Paris 2025 (Portia & Jin Adventures)

Hey there Posse Peeps! Phew. Home is very quiet again after gallivanting around the world and then having a very special guest in Australia for a few weeks. Paris 2025 in the very early springtime was glorious. Yes, it’s everything you dream and some lucky readers remember. We arrived while many of the late winter flowers were giving full displays. I’d not ever noticed the magnolias giving their pinkness to the Palais Royal. In Chatelet where we were staying the gardens were all blooming like crazy. The trees were mostly still just dreaming of leaves or had some nubs. There were camellias and even some roses.

Paris 2025 (Portia & Jin Adventures)

Day 1

While I’m calling this day 1 it was really the amalgamation of getting to the airport at sparrows fart, doing some window shopping and perfume spritzing in the luxury alley at Sydney International Airport. I can’t remember who was talking about Atelier Cologne slowing down but in Sydney International we have a fabulous selection and display. Then an hour hanging out in the lounge and eating a HUGE breakfast there. Flying to Korea we get a nights stay in the Incheon Grand Hyatt because the flights to Europe don’t leave till 17 hours later. It’s really good because that nights layover with breakfast means we arrive rested and ready to hit the ground running after the 14 hours going around Russia and, because they were having war games, China. It’s usually about 10 hours Incheon to Paris.

Across the road from our South Korean hotel is a huge casino complex with a mall and various photo opportunities. We love to wander through it after having some very local food.

Coming back to Incheon Airport we ALWAYS have Lotteria. So satisfying. This was for both of us. we were still full from our lavish hotel breakfast but…

Day 2

We had three nights on our way over and five hours on the way home in Paris. Our #1 reason to visit on this trip was to see Neela and her husband T. Sadly they have both been unwell and we wanted to spend some time just hanging out with them. We also like to see the Le Galion men Nicolas and Enno whenever we are both in Paris. Hearing that we were going to be around Anna Maria, husband Johnny and AM’s Mum Therese came over from their holiday house in Italy and their son Rocco and DIL Vera flew in from London. So our first three days were really jam packed. It was fabulous.

Jin snapped this shot. Sadly we have been priced out of our favourite hotels in Paris. This time we chose to stay at the Novotel Paris Les Halles. It’s unpretentiously comfortable, not too pricey and close to one of the biggest railway/tube convergences. They also have a low key but yum breakfast (Jin got this super cheap because he’s a member). You can walk to the Pompidou, Notre Dame, and even take an easy stroll up the Siene River to the Louvre and other major tourist attractions.

We arrived quite late in the afternoon. First night we had dinner with the Calarco crew. They were staying in the same Chatelet area with us so it was super easy to just wander across to a late night cafe. So much catching up to do. It was also Johnny and Mum Therese first ever visit to Paris so they had a lot of catching up of sights to do.

Day 3

We wandered up to the Palais Royale and had an early coffee at Le Nemours Cafe. It’s been a Parisian institution since the early years of the 20th century. Famously a gathering spot of authors, press and fashionistas it is now both locals cafe and a perfect tourist people watching spot. The wait staff are friendly and accommodating and didn’t even eyeroll at our raucous behavior. Also not outrageously expensive for where it’s placed. Between the Palais Royal and the Louvre, next to the Comédie Française at Collette Place.

Sustained, we proceeded into the Palais Royale. Seriously, the gardens were so gorgeous. We window shopped at Serge Lutens and made our way out to Parfums de Rosine in the very back. Our host was friendly and very helpful. Anna Maria and I had been there before but for Jin and AMs Mum it was a totally new experience. Anna Maria fell madly in love with Ballerina No 3 and bought 10ml. It is the Oud/Rose combo, beautifully balanced. Jin’s love was the very surprising Une Folie de Rose. A chypre styled rose from 2004 by François Robert (son of Guy). It smells utterly fabulous on him and has become his current perfume signature.

From there we went to our favourite Parisian meeting place Séoul Opéra. Jin loves to feed everyone Korean food and this place was the best we ever found in Paris for a traditional bite. It’s also very affordable compared to most Parisian Korean and right near our favourite hotel in Paris (that we now can’t afford) Hotel du Louvre. We have been bringing our friends to Séoul Opéra since Jin’s very first trip to Paris in 2013. Neela, Nicolas and Enno (with their gorgeous pup) all came and joined the Calarco crew. It was a fun get together full of stories and laughter. We tried the new Headspace Cedre! Fabulous. Also Neela brought all the perfumes that Aussie’s had asked me to buy for them and my purchase of her newest Eshal (Tom’s review, mine to come). I kept it boxed till we returned home. EXCITING!

That evening we took the Calarco’s on a sunset river cruise of the Seine. It was frosty but we braved it and sat up on the rooftop deck. It did not disappoint. I know it’s daggy and touristy but it’s such a beautiful thing to do in Paris. Though I’ve had friends eyeroll at the thought, every one of them has been grateful they got to do it.

Day 4

The Calarco’s flew out in the morning. It was such a joy to see them all on our Paris 2025 trip.

We met Neela and T for lunch in a very cool bistro. Chez Monsieur on the Rue de Chevalier de Saint George. Famous for making traditional French food in a 21st century way. Jin was in foodie heaven and as always it was really nice to just hang and chat with them.

After lunch Jin, Neela and I hit a pre-loved fashion sale in the Madeleine basement. LOTS of mass-tige and older luxury brands represented for unbelievably good prices. Lots of junk too. It was fun. Neela fell in love with a very old Ann Klein but we dissuaded her.

Seriously, could these two beauties (Neela and Jin) be any bloody cuter?!? This photo has me smiling so broadly in happiness.

Then we wandered some of the lesser known beauties of Paris that were new to both Jin and me. A couple of hidden streets that I’ve never known in all my years of going to Paris. We even found a mini DIOR store with the most adorable things. It was a heavenly day.

Jin wanted to have a romantic dinner at Michelin Starred restaurant Benoit but I really wasn’t feeling up to posh-ness so we had Onion Soup in a local no star cafe. Colour me happy.

Day 5

Our last day befor the onward trip to Morocco. We had a few hours in the morning. Leisurely breakfast in our hotel. YAY!

While at breakfast a Sydney mate told us over Facebook to go see one of the worlds oldest and most interesting kitchenware shops; Dehillerin in Les Halles, selling shit with attitude for 200+ years. It was a fun and fabulous adventure within walking distance but we are not THOSE kind of foodies. It was all gorgeous but nothing there we wanted.

We jumped a train and hit the Trocadero. Loved how atmospheric the fog made it.

Back in 2019 when electric bikes were first available to grab and ride we (with friends from South Korea: Kinam and Yugil) taught ourselves how to ride them by doing circuits and figure eights just below the Trocadero where the buses parked. The whole garden and parking area is under renovation. Boring for you all but we were seeing a part of our history being transformed.

Wandering home we dropped in to see some old favourites, Eglise Saint-Eustace church is always awe inspiring.

as is the Nikki de Saint Phalle art fountain next to it, and the Pompidou.

Some more early spring flowers, these white ones were so fragrant from meters away.

Not quite sure what Jin was thinking…

Then it was grab the bags and head to Charles de Gaulle again heading to Morocco. Next installment soon.
Hope you enjoyed being taken along for the Paris 2025 ride, it would have been even more fun had you been with us.
Portia xx