[Europe] The Best Street for Shopping in Paris

Everybody knows, Paris is a heaven for shopaholic, especially if you are a fan of luxurious branded goods. Just say Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, these brands very popular among socialite, fashionista, even Hollywood celebrity. And those brands come from Paris.

In Paris, you can find these brands almost in every shopping places. Galeries Lafayette and Printemps  are the famous department store in Paris, and they also have these brands at their store. However, when you're shopping, you must be need a good place, with a good atmosphere. So you can enjoy choosing the stuff that you want. For sure, you will not find this atmosphere at the crowded place, which full of tourists.

Well, at this post, i will write about the best street in Paris, which have a nice atmosphere for shopping. I write this based on my experience, during my trip in Paris.

1. Rue Saint Honoré
I started my shopping time from this street, which located right after Place Vendome. It was the first time i felt like Parisian. Hopping from 1 store to another store.  I almost didn't see any tourists at this area. Many branded shops has their own store, such as Emporio Armani, Tom Ford, Jimmy Choo, Roberto Cavalli, and many more. Even they have more than 1 floor which means they have more collections that you can choose. At this street, you also can go to Chanel Cambon, the famous store for Chanel.

2. Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
Known as the largerst Hermes store location, this street become famous for Hermes lover. Even though this store has 3 floors, but it always full of people who wants to get the "Orange Box". This street still connected with Rue Saint Honoré. I could say, they at the same street. These streets only lined with the large intersection. FYI, from this intersection, you can see the beautiful L'église de La Madeleine.

Beside the Hermes store, you can find another high-end  brand at this street. Valentino, René Caovilla, Prada, Lanvin, you can find their store along this street. If you want to have more time to shopping here, i suggest you to stay at the hotel at this street. This area is really good for stay and really safe. You can walk out without worry about the pickpockets. I suggest you to stay at Buddha Bar Hotel or Hotel Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg (which located right in front of Hermes store) for luxurious stay. If you're looking for the cheaper option, you can stay at Hotel de Castiglione .

3. Avenue Montaigne
If you ask me what's the most luxurious street in Paris, i will say "Avenue Montaigne". Actually i never had a plan to go to this street. Even i didn't know about this street. But, while i was looking for Valentino Rockstud Heels at Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, and they didn't have the size that i wanted. The Sales Assistant told me that Valentino store at Avenue Montaigne have the size. So we decided to go there. Otherwise, he told me that the location it's not far. We could reach it by walking.

So here we are, at the big, quite, and the most luxurious street in Paris. Peoples walk fashionably, wearing the high-end brand on their body. Sometimes we also saw the luxury car passing by. Before we reached Valentino store, we passed the most famous and beautiful hotel in Paris, Hôtel Plaza Athénée . Call me crazy, but i have to tell you this hotel is totally amazing. The building is decorated beautifully, with the red flower in every window. It made me stopped for a while to take some pictures in front of this luxury hotel.

Avenue Montaigne is the right place to go for a luxury shopping. All stores in this street are very huge. It feels more private to shop here. They also gave us a good service. We really enjoy it. For sure, this street become my favorite place for shopping in Paris.

4. Champs-Élysées
Who doesn't know this street? Champs-Élysees is a famous street in Paris. With the big pedestrian street, you can walk along this street, and shopping from one store to another. Not just the high-end brand, you can shop for a mid-range brand in here, such as Morgan, Sephora, Abercrombie & Fitch, etc. 

Beside known as a shopping area, Champs-Élysées also famous for Lido show, Arc de Triomphe (the landmark of Paris), and various restaurants or cafe along the street. So, after shopping you can take a rest at one of restaurant / cafe, and enjoy the view of Arc de Triomphe. 

~ Well, what's your favorite street? ~

Le Soufflé, Rue du Mont Thabor - Paris

Are you looking for the best soufflé in Paris? Then you should go to the Le Soufflé. Located near the Place Vendôme, this restaurant serves the most delicious soufflé in Paris. No wonder you need to make reservation a few days before, especially if you have a big party in your group.

We're going to Le Soufflé for late lunch, around 2 pm after had a nice stroll at Cours-la-Reine. First time we entered the restaurant, we felt surprised because the place was really small. However, the interior is so beautiful, simple and chic. It makes a quite atmosphere and we like it.

They have a variety of menus to choose, and the waitress well explained to us about the food. We ordered a main course, and soufflé (of course!!). Unlike another restaurants who only serve sweet soufflé as a dessert, Le Soufflé also serves savory soufflé as appetizer and main course. I was curious about the taste of savory soufflé. That's the reason why I want to eat here.

Salade Verte de Saison (Green Salad) €7

Côtelettes Agneau (Lamb Chops)  €25

Even though the lamb chops has a small cut, but it tasted good. The meat was juicy and tender. I like to eat that especially with the sauce. Yummm.

Soufflé Henri IV Sauce Volaille aux Champignons €16

My choice for the savory soufflé was the cheese soufflé with sliced chicken and mushroom sauce. It was the first time i ate savory soufflé and i totally like it!!! Cheesy flavor inside the soufflé, mixed with the creamy mushroom sauce, that's a perfect combination. The sliced chicken also cooked perfectly. It's so tender and really match with the sauce. It's amazing...

Another recommend menu is Soufflé Pistachio with Chocolate sauce (€11) I ordered this soufflé as a dessert. It has a fluffy texture and the right consistency. When i ate that, it's just like melting inside my mouth. Pistachio flavor on the souffle (which not too strong), mixed with the chocolate sauce, it's a perfect combination. It's not too sweet as i was thinking before. Everything in this soufflé, make it become the best soufflé i ever ate.

I was really satisfied with all the foods they served. Just for infomation, their soufflé has a very big portion. If you're not in hungry mood, I strongly recommend you to order the soufflé for share. The price little bit too pricey, but it's all worth with the taste.

Le Soufflé
Address : 36 rue Mont Thabor , 75001 Paris
Phone : 01 42 60 27 19
Email : restaurant.lesouffle@gmail.com
Website : www.lesouffle.fr

Skin Care for Winter Trip

December, always be my favorite month. Christmas, continued with New Year Celebration, we will have a long holiday at this month. Usually, i didn't travel abroad at this season. Why? Because this is a peak season and everything will be more expensive. However, this time we will go to Japan for celebrate Christmas and New Year ^^

I haven't been to Japan before, so this is the first time for me. I searched about the weather in Japan in December, and find out that it will be cold in Japan. As an Indonesian, i never had an experience with the winter season because we don't have it here. So i find out about what to bring and what to use in winter, so we'll feel comfortable during our trip.

At this post, i will write about the skin care that you need for winter season. While the weather was cold, your skin will getting dry. It also happen with your lips. That's why, we need a "special" skin care to hydrate our skin, and i trust Laneige with its Water Bank series.

Laneige Water Bank series is a moisturizing line that delivers intensive moisture to dry and rough skin for a smooth and supple appearance. It contains mineral water for skin generation and Water Pump System for moisture circulation for safeguard skin moisture and hold it in to leaved the skin moisturized and smooth. It also contains chestnut extracts and seaweed extracts to enchance keratin turnover to fight roughness and energizes the skin for a smooth and healthy texture.

I bought the travel size of Laneige Water Bank series which called Water Bank Kit. This Water Bank Kit contains :
1. Laneige Water Bank Essence_EX (10 ml)
2. Laneige Water Bank Gel Cream_EX (10 ml)
3. Laneige Water Bank Moisture Cream_EX (10ml)
4. Laneige Water Bank Eye Gel (3ml)

However, since i have a dry skin type, i asked the Sales Assistant to change the Gel Cream with the Moisture Cream. So i have 2 Moisture Cream and i think it will be enough for 10 days trip ^^

Beside this basic skincare, i also bring Shea Butter from L'occitane. It's recommended from my friend who has been to Japan before. She told me it's really helpful to moisture the dry skin in winter. It also contains organic ingredients, so it can be used for kids. You can use this shea butter on your face, lips, and any part of your body. The price is IDR 167k for 10ml size, and i think it's worth with the quality of this product.

Well, that's all i bring for my winter trip in Japan. I hope it's enough for my skin, and it won't get crack. Anyway, if you have another recommendation product for winter, you can leave the comment below. 

New Hair Color for Winter 2015

Winter has come!! Not just make up, the hair color also need to be changed. If last summer i chose the bright color for my hair, at this season i changed it become more natural.

Actually i feel little bit bored with the ombre style on my hair. I want to change my hair color become darker and only in 1 color. However, when I was in the salon, I feel pity to change the color of my hair that has been bleached into a dark color. I needed a long time to repair my damaged hair after the bleach, just to get a beautiful hair color. Finally, I decided to keep it ombre, but use colors that are not too bright.

A few days ago, i went to Habb Hair Gallery, a Korean hair salon. Why did i choose this salon? Because i know that i could get the "unusual" color only at Korean / Japanese salon. As i live in Serpong, Habb Hair Gallery is the nearest salon from my home.

I asked Mr. Shin, the Korean hair stylist to color my hair. He showed me the choices of hair color that they have. (FYI, they use Amos brand for the hair color). I was interested with the pink color. As you know, my favorite color is pink ^^. However, i was hesitated if the pink color couldn't fit on my hair, because i only bleached my hair once. Mr. Shin told me it will be good on my hair, and i trust him.

He started from the top to the middle of my hair as the first step. I waited for about 15 minutes, and he asked the assistant to clean my hair and make it dry.

After it's dry, i could see my hair color turned into red. I really like it. It looks so different with my "old" hair color, and it makes my face become more fresh. The next step, he started to color the rest of my hair, from the middle to the bottom, with the pink color of course.

After the first step

To be honest, i was worried if the color was too bright and became a "hot pink". At the end, i found out the color's surprisingly adorable. It's not too bright at all. The color is really soft and looks natural. It's exactly what i wanted. Mr. Shin told me to do a hair manicure to get the perfect result and make my hair become glossy. However, i didn't have much time. So i will do it next time.

Outdoor

Indoor without light

Indoor with lights 

Extra story :
Anyway, i was going to the salon with Aurelia. While she was waiting for me, i asked Kevin, the Indonesian stylist to cut her hair. Overall i like her new hair cut. She looks more chubby. I was satisfied with the service at this salon. I will definitely come back again to do another treatment.

Habb Hair Gallery
Summarecon Mall Serpong, 1st floor - 226
Next to Centro Department Store
Opening hours : Mon - Sun : 10.00 - 22.00

[Europe] Les Invalides, Pont Alexander III, and Place de La Concorde

Actually, we wanted to spend this day only for shopping in Paris. However, we would pass these 3 places to go to the best shopping street in Paris. As a tourist, we didn't want to missed these beautiful places for a photo stop.

We started our trip from Les Invalides. Les Invalides is a complex of classic European style buildings. In this place, you can find the Napoleon Tomb, Church, and Museums. The beautiful design of these buildings, make this place become famous for tourists to take some pictures.

The next place is Pont Alexander III, one of the famous bridge which across the River Seine. It was located right in front of Les Invalides. We just across the street to go to this bridge. In addition to the location which close to Les Invalides, this bridge is also famous for its own charm. The golden statue, with the Eiffel Tower as the background. This bridge is perfect for a photo stop.

After across the bridge, we turned right to Cours-la-Reine. Cours-la-Reine is a public park and garden promenade located along the River Seine. Strolling along this garden is one of my favorite things to do in Paris. We're walking on this street for 700m, but we didn't feel tired at all. With a nice weather, and green scenery, this street is really good for afternoon strolling.

Eiffel Tower and Pont Alexander III seen from Cours-la-Reine

At the end of Cours-la-Reine, finally we reached our last spot for a photo stop. It's Place de La Concorde, a public square which famous for its fountain and Egyptian Obelisk.

Unfortunately, while we were there, the fountain was under maintenance. So we couldn't get closer to take a picture of the fountain. FYI, Place de La Concorde is located next to the Tuileries. If you have more time, you can continue your trip to go to the Tuileries Garden, and enjoy your afternoon..