Old EU capital 2 hours on train from UK is new coolest place for a city break – thanks to hit Netflix show & festival
MY friend and I are lounging by the pool at the Hotel Molitor when a message comes through from her mum: “Are you at the Emily In Paris hotel?”
All she’d done was share a snap of the lido on her Instagram, with zero mention of the Netflix comedy drama that stars a US twentysomething living her best life in the French capital.
The Parisians might loathe the series but the rest of us love it — it’s one of the streaming giant’s most popular.
In fact, it’s one of the reasons we decided to book ourselves into the five-star hotel to the west of the city, which had a starring role in season three as Emily spent the afternoon sipping drinks by the pool.
It’s hardly in the centre of the action — the Molitor is in the fashionable 16th arrondissement, about 25 minutes on the Metro to the Eiffel Tower — but as a result, it’s a peaceful haven.
The rooms are small but stylish with large, space-age beds, Clinique toiletries and floor-length windows that look out over the huge art-deco outdoor pool.
Hotel guests lounge in Molitor-branded deckchairs and bathrobes poolside, making you feel simultaneously in and out of Paris — this was, after all, where the bikini was first introduced to the world in 1946.
Paris has always been the fashion capital of the world but, when it comes to fun, the city had felt like in recent years like it was losing its mojo.
Millennials looking for city breaks opted for cool Berlin, fun Amsterdam or chic Copenhagen, while Paris was considered better for rich oldies, with its brasseries, pricey department stores and museums.
We were seated next to the DJ decks and served Michelin-quality gourmet food but without the fuss
But it’s now back in vogue, experiencing a a renaissance.
Yes, that is in part because the spotlight is back on Paris, thanks to the recent 2024 Olympics, and Emily In Paris, but it’s also because young Paris has found its voice.
Places like the 11th and 18th arrondissements — the cool, Shoreditch-like parts of the city — are packed with restaurants and bars that have a distinctly Parisian edge but without the old-school fustiness.
Try Pantobaguette, for instance, the hip little eaterie that fuses French and Japanese cuisine.
We were seated next to the DJ decks and served Michelin-quality gourmet food but without the fuss.
We dined on ajitsuke eggs with wasabi mayo, aubergine with white peaches and anchovies with smoked butter to a background of Nineties hip-hop.
Or how about Folderol, selling only gelato and natural wine, where locals sip their evening aperitif while lounging on the kerb.
Oysters and wine
When we’d finished our ice creams, we headed to Bambino, a chic restaurant-cocktail bar where records line the walls and you can enjoy a terrace view of the Eiffel Tower.
Nobody does casual sipping like the French — they’ve turned it into an art form.
In Paris, the cool younger bars we went to were all serving affordable but great wine by the small glass, often out of a pump.
Back at a small neighbourhood bistro in the 18th arrondissement, we joined the locals for an early-evening pitstop at the stripped-back La Trincante, where they had a deal of six oysters and a glass of white wine for €14.
Add to that one extra glass of wine for my friend, and the free basket of bread you get in every French restaurant, and our bill came to less than €10 each.
The city’s flea markets are legendary, especially the Marche aux Puces de Saint-Ouen, which features in the new series of Emily In Paris
Equally astonishing prices could be found at one of Paris’s best flea markets, Marche aux Puces de la Porte de Vanves.
The city’s flea markets are legendary, especially the Marche aux Puces de Saint-Ouen, which features in the new series of Emily In Paris.
But we headed to the 14th arrondissement for a market that’s mainly frequented by cool locals, and browsed jewellery, furniture and handbags.
The prices — maybe 25 euros for a painting, five for a broach — were impossible to resist.
Equally classy were the Parisians who we met at Rock en Seine, a day festival in the west of the city, who in the midst of the main-stage crowd were sipping their afford-able rosé out of dainty plastic wine glasses .
It really was a very cool crowd, who had assembled to see Fred Again, one of the most exciting artists to emerge from the British dance scene in years, play a headline set.
Among other huge stars were Lana del Rey and LCD Soundsystem. Aside from the Reading and Leeds Festivals, he is doing zero UK gigs this year — but is gracing Parisians with his presence. Clearly, Fred knows the city is where it’s at.
I’ve been to a lot of festivals but this one must be the friendliest I’ve attended — forget the French reputation for snootiness, by the end we were on first-name terms with everyone within ten metres.
In fact, we even bumped into some of our new friends at the Eurostar station the following day, on our return to London.
It seemed a fair number of festival-goers had the same idea as us, to head over for Fred Again’s set and spend a couple of days exploring the city.
And why not, because swapping a short-haul flight for a two-hour train journey makes all the difference when on a weekend break.
We arrived in Paris feeling fresh and pulled back into King’s Cross St Pancras feeling, frankly, very well rested.
GO: PARIS
GETTING THERE: London to Paris Eurostar fares start from £39pp and kids under four travel free. See eurostar.com.
STAYING THERE: Double rooms at Hotel Molitor cost from around £280 per night, on a bed and breakfast basis. See all.accor.com.
OUT & ABOUT: Tickets to Rock En Seine typically go on sale in December and cost from £63. See rockenseine.com.