Paris has been in the media a lot lately. Not about it charms or the lifestyle culture, but about terrorist attacks and most recently: the flood. The news was unnerving, but after weighted in the pluses and the minuses, we decided to go on with the trip. Travel is inherently risky, even in the best circumstances; but also immensely rewarding.
Our first stop was the South of France. We stayed seven nights in the French Riviera, visiting the country sides, the chateaus, the French’s Alps, and enjoyed some of the best food of Southern French. We then took the train to Paris for our last leg of the summer trip.We split our stay between InterContinental Paris Le Grand and Westin Vendôme.
Reaching Paris at Gare de Lyon, the weather was humid, but not raining. There were no signs of flood or anything resembling a trauma city seen from TV footages. Due to the traffic, our Uber (get $10 credit here) driver took a detour and drove us along the river Seine. Nothing on the streets showed any sight damages of the recent flood. However, we did see the water level on the river is high near the edge of the river bank in some areas.
Location
InterContinental Paris Le Grand located at a busy intersection and golden triangle of Paris, facing Rue Scribe as the longest side of a right triangle; Rue Auber, and Boulevard des Capucines on each side of the city block connecting by Place de l’Opera. Most convenient for travelers like myself, the Opera Metro Station is also right across from Place de l’Opera. Like other hotels we chose in Paris, InterContinental Paris Le Grand is within walking distance to many landmarks around Paris: across from the hotel on Rue Auber is the grandeur and beautiful Palais Garnier opera house; two blocks from it is Galeries Lafayette, the flagship French department store. The hotel is a short walk to designer shopping paradise on Rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, which includes designers such as Hermès, Christian Louboutin, Prada, Gucci, and Valentino. The original Chanel store on Rue Cambon is only two blocks away.
During the day, Palace Garnier is busy with musicians singing and playing musical instruments to entertain tourists; people taking pictures, peddlers and vendors selling their wares. These are my favorite scenes to watch from the hotel’s Café de la Paix.
InterContinental Paris Le Grand Junior Suite
We got a Junior Suite in the Capucines wing on the 2nd floor. The hotel is so large with many twists and turns to get to the room. We would have lost if not for the host who escorted us after we checked in. Even so, it took us about a day to familiarize and navigate. Our room is spacious, overlooking the leafy Capucines Boulevard.
There are plenty of storage; much more and larger than most hotels we had stayed in Paris.
Junior Suite Bed
The suite is large with high ceiling, a bathroom with tub and shower.
The toilet is not inside the bathroom but on the other side of the room, near the door. A little inconvenience, but it wasn’t a big deal for us since it is roomy. The bathroom has a large French window with quirky details and elegant draperies giving the soft natural lighting in the room. This touch is rare for a hotel room.
Amenities found in the bathroom include a pair of fluffy white comfortable bathrobes, slippers, weight scale, hair dryer, and an assortment of luxury toiletries.
Since it was our anniversary, the hotel delivered beautiful mini cakes, fruits, juices, and a bottle of champagne to our room. It was a very elegant touch to help us celebrate. We enjoyed the champagne with our friends who we met up in Paris.
The whole team at InterContinental Paris Le Grand did an excellent job to make us feel welcome and a stay to remember.
We felt at home in traditional Parisian furnishing decor.
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