RP Stay Paris; Trianon Palace, Versailles

Just a short RER ride from Paris lies the famous suburb of Versailles; home to the beautiful Palace of Versailles and historical landmark of where the Treaty was signed on that fateful day on November 11th at 11.00 am in 1918 to mark the end of the First World War.  As something of a history geek with a particular interest in old Royal Families (I absolutely LOVE all things Tudor and love to walk around Renaissance palaces) I have been itching to visit Versailles for years but have never ventured out of the city centre in any of my previous trips to Paris.

In order to really make the most of our time there we booked The Waldorf-Astoria Trianon Palace Hotel and purchased a two day pass so that we could really explore every nook and cranny of the main palace and its beautiful grounds as well as the buildings of the Petit and Grand Trianon and Marie Antoinette's Hamlet.

The hotel is a reasonably priced and good quality 4* set in beautiful grounds just outside the gate to the entrance of the gardens.  The rooms are large and spacious but could do with a little TLC and I imagine it is a lack of the 'finishing touches' to both room standards and service that prevent it from being upgraded to a 5* hotel despite it having a Guerlain Spa and a Michelin Star restaurant.

Now I like to judge a hotel on the quality of the bathroom products available to use and these Salvatore Ferragamo toiletries won the hotel extra bonus points (although I was a little puzzled as to why they do not use a French brand such as Clarins or Occitane, which just so happen to be two of my favourites)!

I didn't try the Spa but it looked very inviting and advertised using Guerlain products so was not exactly cheap.  Instead we took a little wander around the grounds and went for a dip in the swimming pool which was small but nice enough.

The hotel has two restaurants; The Michelin Star Gordon Ramsey and The Veranda, both of which have terraces in front of the hotel where diners can lounge in the sun and sip a pre-dinner apero or two.

We chose to eat in The Veranda restaurant on account of it being half the price of The Gordon Ramsey (and still wasn't that cheap) and we were not disappointed.  I had the most amazing Tuna Tartare, which is fast becoming one of my favourite dishes on a restaurant menu, followed by Pollock, Langoustine and roasted vegetable stack whilst Mr RP tucked into a risotto followed by veal which he said he enjoyed very much.  It looked to me like the food came out of the same kitchen as the Gordon Ramsey restaurant and was very well presented and of a high quality. I would recommend it without hesitation if you find yourself out in Versailles and want to avoid the equally extortionately priced touristy cafes.

Check out the website for Trianon Palace here although you can get a better deal by looking on Trivago.  For a more in depth look at Versailles Palace and its grounds, take a look at my other Versailles Post in the Paris section of the site.

Hotel Rating: 4*

Price: 3/5

RP Rating: 4/5 - 

A reasonably priced and nice quality 4* hotel with a good choice of dining options and a great location.

RP Transport; Uber Cabs

Uber cabs is one of the best discoveries if you are travelling in any major city and cannot face the stresses of public transport to get you from A to B. Originally launched as a luxury chauffeur service, allowing you to be driven around town in a sleek, black Lexus, Audi, BMW or Merc., Uber has now launched UberX, a more 'affordable' service with cars like Skoda Octavia, Vauxhall Insignia and Volkswagen Passats.

Aside from being driven in luxury brand cars with tinted windows, leather seats and complimentary bottles of Evian and sweets, Uber is super easy to use.  Simply download the App., choose your Uber (UberX / Exec. / Lux) and watch as your car makes its way from wherever it currently is to the address you are waiting at.  You do not need to input any details as the app uses your location from your smart phone and sends a car straight to you. 

Once you've ordered your car, you can see a picture of the driver and the car details including car make, colour and number plate as well as how many minutes it will take them to arrive.  It is fun watching the car approaching on the app's map and, if you are in a tricky location, the driver will call you as he approaches to take further details.

The best thing for me about Uber is that it links straight to your bank account and so you don't have to worry about having cash on you to pay.  You simply arrive at your destination and the fare is automatically taken from the card you have linked to the account! Uber are quick to act on any fare discrepencies; whilst in Paris, I thought I'd been over charged on account of the driver getting lost and so made a comment to this effect when I was asked to 'rate the ride' when I next logged onto the app. Within 2 hours, I had received an email saying that Uber had looked into this and had credit my card with the 5 euros I was over charged.

Upon arriving at St Pancras on Easter Sunday morning, neither the husband or I could be bothered traipsing our luggage across numerous tube/trains in the pouring rain and so sent for an Uber.  Having had a delightful experience in using Uber to jump a ride all over Paris, I must say I was pleasantly surprised to receive my bill this morning and discover that I still had £20 credit on my account resulting in a £5 chauffeur driven taxi ride all the way from St. Pancras out to Richmond! What an Easter bonus!

If you wish to sign up to Uber, download the app and then enter my promotion code: uberpip to receive a £10 credit for your first ride.  Trust me, once you have Uber you won't go back to any other mode of transport!

Welcome to RP Travels!

Having recently retired my Lifestyle Blog; Richmond Pip after a year of posting on all types of things from Fashion to Travel to Food to Fitness, I have decided to relaunch the website and focus solely on Travel Posts.

There are a number of reasons for this decision which I have thought long and hard about over the last couple of months.  Firstly, I think it is time to step away from the uber personal approach to blogging a Lifestyle blog brings.  I wanted to have less of myself online but I still wanted to maintain my hobby which I enjoy doing immensely as a release from the stresses of my actual career in teaching.  Being a teacher, I often have to deliver lessons on the dangers of uploading too much personal content on the Internet and I decided it was probably about time to start practicing what I preach and being proactive rather than reactive when faced with the prospect of how I'd feel if my students / future potential employers found my blog content.

Travel is one of many passions I pursue in my spare time and launching a website that allows me to share my tips and experiences of the different places I visit provides me with a more impersonal platform by which to connect with readers and share my views.

If you wish to contact me because you are interested in working with me then please contact me at richmondpip@gmail.com  

Alternatively, if you have any questions or queries about places I have visited then please get in touch either on Twitter: @RichmondPip or by leaving a comment on one of my posts!

Happy Traveling! 

Richmond Pip x

RP Eat Paris; L'Etage de Pastavino

Sshhhh!! I'm going to share with you a secret, a secret so good you will thank me forever if you are ever visiting Paris and decide to take me up on this recommendation.  Trust me you want to, you won't be disappointed!

In the heart of the bustling Rue du Bouci in trendy Parisian neighbourhood, St Germain-des-Pres you may just walk past this unassuming Italian deli called Pastavino as you look for somewhere to satisfy those grumbling stomach pangs after a long day wandering around Paris' numerous tourist sites.  With a bustling on street dining scene it may not look an obvious choice but head on in and take a look.

At the back of the deli is a small spiral staircase leading to a little bit of Italian heaven in Paris 6th.  The restaurant is tiny but full and the animated chatter of Italian, French and English reverberates off the walls to a backdrop of some smooth Jazz numbers to create a buzzing ambiance.

The menu is entirely in Italian but the family are fluent in French and English and will come to the table and talk you through each of the dishes with the passion and love that only Italians know how to convey when it comes to food.  All of the food is fresh, authentic Italian produce prepared with a little Parisian love.

We chose Prawns cooked with onions, pine nuts and garlic along with the Italian cheese selection to start and, my oh my, was it good!  Not knowing too much about Italian wines, the waiter let me sample a few before I made my decision on an accompaniment and I wish I had noted the bottle I chose but truth be told I didn't.

The Seafood Linguine I demolished as a main was fresh, light and tasty; a rare and indulgent treat for a former pasta lover that hasn't eaten a pasta dish for over 12 months.  It was worth the subsequent pangs of guilt as I walked the 3.5 km back to Opera in an attempt to try and walk some of it off!

In a city full of 'Authentic Italian Cafes' selling low quality, cheap carb ladened fares, this little Italian deli is an absolute delight.

Restaurant: L'Etage de Pastavino

Address: 18 Rue de Buci 75006, 75006 Paris, France

Website: N/A

Telephone: 0144070956

RP Eat Paris; Miss Ko

Finding a decent restaurant in Paris takes some serious leg work but when you hit the jackpot it makes it all the more worth your while.  To begin with there are just so many places to eat in France's capital that I get a little anxious about the prospect of just falling into somewhere on the off-chance it might be good.  Secondly, many of Paris' restaurants don't bother with a website and so those hidden gems are buried even further in the Internet requiring detective like skills to fish them out.  Finally, doing the lazy 'google Michelin Star restaurant when all else fails' line of attack is just hopeless when the prices of haute-dining here are just so ridiculously high and the food very rarely up to the hype (in case you haven't guessed yet, French cuisine is not my favourite cuisine du choix).

Therefore, I am still feeling rather smug at discovering 'Miss Ko', a Philippe Starck designed Japanese restaurant on Avenue George V (next to the flagship Louis Vuitton store that corners the Champs-Elysees) with its Starck-standard ultra funky interior design and Nobu-esque menu. 

Sushi and Japanese food are my absolute favourite choice of dining at the moment and Miss Ko did not disappoint with its offerings.  Picking a selection of well presented, fresh and delicious delicacies off the menu, each and every dish served was wolfed down in satisfaction.

My favourite was quite possibly the 'Japanese Pizzas' which consisted of thin slices of Tuna Carpaccio on a crispy thin biscuit like wafer. The flavours complimented each other perfectly and I wish I could go back for more!

Of course, a high end Japanese restaurant of Miss Ko's variety has to be judged on the quality of its cocktails and this Pornstar Martini with a shot of champagne hit all the right buttons! So much so that I continued with a Passion Fruit Martini when I headed down to The Four Seasons, George V for an after dinner drink before taking in a show at Le Crazy Horse (all of which is located on what could well be one of my favourite Parisian streets).

When I am next in Paris, this without doubt, will be the first restaurant on my reservations list.

Restaurant: Miss Ko

Address: 49-51 Rue Georges Bizet, 75008 Paris, France

Website: http://www.miss-ko.com/

Telephone: +33 1 53 67 84 60

RP Travel Rating: 5/5

RP Eat Paris; Ferdi

Knowing I like an 'in-Vogue' eatery, my uni friend Jo (who resides in Paris as a translator) told me that Ferdi was the first place on her mind when I suggested meeting for dinner whilst in France's capital this Easter.  It was only after the reservation was made that I started to notice the restaurant frequently popping up in the Entertainment section of the Daily Mail (a guilty read) as the favourite Parisian haunt of couple 'du jour' Kim and Kanye West. Having been papped leaving only the Sunday before our planned Thursday visit, I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited to see what Ferdi had to offer.

Firstly, what took me by surprise was the cosy intimacy of this restaurant; with only around 8 tables in the place, you weren't too far from your dining neighbours...'they must hire out the whole restaurant when they come' was my first thought! Having done a little further research online before I arrived, I had learnt that many of France's fashion favourites like to dine in its booths, including a certain M. Louboutin (my number one fashion hero) but my luck, as always, was out and the nearest to Louboutin I got was the red soles of a number of diners including my own.

Browsing the cocktail menu, my three companions all opted for Kanye's favourite; Le Pompadeur whilst I stuck with a trusty old Gin Fizz made with Tanqueray. Naturally, I sampled both and was impressed with what I discovered; this place knows how to make a good cocktail.

The food was about as far from healthy as you could imagine; burgers, guacamole and chips, mac and cheese and fries to name but a selection of the delights brought out to our table but it is the burger which people come here to dine on.  Advertised as the best burger in Paris, I had to ask Mr RP for his opinion on that one and he said it was a pretty dam good burger; perfectly cooked meat, a steamed bun and a super tasty dill pickle sauce.  Mr Burger Lover was more than satisfied with his meat.

Fun, hip and no-frills, Ferdi is a good spot 'to be seen' without having to remortgage your flat to afford the bill.  The food isn't particularly stand out but it makes a change from 'menus du jour' and bland French cafes which are all too easy to fall into when staying in this city.

Restaurant: Ferdi

Address: 32 Rue du Mont Thabor, 75001 Paris, France

Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/FERDI-BAR-GOURMET/263414894058

Telephone Number: +33 1 42 60 82 52

RP Travel Rating: 3.5/5

RP Eat Paris; Chikoja Rue Sainte-Anne

In the heart of the 2nd Arrondissement, just off Avenue de L'Opera and a short walk from 'Pyramides' metro, the East meets West and French Cafes are outnumbered 20 to 1 by little Japanese eateries, giving the area the name 'The Japanese Ghetto'.  With an abundance of restaurants to choose from and no reservations required it is worth a few minutes of walking up and down the street before deciding on which tiny space you should enter to sample some of the Asian delights on offer; from Sushi to Udon to Korean, there is plenty to choose from.

The street is busy and don't be surprised if you have to wait outside your chosen dinner spot for a table to become available...trust me it is worth the wait!

Having stumbled across Chikoja and waited 15 minutes for an available table, we took our seats and set straight about ordering from a mouth-wateringly tasty menu.  Always seduced by the starters in Japanese restaurants, we ordered a selection of Gyozas, Prawn Tempura, Dim Sum and Chicken Satay before taking a peek at the diners around us to see what we fancied for mains.

We settled on Spicy Seafood Noodle Broth for me and Black Bean and Pork Noodles for Mr RP.

This tasted like the sort of street food you could pick up authentically on the streets of Japan; flavoursome, delicious and filling without hitting the pocket too hard (always a bonus in a city as expensive as Paris).  Washed down with a couple of beers and a carafe of wine, the whole feast set us back a mere 68 Euros!

If you are looking for some authentic, budget Asian food in France's capital city then Rue Sainte-Anne is the only place to go. I will definitely be back on my next visit to Paris.

Restaurant Name: Chikoja

Address: 14 Rue Sainte-Anne, 75001 Paris, France

Website: http://www.chikoja.fr/

Telephone Number: +33 1 42 60 58 88

RP Rating: 4/5