Paris and Mougins

Last week my mother and I took a trip to Paris and to Mougins, France. We stayed in the Left Bank at the Hôtel Baume Paris. The hotel is such a gem. Perfectly located in the 6th arrondissement near St. Germain, we were within a walking distance to everything. The hotel is decorated in a Art Deco style that I personally loved. It is a small boutique hotel with 45 rooms, 10 of which are suites.

When we arrived we headed out to explore the Marais, which is in the 4th arrondissement. It was fun just wandering around this area of shops and galleries. We were pretty tired from our trip in, so we just meandered around without much of a plan, not usually how I do it! We had some delicious crepes at Breizh. I would highly recommend them. They have sweet and savory crepes and they are so light and airy because they are made with buckwheat that they don’t feel extremely filling.

An important tip: either before you head to Paris or when you arrive, don’t forget to get your museum pass. The value is incredible. You can choose the amount of days you think you will need, and it validates on the day you start. You can also download the app “Affluences” and get the approximate wait time for each museum to help you plan. The next day we did some shopping and went to the Musée D’Orsay. We had dinner at a great spot called Les Philosophes.

The next morning, we visited the L’Orangerie museum. Monet’s water lilies are featured here as a mural all along the walls in two circular rooms. It is stunning. We headed next to Saint Chapelle to see the stained glass. As we were running late and I had an appointment to get to later in the day, we were going to bypass Notre Dame. However, since we were so close, we decided to go in. There was something that just made us go in one more time. I am grateful for that now and for my last pictures.

I had the opportunity to visit some other Left Bank hotels while in Paris. I toured Les Dames du Panthéon first. This hotel is near the Panthéon, which is an historical and authentic area, and has amazing views. Since the Panthéon is a monument to important men, the hotel pays tribute to important woman. There are 6 floors which are each dedicated to different women. The hotel is great for families as there are rooms that can connect easily.

I also visited La Belle Juliette, named after Jeanne Françoise Julie Adélaïde Bernard, better known as Juliette Récamier. Each floor of the hotel is designed after a chapter in her life. The rooms are amazing and have such a 19th century feel. I particularly loved the bar and staircase. This hotel has a spa, pool and a restaurant. It is also located in the 6th near St. Germain.

We took a guided walking tour around the Latin Quarter and learned some history of the area. Since Easter was approaching, we saw many delectable sweets in the store windows! The chocolate eggs were huge and done with so much detail. As Le Bon Marché is also near La Belle Juliette, we also took a tour of it and did some shopping. There is so much to see there that you can easily lose an entire day if you aren’t careful!

The next morning we took the early morning train for Cannes. We headed by car to the town of Mougins which is a fifteen minute drive from Cannes. The town is so peaceful and a great escape from Cannes or Nice. Situated near both, it a perfect hub for Provence and a retreat to relax. The views are incredible. In Mougins village there is fine dining, art and a world class museum. We took a tour of a perfumerie named Galimard in nearby Grasse. It is the third oldest perfumerie in the world. Grasse is the world’s capital of perfume. The tour was very interesting and we even got to make our own perfume. It is definitely an art! We stayed at Le Mas Candille a five star resort in Mougins. The hotel has a Michelin star restaurant on site, plus two pools and a fabulous spa. The hotel is a beautiful ten minute walk to the town.

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