'in days together, in none other than Paris, and staying in none other than The Westin Vendome - one of my all time fave hotels with the actual best view of a city ever.
I needed a break, I needed to explore a city I loved, and I needed to stay somewhere that provided everything I needed, felt stunningly luxurious but also felt like a home from home. And mostly I needed to then write about it to basically make you all know that sometimes, it’s just OK to need to escape life.
As I mentioned, I actually stayed at The Westin Vendome before, I raved about it then and my thoughts haven’t changed since. Location wise, it’s absolutely perfect. The Louvre, The tuileries, Gallerie Lafayette, Angelina’s etc. are all within walking distance. The views looking onto the Eiffel tower, The big wheel and the gardens are beyond perfect and it’s so close to multiple metros that you can be anywhere in no time. Walking into The Westin gives you those “Oh stop sh*tting me” feels because it’s just so beautiful. Yes it’s incredibly opulent, but it’s never over the top or too much. It’s luxurious without being intimidating.
The rooms are cosy with everything you need, we stayed in a superior room and in all honesty, as lovely as it was, nothing compares to that view from the balcony. Escaping to Paris for me was to, in a complete and utter contradiction, escape the world but simultaneously reflect on the rollercoaster that’s been my life over the last couple of months, and nothing compares to sitting in a cosy chair, draped in a duvet - #hyggegoals #clichedream - with a coffee, looking out on to Paris from above.
Another major highlight was the bed. I just remember us both jumping in after a long busy day and basically being like “I mean, this is pretty much the comfiest bed I’ve ever been in in my life”. But seriously, it genuinely was just an absolute dream.
We didn’t test out the gym - lol, insert eye roll emoji here - or the spa but we did demolish the buffet two days in a row and my cellulite and love handles have absolutely no regrets. Perfect for gluten free too with lots of options, without sounding ghetto as hell, I went in. Many times. Mostly because the restaurant itself is stunning and the kind of place you could sit for hours just munching away on scrambled eggs and dissecting life.
Ok, now we all know that I’m coming back on Valentines to pop the question to a hotel, it’s time to explore…
As we only had one full day in Paris and some work to do, we sadly didn’t get to see much, but we did go to see the Eiffel tower (fuelled by all of the hot chocolate) and as cliche as it might sound, it never fails to give me that “Wow, I’m actually in Paris” feels. It’s stunning, it’s beautiful, it’s iconic…and despite being the city of love (lol but obviously 100% not even laughing at the irony of this), I still just felt so comfortable and happy to there. Like, that at that moment in time, I wasn’t really meant to be anywhere else.
We did also do a tiny bit of shopping and some street wandering and Palais cliche Instagram snapping and lots of eating, but I didn’t really photograph much of this because for me, it wasn’t what this trip was about. All I wanted from this trip was to escape life, and feel free and laugh a stupid amount, eat and drink a stupid amount and just be swept up in discovering a city I love, even more. Be swept up in feeling comfortable in being alone. To do silly little things like travel to and from and negotiate Paris on my own.
To be independent, and spontaneous and adventurous.
To smile.
To be carefree.
So thank you Paris for putting a smile on my face, and thank you to The Westin for hosting a girl that needed a getaway to perfection, you gave me 3 dreamy days that I’ll never forget.
I'd love to know if you've ever visited The Westin before? What's your favourite things to do in Paris? I'm actually heading back again in a couple of weeks so I'd love to hear any recommendations :)
As always, thanks so much for reading!
xx
Labels: Travel
