As Audrey Hepburn once said… ‘Paris is always a good idea’… and who am I to disagree!

With cheap flights secured for a late Summer break, we had barely 36 hours to enjoy the ‘City of Lights’.

My go to sightseeing activity for a city break is always the ‘Hop On Hop Off’ Bus. This is always a hit with the kids, and an ideal way to take in all of the main sights. The main route in Paris has stops at all the main tourist attractions, Eiffel Tower, Opéra Garnier, Louvre, Notre Dame, Musée d’Orsay, Champs-Elysées, Grand Palais, Trocadéro. We always tend to do a full loop initially to get our bearings, and then utilise the buses as a mode of transport between attractions for the rest of the time.

As a huge fan of the Netflix show ‘Emily in Paris’ I was keen to find some of Emily’s Parisian haunts. It was after all this show that made me want to return to Paris. A bit of pre trip research uncovered Place de l’Estrapade as the location of Emily’s apartment block complete with fountain, trees, benches, as well as Gabriel’s restaurant and Emily’s go to boulangerie. This small square is situated in the shadow of the Pantheon, in the 5th Arrondisment or Latin Quarter. They were actually filming series 3 whilst we were there!

When searching for hotels, I was keen on staying close to Place de l’Estrapade. Just one block away I found ‘Hotel Le Petit Paris’, an absolute gem of a place with outstanding staff.

Of course my travels are all about the local food! But with just a day in this gastronomic hotspot I could only scratch the surface of the must try foods.

Breakfast consisted of croissants and crepes.

Lunch was a Jambon-beurre, or ham baguette (which I forgot to take a photograph of)!

My evening meal had to be Steak Frites, followed by Creme Brulee and washed down with Vin Rouge!

I did also find time to sample the famous Laduree Macarons, alongside some Champagne!

So there it is… 36 hours of Rachel in Paris! And yes Audrey, I agree… Paris is always a good idea!