A classic French château. "Particulier is a word with two meanings, and the Saint James Paris embodies both.
Imagined like a famous family's private home, it is an architectural jewel that now welcomes paying guests.
A hôtel particulier in every way.
In fact, the Saint James Paris is so special it almost defies definition. Built in the 19th century on the site of Paris’ first aerodrome, it was the neoclassical home of the Thiers Foundation for over a century. Today the Saint James Paris remains an exuberant masterpiece, but more so than ever before. It's a bourgeois estate, a château and an experience to treasure. Where priceless expertise delights every sense."
This is the description I found on the website and it captures the feeling perfectly! I saw a Melbourne blogger @Thetiafox stay here and I immediately put it on my dreamlist of hotels to stay at (yes I have a list just for that). We decided on staying one night at a 5 star luxury hotel and spending the rest in an airbnb, because when in Paree you have to indulge like the French! In comparison to other 5 star hotels it was a little bit more cheaper (~$500 compared to the $700+ of other hotels).
London has always been a dream city for me to go to. Throughout 2016, I would often catch myself wondering what it would be like to actually live there for a period of time. To be honest, I was never an 'English' girl, always veered more towards the side of 'American', but as soon as I started obsessively watching British Youtubers (Zoella, Pointlessblog, Tanya Burr, Gabriella Lindley, etcetc) my love for this 'London' grew and grew. Honestly, it was so exciting seeing stores that you always here of, going to sites on the 'Monopoly Board' and everywhere you turn you get to see such beautiful, historic, intricate buildings.
Everything was just so 'English' hehe.
The sun rose SO LATE in London everyday, but that means I was lucky enough to see the sunrise every morning at around 8-9am. What bugged me was that the sun set even earlier, 4pm felt like 9pm (which resulted in my saying 'goodnight moon' every day at 7pm)
We stayed at Megaro Hotel and it was very convenient as it is located right next to King's Cross (airport express)
and St. Pancras' International (where the trains to Paris, Amsterdam, etc arrive and depart). The hotel itself was quite quirky, the outside building is painted in colourful geometric shapes so you won't miss it. There are only 5 or so levels so you get good service and they greet you every time you walk in and out of that door. I personally really liked it and is a good choice for a middle range hotel.
I didn't actually go to Harry Potter World, but you can actually find Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station too!
And if you go early enough in the morning, you don't need to line up. Yippee!
On DAY ONE we trekked to Trafalgar Square and then onto Buckingham Palace. A spot of shopping at Knightsbridge, where there was the prettiest and grandest Harrod's alongside with other high street brands and luxury brands.
Hunger and bad moods started striking so next stop was Covent Garden. There's a lot of smaller shops and some markets here. Lunch was had at Flat Iron where they specialise in little butcher's knives haha.
A dreary cold morning to start off DAY TWO.
I shook and shuddered my way along the Thames River to go see Big Ben.
It was completely early at 9am in the morning and completely freezing.
Possibly the coolest restaurant I've ever went to. Coppa along the Thames has built little 'igloo's' outside their restaurants. They come decked out in Christmas lights, couches, heating and furs to keep you nice and toasty.
A scrumptious English breakfast and the BEST chai latte ever was also consumed here, while we had a little photoshoot hahaha.
Next stop is the magnificent St. Paul's Cathedral. Unfortunately it was closed at the time we went but do take a moment to admire (in awe) of the details in the buildings work!
Onto Camden Town. If you hail from Melbourne, you know what I mean when I see this is the Prahran St or Fitzroy of London.
In other terms, it's hipster AF. HAHA. I even tried to fit in and purchased a pair of aviator glasses. They have the most delicious food markets, so do not eat before you come here. You will also find souvenir shops here, though not the most reliable, with no price stickers, so the price will go from ye high to ye low (usually ye high).
Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas! Christmas Day was a big break for the whole city. So empty and closed (even Mcdonald's was closed),
the only option was the eat at the hotel we were staying at.
Seeming as there was nothing to do, we hired bikes 'Santander's' and biked around the city. Seems like all the tourists had the same idea, as the bikes were SO HARD to find, they were all hired out ! We rode all the way from King's Cross to Regent's Park and my oh my did my butt hurt! There are SO many gloriously expensive looking houses and buildings behind the park, so do take a peek hehe.
Our Europe trip ended where it began...London.
We decided to treat ourselves for one night and stay at The Shangri-La in the Shard, we paid an extra 50 pounds to get this VIEWWWWW. We went to The Tower for some tourist business and I highly recommend going to see the Crown Jewels. From old crowns, which jewels were taken out from to decorate the new crowns, you can also see the Crown and Septum and robe that Queen Elizabeth wore on her inauguration in 1953. I've never seen anything so sparkly in my life!
