Spring time in Paris – a travel classic

and a great excuse for an ALICE & Co wardrobe update!

So a new frock in Linton tweed – they weave for Chanel – was just the ticket

My weekend in Paris was push-the-boat-out  luxe at the Hôtel Plaza Athénée

which has just celebrated its 100th birthday.

Combining classical elegance and contemporary verve, this 146 room grande dame hotel is a fine place for an indulgent five-star break

– it attracts a fashionable international crowd but is not stuck up,

and they love it if you dress up.

 Here’s my artfully framed shot of the Eiffel Tower.

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Put your nose out of the door and you’ll be on the Avenue Montaigne,

ready for some seriously chic shopping or window gazing.

All the big fashion names are here including Fendi, Maxmara and Christian Dior who named some of his frocks after the hotel.

And who knows, maybe one day Alice & Co?

Save some metro tickets by whizzing around on a complimentary red bike

available from the concierge.

Wear an Alice & Co tartan skirt with matching shoes.

And work up an appetite for lunch at the hotel’s Art Deco Le Relais Plaza restaurant where the lobster salad is to die for.

Don’t miss the great celebrity photos by the entrance,

which include my old friends Richard Burton and Liz Taylor

I seem to like everywhere they  liked to go!

An Alice & Co jersey dress with a hand-knitted collar is just what to wear if the weather is a bit showery, and looks fab with a red umbrella from the hotel.

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Eat

For cuisine at its most ‘haute’ dine at the three Michelin-star Alain Ducasse restaurant, which serves sensational seasonal dishes in an opulent room with a magnificent oval chandelier and welcoming staff.

Breakfast here is also formidable.

On the other side of town, L’Ebauchoir near Bastille

serves a hearty French lunch at old school prices.

Walk it off on the Promenade Plantée which starts nearby.

Shop

If  the prices of the couture are just too de trop,  Monoprix on the Champs ELyées has fab French beauty products,

brightly coloured tights and simple well-cut swimwear at petite prices.

Or visit my favourite department store, the BHV where you can buy everything from a cement mixer to a Dior lipstick.

Across the road at the Hôtel de Ville is a sumptuous exhibition of French Couture – which was of course started by Charles Worth –  an Englishman.

The exhibition is free – Boris take note. And well worth a day trip on the Eurostar. It’s on until 6 July (closed Sunday).

For a reflective moment walk from the hotel to Balzac’s House which has a small garden – read his novel Cousin Bête or Zola’s La Curée for a taste of Parisian political shenanigans.

For more fashionable French attire, vintage gems, and guided shopping trips of this oh-so-chic capital,  contact my Paris-based partner Tara Munro