My Paris Trip—and Recommendations!
All the restaurants we ate at, my Hermès appointment, croissant-ent and more
Day 1: Sunday
We arrived at 9:30 AM and were so excited to have the entire day in Paris. We went straight to our hotel, The Peninsula Paris, and WOW was the welcome special. There were monogrammed Peninsula bears for the girls, treats galore, and they definitely did their research about J and I and our businesses, because DRD and The Neighborhood had spotlights on the table. I love that The Peninsula always takes care of making the kids feel special! Slippers, robes, and all the fun bath products. The girls were in heaven.
(Click below for a peek!)
We immediately unpacked and headed out to explore. (Jet lag? Never heard of her.) The hotel is close to the Arc de Triomphe, so we walked over to see this stunning monument first thing. On my last trip to Paris, I stayed in Place Vendôme so this was a new location for me—but Arc De Triomphe plus Champs-Élysée? Yes, please!!
We knew we needed to immediately take the girls to the Eiffel Tower because this was the one thing they were most excited to see. I have to say, walking the Seine was a real “pinch me” moment. Walking the Seine with my family while seeing the Eiffel Tower come into view was really special. We took a few pics—and of course enjoyed watching all of the influencers take their photos—and laughed our way to lunch about all the posing and fun that was happening in the spot we visited.
For lunch, we went to Gigi. A total French scene—we loved it. It wasn’t warm enough to sit outside, but we loved seeing the Eiffel Tower from the restaurant. It was the best afternoon with live music, delicious food, seeing incredible outfits and people watching!
We started to crash at the end of lunch, so we headed back to the hotel for a little nap. I have never heard of an Alaskan king bed but let me tell you… I think we need a new bed. Our bed was the largest bed I have ever seen in my life. The four of us took a nap together and no one was smushed. Obviously, a little jet lagged (I lied earlier about not knowing her) but we rallied. I’ve been really trying to re-wear my clothes in different ways, and I love this dress I bought and wore in Palm Beach. To make it feel new for this trip I threw over a J.Crew sweater to make it feel like a skirt. Voila!
Our first night’s dinner was at Huguette in Saint Germaine. I loved getting out of the Uber and seeing how alive Saint Germaine was. If we hadn’t been tired and hungry, we would have explored before or after dinner—so, note for next time.
Day 2: Monday
We had an early day planned for Day 2 because we were supposed to arrive Saturday and hopefully would have been adjusted to the time difference buuut OH WELL. We had the best room service and kicked off our croissant-ent with The Peninsula croissant. (For context: In Oct. 2022, when I came to Paris with J, I was taste testing so many croissants that I called myself a croissant influencer and my usual social media content became croissant-ent. The girls were very excited for Paris 2025 croissant-ent.)
Next: the Louvre! We met our guide and he presented the girls with a fabulous book for a scavenger hunt. (Did you know they do this? They were so engaged the entire time!) The end of the scavenger hunt is by the Mona Lisa and the girls found two treasures hidden under a bench with cute little tchotchkes for them.
Our guide, Benjamin, was fantastic and curiously asked what we were doing for the rest of the day. We told him we wanted to visit L’As du Fallafel in Le Marais and apparently, he’s the guy for that! As a French Jew, he gives a lot of Jewish tours in Paris. The girls loved going on the metro and Benjamin showed us where all the Jewish-owned businesses are in Le Marais. We visited a Jewish bakery and had, sadly, our least favorite croissant and then got a tour inside a synagogue that was quite hidden. Jonathan got to wrap tefillin which felt really special. As a kid, my dad went to a Sephardic synagogue and I knew he would have appreciated that we visited a synagogue that looked a lot like the places he used to pray at.
Because of Benjamin we got an incredible table at L’As du Fallafel and WOW was this place incredible. We got there at 12:00 and by 12:01 the place was SLAMMED. The staff was so kind and accommodating, and I have never tasted such incredible falafel in my life. I will be thinking about this place for a lifetime and cannot wait to go back! Afterward, we (of course) had to have a pain au chocolate at Yann Couvreur and holy shit, I had no idea this would probably be one of the best croissants we had. I was blown away—it’s def on the top of my list!
We were on our way to surprise the girls with a trip to the Jellycat Patisserie in Galeries Lafayette when I realized the street looked familiar, and I mentioned to J that I thought Cédric Grolet’s bakery was nearby. Lo and behold, one minute later we drove by and saw Cedric’s head in the window. We immediately pulled over and realized he was filming content with his team (on an iPhone, which surprised me!) in the bakery while it was closed. For the last three years I have watched his videos in awe; the talent, the timing, the transitions are all perfect.
After standing there for about 15 minutes (with several dozen others), I told the girls he usually comes outside at the end of his videos, but I had no idea when that would be or if it would happen. WELL IT HAPPENED. He came outside with the hazelnut filling he had just made and piped it onto our hands—Lulu was the first outside the door! I cannot wait ‘til we make a debut in his video.
On a high after this, we headed to the Jellycat Patisserie. We were prepared for a long wait, but luckily the line wasn’t more than 10 minutes. Both girls wanted to get a French exclusive, so they went with a macaron and a brioche. The staff at the cafe deserves an Oscar—they are funny, silly and so sweet with the kids. Our guy was a hoot. (I have videos on my TikTok.) The best part of the day was how many times the girls said “Wow, today was so amazing.”
The day wasn’t over, so we decided to take a tour inside the Eiffel Tower. I had never been inside, and Jonathan told me we were climbing, so I came with my sneakers and my anxiety. Spoiler: we did not climb at all. We took the elevator to the 2nd floor platform and then we were able to explore all over. We opted out of going to the top top, but maybe we would do that next time. The view was still stunning! You know Jonathan is very outdoorsy and adventurous and he wanted to climb stairs, but our only option was down. (Sorry, Jonathan.)
Across the street, dozens of men were staging professional Instagram photos with red balloons. You know I’m a sucker for good content, so I handed them 10 euros and said, “Work your magic.” The pics turned out so cute and I know so many of you want to do this when you visit. I promise you will not miss these guys. They are everywhere!
Dinner was at Diep—my best friend, Ally, RAVES about it, so we gave it a try and it did not disappoint. My TikTok For You Page was covered in French dessert spots and we really wanted to try Chez Janou and their famous chocolate mousse. Turns out the entire city also saw the same TikToks as me because the line was insane. We almost didn’t get out of our Uber because of it but YOLO, we are in Paris and we could wait.
Friendly heads up: they don’t seat tables only for dessert but the guy working the line recommended their sister restaurant a block away that had the same dessert, so off we went to Le Petit Italien. The mousse was heavenly and the only person in our family who is deeply obsessed with chocolate is Lu. Poppy went to bed saying we only had three croissants and we needed to pick up the pace on croissant-ent. I thought 3 was plenty!
Day 3: Tuesday
We left a looser schedule for Day 3 which was perfect because we were excited to explore, eat and shop. Jonathan and I loved this coffee shop called KB Coffee Roasters in South Pigalle and the neighborhood shops around it. The street is called Rue Des Martyrs and every shop is cuter than the next. My MOST favorite croissant is in this neighborhood at Le Pain Retrouvé. I have easily sent 20-25 people to this bakery and every person who visits agrees that it is incredible. In record time, we downed almond croissants at Le Pain Retrouvé followed by pistachio cookies at Laura Todd. (One of the best bites I’ve ever had. I’d write a haiku about her for sure.)
We did a little bit of shopping while J sat inside L’Avenue for a some rosé. We joined him afterward and had a little app before buying Lulu a beret she has been begging for. She opted for bright pink and let me tell you, PARIS LU WAS ACTIVATED. I hope she never takes it off because she is so cute in this beret.
I learned via TikTok that Louis Vuitton will hot stamp your passport case with a special stamp for the city you are in. I didn’t really believe it, so we went to LV and I dropped off my case which they turned around in 24 hours with an Eiffel Tower LV stamp. It’s so cute and I cannot wait to add more.
Lunch was at Le Petit Lutetia. I know you’re thinking, “Wait, they had croissants, cookies and an app at L’Avenue so now lunch?” Yes, now lunch. The staff was so kind and accommodating and this felt like a meal I will never forget. Very French, very Paris and I will make sure that I come back every time I go to Paris because I loved it that much. After we went by Le Bon Marché to show the girls how beautiful the store is and then I ditched the family for an Hermès leather appointment. The hotel was kind enough to help me with this appointment, which I think surprises everyone who asks. I did not sit online requesting an appointment for hours every night like TikTok tells you to do! The hotel was so kind in helping me secure this appointment. Anyway, I was offered three beautiful bags and I did not take any of them. I am sure you all want more details so maybe I’ll write a separate post about this experience! LMK!
I loved spending the afternoon exploring by myself and relishing in a little alone time while the family napped. On our last trip we went to Balagan but their group closed Balagan and re-opened under a new name—Kapara. We love a female chef, so we were excited to head back. The dining room is always lively and fun and we loooove their cocktails. I know I’ve been preaching out wearing color and this trip I was not very colorful at night, but it feels very French to dress in black and I have been excited to try this coverup as a dress. I love the way it looked. Everyone went crazy over the girls dresses! Lu was in a bubble dress and P was in a denim dress, both by Katie J.
My girls love packing and making outfits just like me, so getting our ‘fits ready for Paris was a core memory I won’t forget. We took an Uber home five minutes before 11:00 PM and our amazing driver took us to the best spot to watch the Eiffel Tower light up while driving. It was so special watching the girls look out the window in awe. I will remember that moment for the rest of my life. He even pulled over to a cute little side street to take pics—he knew we were the ultimate tourists.
Day 4: Wednesday
This was a morning for the girls! I knew I wanted to do a something hands-on with P and L. At first, I was thinking a croissant making class because we are clearly croissant obsessed but then my friend, Julia (the founder of Danrie), told me about this place she took her daughter to make handbags. I was SO excited because this is right up our alley.
We went to MiniMe Paris for their 9 AM workshop. I’ll be honest, their website is difficult to understand and despite having done it with a French person, it booked us on the wrong day. Luckily the other family who came for the class had the same issue, so they quickly made a class for us even though they didn’t think they had anyone coming. We loved every part of this experience. Picking the fabric was so fun (but I can imagine daunting for a lot of people because making decisions is hard). Luckily P and L were quick. The tweed comes from the same factory as Chanel’s tweed and you could totally tell! It was luxe and beautiful. We did iron, sewing, trimming, and helped with all the hardware, then the masters helped construct the bags to perfection.
The entire process took us three hours. I could see this taking some people way longer, but the Gordons were quick. I didn’t make one but the girls’ turned out so adorable and they will cherish them as a memory from Paris. I will note it is not an inexpensive activity. It can quickly add up, but they do break it down for you so pay attention.
How did we reward ourselves after? With a croissant from Bo & Mie. We had skipped breakfast, so it felt like we were winning. Turns out J got us a croissant from Eric Kayser on his walk to meet us, so we had two taste test. Bo & Mie was average while Eric Kayser was INCREDIBLE. Top my list for sure! Then we went straight to lunch. (Yes, seriously.)
Miznon has always been on our list of restaurants and we loved a quick casual spot.
EVERYONE in line was talking about the boeuf bourguignon pita so we got it and the hype was well deserved. The girls couldn’t stop laughing at how much food we had eaten and how much it felt like we were going meal to meal and honestly, they weren’t wrong. We committed to a 15,000-step day so while we ate a lot, we also walked a lot. While we were walking I Googled famous spots in the neighborhood and suddenly we spotted a crazy line and decided we should get in it. Turns out this was a line for the famous Paris CROOKIE (croissant cookie). We couldn’t stop laughing because the odds were too funny. Maison Louvard could not have been more on the right path if it tried. This was the most insane bite ever. We fought over our bites and it was beyond indulgent and yummy.
Afterwards we cruised guitar street in Pigalle (Lulu has been very into guitar lately), then—destined to hit our step count—we decided to walk all the way to the Dior Exhibit. This museum is so well done, so well curated and overall a must see in Paris. It was stunning and entertaining for the girls, too. We had a little coffee in the cafe thinking it would be a more unique experience, but TBH I’d pass next time. After some more exploring, we ended our day at like 7 miles and 17,000 steps. SO impressed. Our last dinner was at Pink Mamma. Very Instagrammable, very yummy and overall a fun vibe. They have lots of restaurants in Paris and are now more global. I hope they come to Chicago! We went to Bachir afterwards for a yummy ice cream dipped in pistachios. Fell a little flat for me but you can’t win all the desserts, even though I wish you could.
I have to say, this trip was a dream. I am still on a high from the fun. Getting to see my girls fall in love with a city was so unique. We adventured last year in Iceland which was beyond my wildest dreams and truly a cool experience, but Paris was magic. I cannot wait to take them back!
xx Dana
We were told because of all the hype on tik tok they will only stamp once ! And Lu and the beret the cutest ever !