In Paris: Stay at Shangri-La, Brunch at Angelina, Shopping and Gardens | SIMPLY SLOW TRAVELER

Welcome to a new vlog from my trip to Paris earlier this year. I am excited to show you my stay at a beautiful hotel with views to the Eiffel Tower and to take you to more of my favorite places in Paris. We started with a slow morning walk around Jardin des Tuileries and then went for a brunch at Angelina in Rue de Rivoli, an absolute classic Parisian tea salon and patisserie, and one I always love to go back to. They do not take reservations, so after waiting for a bit in line, we sat and ordered a brunch menu with hot chocolate and tea and plenty of delicious pastries and complemented it with a few other goodies. The room is beautifully decorated in a belle époque style with luxurious interior architecture and it is very easy to spend a good couple of hours admiring the beauty of the space while enjoying delicious and comforting food. We then went across the city to the Jardin des Plantes, which in early April puts on the most vibrant show of color. The stars of the show are the cherry trees in full bloom right at the center of the garden, spreading their lush branches out and creating an amazing scenario for contemplation and for taking photos. While the best time to get the cherry trees in full bloom is early April, the exact best week can vary depending on the weather conditions in the months ahead. Nonetheless, you are likely to find the whole garden very flowery at this time of the year, and a visit here is a perfect way to spend a good hour or two enjoying the early spring sun and admiring the beauty of the garden. Next up, we crossed the Seine and leisurely walked towards the Marais neighborhood. Upon crossing the courtyard of Hôtel de Sully and going through a small passageway, we arrive at iconic Place des Vosges, the first Parisian royal square, surrounded by beautiful red brick residential buildings which have always been very coveted by some of the most important figures in Paris. Most notably, Victor Hugo, at his residence at number 6, now a museum with his personal belongings, manuscripts, drawings and many other personal objects. We then went around exploring Les Marais, and I first stopped at one of the stores of Officine Universelle Bully, selling a wide range of perfumes and skincare products. Their traditional-looking stores are a wonderful time machine, and the care that they put into personalizing your purchases is absolutely mesmerizing. Very quickly, the spring weather changed, and we sought shelter from the light showers in the beautiful and very tempting store à la Mer de Famille. This is a perfect opportunity to find some delicious chocolate to bring back home and share with your friends and family. As the rain changed our plans, we chose to spend some indoor time at Musée de l'Orangerie, back in the Jardin des Tuileries. Its most notable works are 8 murals by Monet, with its famous water lily scenes displayed in two oval rooms. You can also admire paintings by other impressionist and post-impressionist painters, such as Cézanne and Matisse. After that, we checked into our bedroom with a view of the Eiffel Tower at the Hotel Shangri-La. Besides the view, we had a few delicious treats waiting for us, as well as a couple small gifts and a warm welcoming letter. Once we were fully settled in, we were kindly taken on a tour of this hotel, which was built as an Hotel Particulier by Prince Roland Bonaparte, to house his herbarium, the biggest in the world at the time. The grandiosity of the rooms and halls is nothing short of breathtaking, and all the luxurious details are perfectly preserved all throughout the hotel. We also had the chance to visit a few of their beautiful accommodations, such as this duplex suite with floor-to-ceiling windows and a perfect blend of modern and classic style. But the star of the show was definitely Prince Roland's apartment, originally his home residence, with a grand living room with 15 feet high ceilings, fireplace, dining area, an office and period artwork and decor that takes you back almost 200 years. The overall fineness of detail and style can hardly be matched by any other suite around the world. Back to our room, the skies had cleared and the late afternoon sunlight was shining beautifully off Eiffel Tower and over the Parisian roofs. I decided to prepare myself a bath with views and just relax for a while before dinner time. We were a bit undecisive as whether to go out for dinner and we ended up staying in and ordering a light meal up to the bedroom, so we could have our own private dinner with views, a perfect way to end another day in Paris. You know you can't get enough of these views when you have another meal in the room just not to miss a second of this postcard. Fortunately, we woke up to blue skies and took our time enjoying this generous Parisian breakfast. As the skies turned once again grey, we went out exploring the area around the Eiffel Tower and the beautiful views of it from the neighborhood surrounding it on both sides of the Seine. Later on, we headed to Musée Bourdel near Montparnasse, a free admission museum in the old studio of Antoine Bourdel, one of the most influential French sculptures of the turn of the 20th century, containing many of his works and studies, as well as statues from his own private collection. Afterwards, and on our way to our next destination, we made a pit stop at the Morayoshida pastry shop to grab some sweet desserts and then went enjoying them sitting at the garden of Musée Rodin. When we got there, a light drizzle poured from the skies, but we persevered and soon after the sun started shining again and we could enjoy our sweet treat in a beautiful and quiet setting. To end the afternoon, we went towards Saint-Germain and after wandering around its streets for a while, I decided to enter the store of Ali Derini with beautiful home decorations and ceramics, something I always fall in love with. Finally, we went for a walk along the Seine, first passing by the picturesque square Gabriel-Pierre-Nez with its beautifully blossoming cherry trees and we couldn't help but stop for a few pictures. After a very erratic weather, the day finally settled on a bit of sunshine for the sunset hours and people certainly made a point to enjoy it along the river. On our part, we went slowly walking downstream towards Eiffel Tower and marveling at the beautiful color that painted the sky and that perfectly matched the tones of Paris. Thank you for joining me on a couple more days in Paris. I still have a few more videos coming up of this most beautiful city, so don't forget to subscribe to not miss one.