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Paris Trip and Mini Haul : Bank Holiday Weekend Aug 2013

To celebrate a special birthday in my family, me parents, my sister Cynthy (@beautyorbread) and I went to Paris for the long bank holiday weekend.

Here is my small trip in Instagrammies:




We arrived on Saturday around noon time. This is not my 1st time to Paris, but O-M-G! There was the Saturday market outside Gard de Nord. It was super crazy busy, and I thought to myself "did I get off at the right station?! Is this Paris?!"

We whisked through the usual sightseeing spots. They were still breathtakingly beautiful architectures - only from a distance. No need to go any closer as the scenery would be spoilt by the over-crowded tourists.


My most wanted places to visit for this trip.

The Shakespeare and Company Bookshop - what a little old bookshop! Unfortunately no cameras allowed inside, so you will have to come and see for yourself!

Pont de l'Archevêché - the Love Padlocks Bridge - this bridge is right outside Notre Dame. This bridge appeared in one of the Hong Kong drama series "Triumph in the Sky II", so it went straight to the top of my most-wanted-to-visit list.


No women (let alone be a beauty blogger)can go to Paris without doing some shopping!! I didn't buy much at all.

In Sephora, I bought an "I love Paris" palette, as I bought an "I love NY" one from Sephora in New York. Also a Sephora's no. 76 angled Kabuki face brush for foundation. The bristle feels soft, I have high hopes in this! Oh, and I have also finally joined the Sephora club, starting off with a white loyalty card. (What a excuse to make more trips back to Paris!)

The hotel that we were staying was in La Defense. La Defense had a huge shopping mall called "Les Quatre Temps" (very similar to Westfields in the UK, with lots of shops, food court and restaurants inside). I walked past Yve Rocher (similar to Body Shop where they sell their own brand bath & body stuff and make up products), they had a sale going on! And most items were half price! So I picked up this very cute set of Cranberry Soothing mask and a handbag size bottle of face mist in Grapefruit. Same as Body Shop products, these smell amazing! The only problem is the spray top of my face mist doesn't produce a mist, it squirts the liquid out. I don't know if I picked up a dodgy one or what, I need to replace it with a new mist top, or I would have to decant the liquid into another bottle. A bit annoying!

The metro station that closest to my hotel is Esplanade de la Defense. It was inside the station we found the most exciting shop! It was just a little accessories shop called Reserve Naturelle inside the station, next to a newsagent. A small shop that sells makeup (a brand very similar to Kiko), jewelleries, scarfs, and a few handbags. But we spent most of our money in this shop! My mum bought two scarfs and a pair of sunglasses. My sister got a few pieces of jewelleries. I bought a new handbag (perfect size for work), a necklace and a cute bow bangle. We were pushed for time, but otherwise we could have bought loads more from this shop! It goes to show that we don't always need to go to malls or branded shopping avenues to get good stuffs, it is often an unexpected small shop in local area that do the best stuff!

So that is my small Paris trip. What did you do at your Bank Holiday weekend?



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