Eurostar: Little Break, big difference- Paris!

Okay, so pretty much I haven't ever won anything in my life, a colouring-in competition and a meat tray excepted (actually, I don't even think I won the meat tray- I think my friend Jen claimed the win and gave me a couple of sausages as compensation!). So when I got an email from a communications agency asking if I would like to join a group of fashion bloggers from London on a "Little Fashion Break to Paris" with Eurostar I thought all my Christmases, Easters, birthdays, anniversaries had come at once. Within 5 minutes of the email, my passport was packed, my euros were pocketed and I was firing off emails and texts to my friends in excitement: "Soooo, I'm off to Paris for the day next week" "Seriously, VJ?" "Yep, that's just how I roll these days: London one day, Paris the next ;-)"

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I adore Paris, so the opportunity to head over for the day to do some shopping, some eating, a little (lot) of champagne tasting and maybe take a few photos sounded brilliant. And it was. Despite those "first day of school nerves" that always seem to surface when one is plonked into a group situation with new people, and despite the 4am wake up call most of us had, everyone was soon chatting and giggling, talking blogs, fashion, design, art, study, work and everything else in-between.

So what did we get up to in Paris? There was shopping for some (which kicked off at Colette), while others ran around madly trying to find stylish Parisians to shoot for their blog (okay, that was maybe just me :)), lunch at B4 restaurant (with champagne), a visit to the Les Arts Décoratifs to see the Madeleine Vionnet exhibition , a cruise down the Seine with a tasting of 3 different champagnes, followed by a 9pm-ish journey home on the Eurostar (with more champagne!)

For me, one of the highlights of the day was getting to meet Marion Cointot over lunch. Marion is a talented fashion designer and stylist, who recently won the Concours de Style award. She presented some of her beautiful designs while we sipped champagne*, talked us through her career so far and allowed me to take some photos of her after lunch. You can read more about Marion here.

So was the day long enough? Hell no! Of course, I wanted to stay longer BUT I will always want to stay longer in Paris, no matter how much time I spend there. As I said to Sandrine, one of the organisers, it was an amuse-bouche: a little taste of Paris to whet the appetite, excite the taste buds, and limber up the senses for future visits.

If you are keen for your own taste of Paris, you can get Eurostar return journeys for only £59 at the moment. Click here for the "Little Break, Big Difference" deals.

*oh yeah, do I LOVE champagne!