Why Not Just Up & Visit Paris By Yourself This Weekend?

Life in New York is great and all, but there's really no excuse not to just pack up and run off to Paris for a few days of unaccompanied relaxation... don't you agree?

First, even if you're only off to Paris for a long weekend, splitting your trip between hotels is a wonderful way to feel you've experienced more of the city. And when it comes to location, the 6th arrondissement is a most charming, central answer. 

Start off your trip with a stay at Hôtel Des Grands Voyageurs tucked away on a most wonderfully quiet street in the Saint-Placide quarter. The brand new hotel's halls are smartly styled in a blend of old world European quiet luxury and a mid-century sleek shine by designer Fabrizio Casiraghi. The open flow ground floor serves as lobby, bar and restaurant - an easy jumping off point, following a parade around the breakfast buffet, of course, and a welcome landing pad for a late night drink after a day of wandering about. 

You'll no doubt find any of the 138 rooms an inviting temporary residence, each a thoughtfully modern ode to the city's quintessential aesthetic cornerstones, with elegantly arched windows, fluted crown molding mirrored in pleated bed skirts, framed plaster reliefs hung at the center, pulling it all together.

Following a few days of solitude and adjusting to the time change, your second sojourn post is just a far enough stone's throw over in the Latin Quarter. Situated in a more lively slice of the 6th, Hôtel Dame des Arts is all about the views. 

From the stunning rooftop - where guests can grab cocktails and drink up a 360-degree view of the city, including a remarkable down-the-line shot of the Eiffel Tower - to the quintessentially Parisian scene outside each of the guest room's floor to ceiling windows (definitely snag a Terrace Room, which features a private balcony that's just begging you to start and end your day on), it's no doubt this place is in demand.

Once you've reset your sights from the cityscape back onto the hotel you'll find a stylish sunken restaurant beyond the lobby, which leads to a secret garden courtyard that's a pleasure to enjoy no matter the season, and a fitness studio and sauna inspiring enough to actually consider using.

With where to stay settled, the question of what to do during your time should prove a very relaxing task. So long as your days are fueled by a wandering eye and a loose schedule, you'll find yourself pulled into the Parisian pace.

On the art front, save the bigger institutions for a longer trip. After all, if someone had just under a week in New York, would you really tell them to go spend a day standing on lines, herded into crowds at The Met? Paris's grand museums are of course must-hits, at some point, but when you've a handful of days, best focus your time on smaller gems. The Musée du Luxembourg is perched just on the edge of the Luxembourg Gardens, and makes for the perfect post-park stroll destination. They've always some slightly niche and fascinating show on display. For a classic Parisian art experience there's The Musée Picasso-Paris is just over in Le Marais, a grand 17th-century home that now houses over 5,000 works by the abstract artist - though really it's a swift stop so don't let that number bog you down.

Lunching is an art best practiced solo in The City of Lights. Being a table of one will serve you well in moving quickly through the ever-lengthening line of hopeful diners waiting to be seated at Café de Flore. While a table outside is of course most iconic, it's the interior dining room that feels the most authentic. Bread, eggs, hot chocolate - all things that taste infinitely better in this storied historic haunt of Paris's most exciting writers, artists and thinkers.

Not in the mood to deal with the scene? For a more elevated, beyond divine afternoon affair, the answer must be Le Voltaire. Sat along the Seine, the wood-paneled, white-tableclothed establishment is a study in effortless sophistication. A grapefruit and avocado salad, a silver dish of fries - a lunch so simple, so perfect, you'll find yourself returning for more.

While Paris is best enjoyed sans strict plans, it doesn't hurt to have a few stops in mind on your strolls. Hitting up Officine Universelle Buly is non-negotiable, a cult favorite beauty brand founded in 1803 whose scrumptious soaps, customizable lip balm boxes, collection of the most beautiful combs you've ever seen in your life and more fully warrant waiting in line to shop.

For a walk on the wild side, you must sniff out Deyrolle, a taxidermy shop founded in 1831 brimming with exotic animals, fascinating fossils, beautiful shells and loads of natural curiosities.

La Grande Épicerie de Paris is the most insane food emporium just across the way from Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche. It's owned by LVMH, so as you can imagine, it's chic. 

Between all the shopping and lunching, you should seek out at least one cultural performance to attend. After all, spending your evening at the ballet or at a philharmonic concert is just all the excuse you'll need to toss on a more formal ensemble.

And after your cultural outing, why not finish your day with dinner at the Art Nouveau landmark that is Maxim's, or dig into a prototypically Parisian culinary experience at Brasserie Lipp?

[Photos via Hôtel Des Grands Voyageurs, Hôtel Dame des Arts, Le Voltaire, Maxim's]