The posh streets of Paris

A quick trip to London today, but first an early morning wander down the boutique strewn posh streets of Paris – Avenue George V, Avenue Montaigne, and down Rue St Honore. It’s 7.30am and still dark when I catch the #1 Metro line from Saint Paul to George V. It is still very quiet around the Marais, and the train is virtually empty. Exiting the Metro at George V on the Champs Elysee is much busier traffic wise, but still not a lot of foot traffic.

Louis Vuitton has a flagship store on the corner of the Champs Elysee and Avenue George V, decorated with inflatable rabbits and snowmen. Further down Avenue George V, the Plaza Athenee hotel is decorated with ethereal fairy lights, and a flotilla of waiting taxis and the odd Bentley awaits the well-heeled guests of the hotel.

Down Avenue Montaigne, there is another Louis Vuitton store, this one echoes the theme of the other, but with gold inflatable dogs and rabbits made to look like the animals that street performers make out of balloons.  The Dior store continues last year’s hot air balloon theme, with hot air balloons decorating the windows, and with a massive version made of fairy lights above the store entrance.

A relatively recent arrival on the Paris hotel scene is La Reserve, in a quiet street off Avenue Matignon.  Elegantly decorated with golden fairy lights, the deep cerise coloured door makes a clear statement. Down the street and around the corner is another palace hotel, Le Bristol, also liberally doused in fairy lights.  Further along Rue St Honore, the street light decorations are reduced from previous years and feature simple glass lantern-style lights with cost-effective led lights.

Louis Vuitton is winning this year’s building decorations – the store on the corner of Rue St Honore and Place Vendome has an extraordinary sun feature reminiscent of Louis XIV, the Sun King,  that spans the length of the building. Truly living up to the idea of what you’d find on the posh streets of Paris

Time to head to Gare du Nord to catch the 13:13 Eurostar service to London St Pancras. There is no easy way to Gare du Nord from Saint-Paul that doesn’t involve a few train or bus changes, so I decide to walk to Chatelet-Les Halles. Paris is still strangely quiet, and it’s an easy walk to Chatelet. Les Halles is still under redevelopment, and the gentrification of the area continues apace. There is now a ‘bio’ café that sells organic ready-made meals, so I grab a roll and small salad to eat on the Eurostar for the grand total of 8.10 Euros.

Any hope I had that the 13:13 Eurostar service to London would be quiet is quickly dispatched – it’s a zoo and the economy carriages are full.  It’s also the usual grilling from UK Border Force – why are you visiting the UK, how long are you staying, who are you staying with, where are you going next, when are you leaving there?