Paris & London for Christmas: Shopping, Eating, and Beautiful Sites!

It all started Halloween weekend. I told my husband that I wanted us to spend our second Christmas together overseas. Not only would it be special because we get to spend it in a romantic city like Paris, but we were also celebrating his birthday and our first anniversary of marriage together. So, just like that, I was online looking for the best flight deals and Airbnb that I could find. I love planning under pressure and especially when the trip is a last-minute idea, and this for me was so last minute especially with it being hi peak travel season.

I found us roundtrip tickets to London from SF for $700 (each) and roundtrip Eurostar train tickets between London<> Paris for $250 (each). This indeed was a darn good deal that I couldn't pass up considering it was right over the Christmas holiday.

London and Paris are only a two-hour train ride away or an hour flight. Your girl had HELLA luggage so I went with the train because Eurostar doesn't have many bag restrictions and you can bring as many as you can fit onto the luggage cart of the train. I also wanted to see Europe's countryside from a window seat on a train.

We arrived in Paris two days before Christmas and it was right during the metro strike that had been going over for a few weeks. It honestly didn't mess up our flow at all. It was a little inconvenient because we had to walk an extra 15 minutes to the train stop. I'm just kidding- isn't that the best part of traveling and wanting the authentic experience like a local. Plus my fav part of checking out a new city is exploring it like a local and that usually means by foot or local transportation.

After 20 hours of traveling, we finally made it to our Airbnb+ and It was everything that we wanted it to be, plus more. It only took us a few hours to discover Paris sights from food to eating, and of course Paris designer shopping. Below are places I enjoyed and know you may benefit from them as well.

One of my favorite breakfast spots in Paris; Bon bouquet, great egg dishes and coffee lattes

Bon Bouquet: a cute boutique brunch spot in an alley way. They serve French toast, pancakes and egg dishes. It was a highlight. I give it a solid 9/10.

Places to visit in Paris:

Eiffel tower: Every hour on the dot the Eiffel tower sparkles for 5 mins (E.g. 7:00-7:05 pm it sparkles) tickets are about 25 euros each.

The Louvre Museum: Make sure to get tickets because the line can be long (although it was about 20min for us with tickets). The place is massive and overwhelming so I recommend morning time. Bring your walking shoes! Tickets are 17 euros each. If you have time you can enjoy coffee/ hot cocoa at Cafe Marley right on the side of the louver and people watch with a view.

Cafe Marley

Climb the Arch de Triumph: Beautiful views. We didn’t go up to the top, but I was told it is worth the views of the Eiffel tower.

Shopping: I loved Champs Elysees :It is know for mostly flag ship designer stores. I also like Galleries Lafayette- designer stores plus a few popular like Zara, H&M, Nike, Birkenstock, etc. (Remember Zara/H&M are Europe based and manufactured so you’ll get a big savings with no tax fees plus getting tax back. I tried to stay away from American stores like.

Watch my Youtube channel to see more on Shopping tips in Paris at @EverythingKeren

Over all steak and fries seem to be a popular French staple + pastries, meat spreads and lots of cheese.

Caesars: best Italian food. From pasta to steak, to oysters, and shrimp you won’t be disappointed. About $80 euros a person if you want to enjoy a few cocktails. Make a reservation!

Moulin Rouge: Was worth every penny. Tickets average about 105-130 Euros or person. You can't record once your inside but I wish I could show you why you wouldn't want to pass this experience up.

Vat tax forms; Make sure you have your passport for all shopping purchases excluding food items/ transportation. If you spend 175 euros you can get up to 12% tax back by submitting a VAT tax form. You’ll need to go to the airport extra early (at least an extra hour) to submit all your forms. You may need to show proof of your purchases items so keep them organized.

(Sample from online; docs.oracle.com)

Airbnb Experiences/Tours: they have a popular food tour and lots of skip the lines history art tours for the big monuments. I would check them out and try to fit at least one in.

heres my code:

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Five days later we were off to London from Paris, and just 85 hours away from 2020. Paris was amazing, beautiful and a wonderful place to shop, so we enjoyed it for it what it had to offer. But when we got to London, the air was frosty and the Christmas spirit was Jolly. Once we arrived we took our bus to our neighborhood, Newton Green which was 25 mins bus ride away from central London

I also book an Airbnb and loved it as well, not as much as our Paris location, but it was still nice. We got right into everything in London and surprisingly got lots of rest, I think the 9 hour jet-lagged finally caught up to us.

Everything was on point, especially all the steak we ate. (I'm now pescatarian, but I'll save that for another post) tea's we drank, and more shopping we did.

Check below for my favorite places to visit in London.

Corinthia Hotel: Afternoon Tea, Make sure you book weeks in advance, as Tea is a prominent feature of British culture and society.

Catch a soccer game with Londons home team "Arsenal" . Make sure you get tickets early. They can easily start off at $300. Emirates has the most beautiful stadium I've ever been to with comfy seats.

The ultimate Christmas gift for my husband.

Shopping areas: Oxford street was one of my favorite places, with live street entertainers, and lots of favorite stores like Zara, H&M, and a few others.

Carnaby Street: More high end shops.

London Eye: You can see 360 views of the London bridge, and all of the beautiful buildings on the London skyline. If you're the type of person that skips the tourist stops like this one, you may prefer just seeing it in person and enjoying a mulled wine or cocktail view.

Sited; Instagram; @monauttendor

Let me know if you've been to Paris or London and whats one of your top places you must visit while there?

I hope you enjoyed my 1st blog post. Lots of more great content to come in 2020.......

#London #paris #ChristmasinEurope #Food #Drink