Our “Travel with Grace” Red Tour which is a 5-day tour in Paris with me, is an opportunity to go on a carefully curated excursion through the fashionable city, discovering new places and shopping for the perfect piece, always with an eye for the trademark of Parisian elegance.
The Red Tour lives up to its name. The color red symbolizes joy, passion, and celebration. Indeed, this tour is everything that color is! Celebrating joy and pleasure in the streets of Paris, finding the hidden gems that only a few are privileged to have access to because they chose our tour to show them a side of Paris that is seldom found in a guidebook or from a travel agent. Let me share with you a little bit about our famous Red Tour in Paris.
“Bonjour!”, says our driver who welcomes us at the airport with that lovely smile. He drives us to the boutique hotel in a district just off the main thoroughfare which I have specifically chosen for the group so that we have the feeling of really living in a neighborhood. In the evening, we gather in the lounge for a champagne toast to welcome our group to Paris. We then take a stroll through our neighborhood to the Trocadero. And what better way to end our first night in Paris than watch the Eiffel tower light up in the night sky? Welcome to our first night in the City of Light!
1/5: We begin our next day with a breakfast of coffee, croissants and baguettes, often with an egg or cheese plate. Our first stop is the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré area, where the windows of the iconic global fashion houses are on grand display. We stroll, shop, and talk about the history of the fashion houses and enjoy the Parisian styles speaking to us through the windows. An afternoon tea at an instagram famous café caps our first of the five-day Red Tour. Afterwhich, our guests are free to explore Paris on their own or just wander as true Parisian locals often do.
2/5: Our second day starts by exploring the Upper-East-Side-of-New-York version of Paris called the 16th Arrondissement. The beautiful apartment buildings on every corner with grandeur architectural embellishments tell you that you are indeed in Paris. We explore resale shops, contemporary boutiques, markets, and unique bookstores that will have you wishing for more hours in the day. Mid- afternoon tea in a café of a trendy neighborhood hotel lobby with sweet treats and elegant settings complete our scheduled time together for the day. Again, our new friends are encouraged to wander on their own or continue the afternoon by returning to their new favorite spots.
3/5: Our third day uses an immersion in the French culture of taking our time. French people take pleasure in time. We likewise spend ours around the Boulevard Saint-Germain, the iconic Café de Flore, and our favorite lunch spot where we are always greeted with a happy “Boujour y’all”, Treize au Jardin. It has the best southern biscuits and finest French cuisine in town! This bohemian neighborhood is a perfect place if you are taking a break, letting time pass by, and just simply marveling at the beauty of Paris and life in general. We also visit contemporary shops and small boutiques that are unique only to Paris. Laughter shared in the beautiful cafés and scenic neighborhood in Paris is an amazing way to spend our time mid-tour!
4/5: The Marais is our next stop on our Red Tour. The atmosphere of the Marais is so trendy, we all feel like chic Parisians on vacation. We spend the day shopping and touring, walking along centuries-old streets and alleys of Paris, exploring boutiques and visiting a famous fashion museum to get to know more about fashion history. That evening, we savor champagne from genuine Baccarat crystal which is such an elegant experience. The restaurant we visit is located in the Baccarat Museum, in the Crystal Room where there are indeed jaw-dropping sparkling chandeliers and glass accessories which purposefully contradict the open brickwork on the walls. The sumptuous dinner in this beautiful place in Paris is truly a luxury! Our time together is coming to an end and we toast to our new friendships and the bond we have created, sharing five wonderful days together, shopping in Paris.
5/5: Our last breakfast together is spent on good food, sharing stories of our favorite shops and showing the precious items we gathered on this tour. So many good memories to reminisce! We indeed had enjoyed the hidden gems we found and the friendships we will continue to nourish as we leave Paris. With a honk of his car horn, our driver is happy to greet us again and fetch us back to the airport with our prized Parisian items inside our precious baggage.
Overwhelming was the theme of reactions to this tour – when asked how did they enjoy the tour, the consensus from our group is that it is full of wonderful experiences, bonding with new friends, and finding precious new pieces for our souvenir collections (not to mention our closets). It warms the heart to see how much our guests enjoy Paris on this tour. In this city of style, shopping can be exhausting and complicated but our trips here at Grace in Paris can help make it meaningful and enjoyable by unveiling the City’s hidden gems so you can bring home wonderful memories and even more than one perfect, stylish souvenir from the City of Light.
