Every spring and fall, the global fashion hive congregates in Paris and Milan for a much hyped week or so of runway shows, parties, dinners, and celebrity sightings. In the Paris phase of the circuit it’s tough to score access to the shows unless you’re a bona fide fashion editor or stylist but there are plenty of other distractions and festivities to frequent. That is, if you know where to find them. And with Paris being Paris, the quintessential attractions serve as functional filler between various Fashion Week obligations.
Over the course of a mere five days, my Paris Fashion Week agenda kept me running around the city mercilessly between fashion-y rendezvouses, meetings, and cocktails, softened by regular café allongé intake and the occasional substantial meal.
Without further ado, here’s the rundown of my experiences (or what I remember of them, anyway).
DAY 1: Bonjour Paris! Shopping in St.-Germain-des-Prés
After arriving in Paris by train, I hopped in a cab bound for the 5th Arrondissement, where I checked into the Hôtel Les Dames du Panthéon, a darling boutique hotel with aesthetically appealing wallpaper and a killer breakfast. Priorities. I settled in then headed out for a stroll, discovering a cute little restaurant called Le Hibou in Saint-Germain, where I made fast friends with the barman and drank a full pot of green tea with mint before splitting. I popped into a few shops for fresh PFW outfit ideas before sitting down to a late lunch of steak frites. Heading back to my hotel, I dashed into a place called Prescription Cocktail Club which caught my eye, swiftly downing a digestif before racing to my hotel room to quickly touch up my makeup for the evening.
With 30 minutes or so to spare before meeting my friend at a swanky Fashion Week party across the Seine, I had just enough time to throw on a cute Free People minidress and some Alexander McQueen heels, dust a little loose powder over my face and add some MAC Retro Matte lipstick in Flesh Stone on my way out the door.
My friend pulled up to the hotel at the same time as me, so we headed inside and were immediately met with glasses of champagne. The rest is history.
DAY 2: More Shopping and More Champagne
More shopping, then a plan to visit two New York friends, who were running a booth at an accessories show in the Jardin des Tuileries. The three of us caught up as I fawned over their gorgeous bags then we made plans for that evening – Palomo Spain’s subterranean after party followed by dinner. They eventually started packing up for the day so I let them do their thing while I set off to explore some of the neighboring booths. So many amazing hats (my weakness) – if only they weren’t so difficult to pack. I then made my way to the Marais for the party.
For once in my life I was a bit early, but my friends were running late so I did what any PFW attendee would do and sat on a staircase with a glass of champagne until they arrived. We stayed and mingled for a few minutes while Palomo’s show played on loop via a projector, then headed to dinner at my favorite spot in the neighborhood, coincidentally called La Favorite.
DAY 3: Fashion Week Parties Begin
The endless grind of Fashion Week parties began wearing me down (inevitably), so another New York friend and I decided to take the day and visit the Château de Versailles, which is about an hour from Paris (give or take, depending on where you’re staying). We spent the majority of the afternoon searching for a particularly photogenic black-and-white tiled floor she’d seen somewhere on Pinterest, which we found and promptly proceeded to take photos of each other for our own Instagrams. We wandered a bit more through the Hall of Mirrors and a few bedrooms, but our hunger got the better of us so we popped next door into Alain Ducasse’s restaurant Ore for a pick-me-up overlooking the gardens.
We made it back to our hotel just in time to get ready for another Fashion Week party that evening at Silencio (designed by David Lynch), where I ran into more New York friends and unwittingly shared a Diet Coke with a star of a reality TV show (his name escapes me, probably due to the few glasses of champagne I’d had earlier).
DAY 4: Side Trip to Reims
It had only been three days at this point, but things were getting REALLY exhausting (most likely a combination of little sleep and lots of parties). Again, this is inevitable during Fashion Week but at this point, it felt like an eternity. Nevertheless, we persisted. I’d received an invitation to do a tasting and explore the cellars of Champagne Taittinger’s estate — an offer no self-respecting writer would pass up — so I got up at the crack of dawn, purchased a round-trip ticket to Reims, and went on my merry way. What a trip. I spent the morning wandering the cellars (which are former abbeys-turned-bunkers, wall etchings and all) and tasting countless bottles of exquisite champagnes before concluding my visit with a leisurely lunch at Les Crayères, which involved even more champagne (omg).
I was on a train bound for Paris by 3pm, and after a power nap and some serious rehydrating, I met a friend for dinner at a PFW hotspot Hôtel Grand Amour. This place seems to be a favorite of off-duty models and the fashion crowd in general (most likely thanks to the quirky Wes Anderson design vibes) – we split a few dishes and people watched until the wee hours.
DAY 5: Au Revoir Paris!
Thus, my five-day jaunt to Paris Fashion Week had concluded, but not before a late solo lunch at Parisian prix fixe classic, Le Relais de l’Entrecôte. I sat between two businessmen who acknowledged me only to simultaneously grumble about a healthcare protest that was happening outside. I skipped dessert, remembering that I had one more stop to make before heading back to pack for my flight the next morning.
So, I settled the bill, collected my things and ordered an Uber to the Omnivore festival for a dinner featuring my good friend (and acclaimed chef) Daniel Burns. Course after course came out from the makeshift kitchen below the stage on which dozens of attendees sat, and like any other great meal had in France, the affair lasted hours. It was absolute bliss, though after the constant flow of paired wines the rest was a bit of a blur — the only way I’d have wanted this trip to end (in an haute-cuisine induced haze).
See you next year, Paris Fashion Week!