Perfect Paris

Paris. Because I'd been there aged 14 on a school trip I thought I'd 'done it' and therefore had never had any desire to go back - how stupid I was. 

Last month (of how the sunny days of September seem so very, very far away now) my fabulous friend Amy was visiting from Sydney. Unlike me she was desperate to go France's capital - and with the knowledge that Champagne would be on tap, I was more than a willing companion. 

We boarded the Eurostar from St Pancras for the bargain price of £60. (Who knew it was so cheap?! Just a few days later I travelled to the less than glamorous Derby for the not so cheap price of £82!!) And just two hours later we'd arrived. 

The moment I stepped out of the station in Paris, I knew I'd had it all wrong for all these years and this was going to be so, so different from the school trip I went on. 

For starters we weren't staying in a grubby hostel but in the decadent Hotel du Panthéon in the rather cool St Germain. 

Dropping off our bags we headed straight out to soak up the Parisian atmosphere - which basically meant drink Champagne and eat cheese. 

Lunch consisted of Croque Monsieur, a selection of cheeses and a bottle of Pommery, whilst sat outside a little cafe. Paris had me in her grip. I could see instantly why it was the city of romance - the cheese saw to that. 

Afterwards we walked through a park and took in the beautiful buildings before stumbling upon a gorgeous little chocolate shop. Stocking up we then headed back to the hotel to get ready for that night. 

Dinner was at Kong, a Japanese infusion restaurant which you may know from the famous Sex and the City episode where Carrie meets her Russian lover's x-girlfriend.

And hey, if it's good enough for Carrie, it's sure is good enough for us. 

With it's glass top rooftop we had the most perfect views across the city a sunset. Of course Champagne was ordered (when in Rome and all that, or in this case, er, Paris…) 

Amy ordered their famous lobster with udon noodles while I went with the tuna and red curry mashes potatoes. YUM. 

Afterwards we went a short taxi ride to the Crazy Horse. Now I know people go on about Moulin Rouge being fabulous and I can't really comment as I've never been, but what I can say is if you get the choice you should seriously go to Crazy Horse, you won't regret it. This is the best cabaret I've ever been too - the girls are mesmerising! 

The next day after an obvious breakfast of croissants and of course more cheese, we headed down the Seine to the Pont de l'Archevche also known as the lovers bridge over the Seine with Notre Dame nestled behind it. 

With those tourists spots ticked off we headed to Angelina, the original French tea room where I had the most delicious pistachio macaroon which was almost as big as my face. All washed down with Champagne - what else?! 

That the evening we headed to Eiffel Tower as we wanted to see it at sunset.

While it was lovely and iconic what ruined it was the sheer amount of people pestering you to buy tacky souvenirs. We were going to have dinner round there but we were really put off so headed back to St Germain ending our trip how we started it - sat outside a little cafe drinking Champers and eating a  Croque Monsieur and a selection of cheeses. Perfect.

Paris you were très bien! Let's not leave it so long next time, yeah?