Now, I haven´t been to NY or anywhere else outside Europe for that matter, but I´m pretty sure few cities can equal Paris when it comes to celebrating one´s birthday! I turned 34 on Saturday and I had the best anniversary ever! I woke up to jazz music just outside our window (we stayed in Bastille) and my husband had been out and bought me a rose, breakfast and cake. Breakfast in bed with Paris at my feet, that´s pretty much of a gift itself!

We were supposed to go to Clignancourt for the flea market, but the lazy morning and the prospects of a lunch date with some friends made the time too short. I didn´t despair though, there´re lots of markets in Paris and as it turned out, there was one just outside our apartment. 😉 Lots of goodies- antiques, industrial lamps, vintage garments, you name it! Although not exactly cheap, the prices were generally better than in shops, at least in Norway. 😉 We bought an antique bronze statue, with marble and ivory, it´s a beauty!

We met our friends for lunch at Chartier, a venerable restaurant in Monmartre that´s been serving good French food for a cheap penny since 1896. It´s packed so you have to wait in line outside for the headwaiter to point you to the right table,  you´d think it´s just tourists, but there were lots of French celebrating their birthday, actually. The atmosphere is unique, the old decor and the fact that it´s huge, plus the reverence of the place itself. The food was very good, we had escargot and rillette as an appetizer, rumsteck (beef) and confit de canard as mains. My friend ordered Andouillette and it turns out it´s filled pork stomach, so that one was no success. Except for the fact that my medium rare biff was well done and the cheese cake was nothing special, I found it was a great lunch experience. Bustling with Saturday joy, the place is a must if you´re in Paris for enough days!

Later on we strolled to Rue de St. Honoré, where the luxury shops are found, to pay a visit to Colette. On our way however we were lucky to stumble on another market, this time less pricey, but less wow, as well. I did manage to find brand new leather Tory Burch ballerinas for my sister-in-law though for the symbolic price of 20 euros! 😉

It was sunny and bright and people were enjoying their day off and I thought to my self: “How can anyone not love Paris?” We were so lucky with the weather we couldn´t believe it was 25 in late September! So we chilled our feet in a fountain like the locals and strolled on towards the window shopping experience everybody should grant themselves when in Paris. Colette is a Mecca of cool- t-shirts, jewelry, avant-garde clothes, high end shoes and bags, books, cosmetics, you name it! It´s fashion for fashion´s sake and the prices are soaring! We almost never buy anything, but it´s like visiting a museum, it has to be seen!

In the evening I was in for a treat. We had drinks in a hidden little bar, you enter a pizzeria, then you open what´s supposed to be a huge fridge and you´re in an Al Capone style bar! The drinks were yummy, the atmosphere was cool and nobody was dancing, hence nobody trampled on my shoes. (that´s always a plus with me!) 😉

Dinner was a French affair again, this time at Chez Janou in Bastille. I had tagliattelle with escargot and the others had risotto with scallops. Boy, was it yummy! Leave room for the chocolate mousse, it´s mind-blowing!

Sunday it rained and we were all a bit hangover, especially me. We headed to Porte d’Italie for Vietnamese pho as a hair of the dog cure. The place is called Little Saigon and it has an enormous variety of eateries, most of them Asian. We lunched at Pho 14 and I´d absolutely recommend it! It was packed with locals, the service was good and the food nothing less than amazing!

We rounded our Paris trip with a visit to a burger joint in the evening, unfortunately I can´t find their card and I don´t remember their name. My conclusion: Paris is always a good idea, that´s for sure! I hope you enjoyed my trip! xxxx, Alina

Clothes: silk blouse from Comptoir de Cottonniers, black vintage dress from Reprise, Norway, silk blouse from Filipa K and leather jacket from Lu Jo, jeans from Filipa K.