At 11am, we walked into the Four Seasons Henri V with our backpacks in tow and checked into a very large, cosy and terribly elegant suite. There were two things that surprised me with this room; the first was that within minutes of our arrival a maid in full uniform (including hat!) knocked on our door to ask if we needed help unpacking our clothes and laying them in the room (a separate closet). I had to keep from smiling as I said no, I think we could manage. The second surprise was when I walked deeper into our suite, I noticed a small table by the window in which there was a bottle of champagne chilling and two delicious looking pastry sweets, as well as very fine china and silverware.
If you’re going to celebrate a 30th birthday, this is the way to go. The champagne was popped open and the desserts eaten and already I felt wonderful – and it wasn’t even noon.
We decided to wander about Paris. As it was my birthday and I was still recovering from being quite ill the day before, all I wanted to do was hop from cafe to cafe, which we did. It was a rather lazy afternoon and around supper we strolled back to the hotel where I headed down to the guest-only spa. A rather stout madame massaged any and all cares away and afterwards I sat curled like a baby in the quiet room; a bed with private headphones, draped in a silk canopy and fluffy pillows and silk sheets. After that I sat at a table, sipped fine herbal tea and snuck chocolates into my pockets.
The time had flown by and when I lazily made my way to my room I discovered that in 30 minutes we were to be in Montmartre to meet up with Clotilde and her Maxence. A quick dash of lipgloss, a thrown on shawl and we were headed out the door for the metro, arriving only a few minutes late.
Clotilde greeted us at a tiny little candle lit restaurant whose menu was incredible. We ate and chatted for hours. I received my third surprise that night when Clotilde had secretly told the restaurant it was my birthday and they brought over 4 little desserts with candles. A quick song to celebrate, another quick blow of the candles and then the chopping of the desserts to share. I didn’t want the night to end but because we were metro dependant, we would have to leave shortly.
We followed Clotilde and Maxence back to their flat where I sipped fabulous tea and chatted even more before like Cinderella on her fancy ass night out, I had to dash for the metro.
We arrived late at the hotel, tired, happy and terribly well fed and I thought to myself that this was the best birthday I had ever had. I hadn’t received one present but I felt like I had everything and more. I decided to indulge on more time and in the best bathtub ever, had the best and longest bath ever.
I fell asleep somewhere around 3AM, content, happy and a little bit older.
I think everyone should live well daily but indulge in a bit of luxury and extravagance when the situation calls for it. Because it feels amazing to wake up the day after with a huge smile and wonderful memories.
