Dec
30

Noel a Paris

by Sofia   -   in Random

Our Christmas in Paris was short but very sweet. We left there on a morning flight on the 23rd and were already back on the 26th in the afternoon. But we did have 3 amazing days roaming through the streets of this amazing city. My husband and I wanted to do what the girls wanted to do and make it extra memorable for them. So we took time to stop at all the lovely carrousels and to admire the lovely little Christmas displays on the windows of the little boutiques. Cotton Candy was very excited to visit all the shops with little toys or children´s shoes, especially the ones with sparkly little glitter ballerinas in them. So we looked and sighed and ate omelettes in a brasserie for lunch and then we looked some more. Walking around slowly and just taking our time.

The girls stayed at my parents apartment for the duration of the little holiday and we stayed at a hotel 2 minutes walk away. So on the first night my dad cooked for the girls and we went out for dinner with my brother. There is this legendary restaurant in Paris called Relais Entrecôte that takes no reservations and serves only one dish ( but has an extensive dessert menu). The place is known for it´s portion of entrecôte served with a secret green sauce ( we detected parsley and anchovies but could not put our finger on the rest) and the most amazing crispy fries. As a starter everyone gets a green salad with walnuts on it. The experience was very interesting and we had fun although the boys were not really that convinced about the food. By the time we left there was already a very very long line outside the restaurant.

The next morning we headed over to my parents place but did a little stop at a boulangerie to pick up some fresh croissants, almond croissants, pain au chocolate and a baguette first. Pain au chocolat or chocolate filled croissants was one of the things Cotton Candy had talked about to her sister ever since her last trip to Paris. Apparently it tastes more magical there. A little different compared to our regular Christmas eve´s morning as we usually start the day with milk or coffee and some freshly baked saffron buns and continue with rice pudding for lunch. That day we went to see the enchanting Bonpoint store and also spotted my other favourite Paris spot for children ( well babies really) Bonnichon had opened a new shop across the street! How exciting. Now I only need a baby. When I was first pregnant with Cotton Candy I travelled there to choose all cute things for her like crib bumpers and a very classic navy pram and little things like cashmere baby booties, hand embroidered snuggles etc. If you are expecting a little one then I highly recommend a visit here. The collection is just perfect ( but their web site is very out of date as it shows only one shop location, but the owner told us they have opened a few other new shops in Paris too. This one is on rue de Tournon close to the Luxembourg garden). From there we wanted to go to a few other favourite shops and crossed the place Saint-Sulpice. And what did we see? A beautiful old fashioned carrousel and the best thing… it was free of charge but unlike the one we had in Helsinki there were no lines and the girls got to take a few rounds in a row. I would not miss my opportunity to ride on a carrousel either so I hopped on too. Just absolutely perfect!

After some lunch and a little secret Santa action behind the girl´s backs we headed back to our hotel to relax and get changed. In the meanwhile Santa was paying a little visit to my parents place and had placed all the little gifts under a window. So when we finally came over in our pretty new party dresses ( the girls wore these and looked absolutely adorable) to have some appetisers and champagne there before dinner the girls squealed with joy! As I´ve said earlier we don´t really give that many gifts. I think less is more as then they feel extra special.  But they did get more than one gift each and were just thrilled with everything. After the gifts had been admired for long enough we left for dinner at La Societe. The food was good but maybe not as good as in it´s sibling restaurants L´avenue and Costes. We had planned on having our dinner at Ralph´s but it was sadly closed on Christmas eve. The atmosphere and interior would have been just perfect for that nigh. But we did eat well and they catered to the girls very nicely and the service was great. It was obviously a little late for the girls so after they ate their meal we let them do some colouring and then watch a movie with headphones on. Normally we don´t take iPads to restaurants but as we wanted to eat slowly so we decided it was for the best. The girls behaved very well all night ( which is not always a given with little kids).

Christmas morning we had a very special gift waiting for us from my brother. He had given us tickets to go ice-skating at Grand Palais where they have build an inside ice-skating ring under the great glass roof. The skates and helmets for kids were included. We had so much fun and Cotton Candy actually learned to skate. If you are going to Paris this winter i highly recommend this activity! Just buy your tickets online first ( and they need to be printed on paper) and then go have fun. There was a big Christmas market right outside so we went there after to walk around a little and to eat an other French ( tourist) must, Nutella crêpes. Yum! That night after taking a walk in the Marais area we had Christmas dinner at home and it was absolutely lovely. We bought the same cake for dessert as we have every year we have spent Christmas in Paris. A chocolate cake from Bon Marche that hides a fun secret inside. It´s a big cube of dark chocolate and you don´t actually cut in to it but lift it off and underneath is the actual cake. With thin layers of raspberry, pistachio, chocolate and crispy hazelnut.

The next morning we had to head home. But what a fun and truly magical time we had. I think I´ve managed to teach my girls to love Paris as much as I do. I´m looking forward to many trips there with my girls in the future too. Only if we could stay a bit longer next time…

Lattemamma xxx

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