Paris With Birchbox.

As you’re probably aware, I’ve been in Paris this week with the lovely Birchbox lot (and a few awesome bloggers) so I thought I would let you know what we got up to in the two days we were there.

Day one started with a very early wake up call, and my first ever trip on the Eurostar – which went very quickly, although I was sitting next to an over-caffeinated Emma who was rabbiting on for the whole journey! That girl can talk. We set off at 7am and got to Gare Du Nord station at around 10.30am local time – it was a beautiful day, although a little chilly, and we were all desperate to get Paris. We went to the Birchbox HQ in Paris, which was absolutely beautiful! I wish the team would come and decorate my house – mint walls, perfect sofas, lots of colour. Sigh.

We were introduced to the team, had a bit of brekkie and then discovered the Birchbox beauty vending machine. This was so much fun and the goodies inside were even better – here’s hoping these are introduced to the UK as they are amazing!

We were then taken to our beautiful hotel, the Hotel Bourg Tibourg – it was so lovely and really luxe. We then went for lunch at a restaurant which was situated next to the Louvre, Café Marly – you could actually look over in to the museum. The food was delicious, and it was a really lovely environment. We were then taken to the amazing Caudalie boutique to learn about the products and have a treatment – the brand were so welcoming and they also let us stockpile on treats (with just about everyone reaching for the flawless Beauty Elixir!). I’m a huge fan of Caudalie so I loved seeing the shop and hearing about the brand – I smelt of the Divine Oil scent for so long afterwards.

During this time we had a few hours to look around the streets of Paris, in the Marais area. I had been around here before but not in these exact streets so it was nice to have a browse. Let’s just say, I’m lucky I couldn’t take furniture home.

After the treatments at the Caudalie store (which I didn’t have but the girls all came out with beautiful glowing skin and relaxed auras! I have a voucher for the Covent Garden boutique and I’m already excited about it!) we headed back to the hotel for a wind down before dinner. Dinner was at the amazing Le Georges at the top of the Centre Pompidou – it was amazing, with 360 degree views of Paris. Watching the light show on the Eiffel Tower at that height was just stunning, and the food and hilarious chat from the girls was also a plus!

That night we all slept soundly after a very long day, ready for day two.

We started the day with breakfast in our rooms, it was undeniably good! Next, we headed to the Huygen store to pick our own products – the brand are only sold on the Birchbox store outside of France so it was a treat to be able to experience it for ourselves. The Huygens assistants helped us to select our fragrances (I chose rosewood) and then we watched as they made them up for us – I picked a body scrub and a dry oil and they’re incredible. I’ll review them soon, promise.

Emma and I were finished first so we decided to walk down towards Sephora for a browse. When in Paris…! We went past the Notre Dame Cathedral and over the Seine and walked down Saint Germain. It was such a nice day, and we were super excited to browse the aisles of Sephora. I picked up a few bits, and then we headed to City Pharma – a large pharmacie which is packed with French skincare on the cheap. I also got some bits here, what a surprise!

After browsing, we met for lunch at a restaurant called Saturne – it was lovely and the food was delicious. After lunch, we were taken on a… wait for it… CHOCOLATE TOUR! Sampling some of the best chocolates, hot chocolate and macarons in Paris. We went to Pierre Hermé (the best macarons – mine was salted caramel), then to Angelina for the most incredible hot chocolate – it’s basically just melted chocolate with cream. Divine! Then we explored a few more chocolate shops before heading for the Eurostar, very full and very tired!

It was a fun-packed, incredible busy two days! I can’t believe how much we got through – Paris you are just dreamy. Thanks for the Birchbox team for planning it all, and my amazing blogger buddies – Emma, Gemma, Fleur & Sammi – for an awesome couple of days.

So, who’s planning a Paris trip?