Last week I spent some wonderful days in Paris, my favorite city in the world. We opted for the famous and luxurious Shangri-La Hotel (the only place where you can have breakfast on your terrace and enjoy the beauty of the Eiffel tower), ate some of the most delicious foods and I even scored the bag of my dreams at Hermès. For those of you that don´t follow me on Instagram, here´s a little summary of what I have been up to:
Whenever I am in Paris, I am overwhelmed by the stunning architecture and the many beautiful things you can discover. Since I take hundreds of pictures a day and almost always have my mobile in my hands (which is why I need to recharge twice with my Mipow), it must be quite obvious that I am a dreamy tourist who is very much in love with Paris.
Well, here are some of the photos I took during my most recent trip, and I also added two pictures that were shot during the Dior Addict Event :-) I hope you enjoy them!
Today´s post is for those of you that may not follow me on Instagram and might have missed a few impressions of what I have been up to the past two weeks. So, I would like to sum up some pictures and give you an update about what I have done and where I have been:
Since many of you asked me about my favorite restaurants in New York, I thought I´d do a quick post about my go-to-places in Manhattan.
I am never one to experiment much with restaurants and food. It is very important to me to know that if I am going to spend (a lot of) money in a restaurant, I will receive a delicious, tasty and healthy meal. So before we do any kind of trip, we always try to look for restaurants with good references and recommendations from blogs/magazines. By doing so, I have found some of the nicest and best places in this world and have never been disappointed by any of our choices.
Anyway, here´s my list with great restaurants in New York:
One of my absolute favorite spots and a must-see in New York is Dylan´s Candy Bar. If you’re looking for something sweet there is nowhere better than East 60th Street/corner of 3rd Avenue, right behind Bloomingdale’s. The owner, Dylan Lauren, is the daughter of legendary fashion designer, Ralph Lauren. Thus, she knows a thing or two about art and fashion and also carries some candy related clothing and accessories items. You could say that this place is basically an adults candy dream land on three floors (even though kids love it there, too!). Whatever sweets you want, they have it, and you can choose from over 3.000 different products!
Each time I visit the store I am literally overwhelmed and start to wonder around like I´m in trance … There are always so many new sweets to discover:
I have been waiting quite some time for this delicious drink to come to Germany. While most of my English readers may know the Green Matcha Latte from the USA, we had to wait until last week for it to arrive here. I simply love all things matcha (even the spooky colour!).
What about you?
I love Pizza! If it wasn´t for all these calories, I could literally eat Pizza everyday… But since I am always on a strict diet and may only eat Pizza every once in a while, I am glad that I found this wonderful recipe and would like to share it with you:
My list of favorite places in Paris:
1. L´Éclair de Genie
The name says it all: This wonderful pâtisserie specialises on éclairs only, and each piece is a little piece of art. Prices start at 5,- EUR and may be a little high, but every éclair is worth its money.
http://www.leclairdegenie.com
2. Grazie
A pizza parlour/bar in trendy district Le Marais. It’s design highly reselmbles those stylish bars in New York´s Meatpacking District, and I had some of the best pizzas of my life at this place. If you love italian pizza, salads and good drinks, this is the place for you. Prices are around 16,- EUR, and I highly recommend you try the drinks a the bar.
http://graziegrazie.fr
3. Breizh Café
If you love healthy food with a certain twist you should definitely try this place. Breizh Café is a new restaurant that offers a huge range of whole grain crêpes with every possible flavour and ingredient. Being a big salmon and ham fan, I tried two different crêpes and I was more than delighted. Starting at € 7,-, prices are very reasonable considering you´re eating in Paris. But remember, this place is packed, and if you arrive after 12 pm you may have to wait for over two hours!
4. Le Castiglione
Ever wanted to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous? If so, you have to check out this chic restaurant on Rue Saint-Honoré. Located on one of the world´s most expensive shopping miles, this place offers tasty food and is one of the go-to-spots during fashion week. It might one the pricier places in Paris, but the food is more than the delicious and if you get a spot on the first floor near a window, you can feel a bit like a celebrity yourself.
Some more of my favorite spots in Paris:
- Bar/Restaurant Le Fumoir http://lefumoir.com
- Hotelbar Costes (très chic!) http://www.hotelcostes.com
- Japanese Restaurant Hokkaido http://unlike.net/paris/food/hokkaido
- A very famous falafel restaurant which is a favorite among celebrities as Lenny Kravitz, Leonardo DiCaprio and more: L´Art du Falafel http://www.yelp.com/biz/l-as-du-fallafel-paris
One of my favorite destinations in Paris are the beautiful Cafés from french house Ladurée. Whenever I visit the city, my first stop is always one of the wonderful patisseries - there is just something about these colorful little macarons that immediately lifts my mood and fills my heart with joy.
Ladurée is known for its decadent sweets, particularly the double-decker macaron (reportedly they sell 15,000 of them every day). It is the most famous and popular macaron establishment in France, if not the world. Ernest Louis Laduree opened his first bakery in 1862 for the delight of his wife who dreamed for a place outside the home for women to gather for afternoon tea. With this entrepreneurial vision in mind, Laduree became France’s first tea parlour, catering mostly to the city’s bourgeois class. Laduree now has chains set in different European countries, Tokyo, Dubai and New York. I highly recommend you go there and taste these wonderful little creations yourself!
My favorite flavors “Rose” and “Fleur D´Oranger”:
We had tea and some lovely pastries:
When we had dinner at the restaurant on Champs Elysées, we opted for these mini burgers and a delicious club sandwich:
I bought this beautful candle as a souvenir :-)
Since I was quite busy the last two weeks, I haven´t really had time to post pics. Anyway, here are a few impressions from Christmas with my family - I hope you like them!
On Christmas Eve, I opted for a more relaxed and casual look and wore this outfit:
Stefanel Cashmere Dress (get the look for less here) | Zara Statement-Necklace (sold out, but this one is nice as well) | Overknee-Boots from Karen Millen (craving this pair)
We ate a delicious turkey:
My brother got me the best Christmas gift ever: The offical book for the movie “Drive”…
The next day we had a wonderful porkroast with crackling:
And even though I am not too fond of this year´s warm temperatures, at least we were able to have a delicious barbecue on Boxing Day. I love grilled salmon!
How did you spend the Christams days? Did you “have” to eat as much as me?
Being a big fan of homemade bakery, one of my favorite cookies are Macarons. They are light and fluffy, have an exotic taste (if made with coconut) and are very easy to make. While baking some macarons the other day, I decided to add a little pink touch to my macarons by colouring the cookie dough with food colour :-)
One of my absolute favorite places here in Cologne is “Royal Cupcakes“, a sweet little bakery in the heart of the city. Should you be visiting, I highly encourage you to check out this beautiful place for a little break in between shopping & sightseeing. Here are some impressions of today:
Good taste can be so simple: Gin, Basil, Lemon and Sugar. This weekend I want to recommend a special drink: The Gin Basil Smash.
The recipe:
- 6 cl Gin
- 2 cl Lemon Juice
- 6 – 8 Basil Leaves (I use up to 20 leaves, which creates a great taste and the drink gets the signature green look)
- 1 – 2 cl Simple Syrup (just mix 1 part sugar with 1 part water, boil for a few seconds and cool down in freezer)
Preparation:
Mix basil leaves with lemon juice and squeeze it with a muddler. Add all ingredients to a shaker, fill with ice cubes and shake for about 10 to 15 seconds. Double Strain into a Tumbler and garnish with lemon.
Being a big tea drinker, I am a fan of french brand KUSMI TEA: Best of its kind in ingredients and beautiful packaging design make it an instant favorite.
Buy through Kusmitea.com.
It was love at first sight: From the moment I saw a Pantone-Mug for the first time, my whole household has become a lot more lively and colourful. We bought everything “Pantone-y”, from boxes, pastel coloured pens and small USB drives to a whole range of Pantone-Mugs. This is how our little family of Pantone-Mugs looks like today:
And even though we really like each and every one of our mugs, we mostly use the same two colours: “Kirby”-Pink for me and Sunshine-Yellow for Chris :-)
Buy through Amazon.com.
Since I had some major muffin craving yesterday, I deciced to bake some sweet pink mufffins. They´re not only super delicius, but also in my favorite colour: Pink!
