Imagine this. We take the Thalys from Amsterdam Central at 08:17 and get off at Paris Gare du Nord at 11:35. Oh yes, by the way, do take a small bag with a toiletry bag, clean underwear, and maybe a fresh sweater. We walk out of the station Paris and take a taxi and ask the driver to take us to Hôtel Paradis at 41 rue des Petites-Écuries. We can also walk, it takes about fifteen minutes. There we check in and freshen up a bit in the room and put on something nice (nice heels are allowed, ballerinas in the bag for a shopping session afterwards). This small hotel is located in a truly Parisian street, has the most comfortable beds, and also has a cozy comfy lounge with stacks of magazines.
You must be a bit hungry, so we take a taxi to Ralph’s on Boulevard Saint-Germain. Indeed, we are going to have lunch at Ralph Lauren. Maybe even nicer if the weather is good, because then you can sit in the garden, but it's also a party inside. Seriously, treat yourself (and your savings account) to eat here once. Are you having the Caesar salad or the lobster salad with a glass of wine? I can highly recommend that.

After lunch, we go shopping, we take a taxi (or metro) to Le Marais. That’s a neighborhood with the nicest shops. There you have Maje, Sandro, Paul and Joe, and all kinds of small vintage boutiques. Shall we rest for a bit after an hour for a citron pressé or cappuccino at Le Philosophe? A real Paris café where you only hear French around you. Delicious. Then it’s already around 7 o'clock, so we take a taxi back to our hotel. There we freshen up again for the evening. We’re not going too fancy, but a little sexy is allowed. We grab a gray bike from the véli-vélo system and cycle to restaurant Hôtel du Nord. There’s a good chance we’ll run into a model or another hip person. We share some different appetizers and then the raw tuna. We have coffee outside on the sidewalk under heat lamps. A little liqueur on the side? Sure. We take the bike again on our way to a nightcap at the ChaCha Club. A dark club with low lounge sofas, small poufs, dim light, and fancy cocktail shakers behind the bar. If it’s really cozy, we can dance a little. Then with la voiture to the hotel.

The next day we check out early and walk from the hotel to Café de Flore for an oeufs coque (a soft-boiled egg with a piece of bread to dip in the yolk) and thé verts or a chocolat chaud. Whatever you want. We’re going to take a lovely city walk along the Seine, Place de la Madeleine, and L’Opéra, and here and there we’ll pop into a shop or settle down on a terrace for a drink. We walk towards the Louvre. We have to go to that museum anyway. We’ll only take one wing, because you need a week to see everything. I admit, I’m not necessarily a museum fan, but what must be done must be done, right?.

Then we go to something I can look forward to for weeks: Café Marly. A fantastic restaurant with a view of the museum. Better place. If there’s anywhere to spot celebs, it’s here. Especially during fashion week. You’ll go a little crazy from the incredibly beautiful women serving, and they’re all exceptionally nice too, but oh well. In a certain spot at the back of the place, you can look right into one of the museum halls. We take a seat on the long benches and order my favorite dish: a tower of tomato, avocado, and crab. Divinely delicious and extremely skinny proof. We drink a glass of cool red wine. We finish lunch with tea and pastries, and I call a taxi (you’ve probably noticed by now that I love taxis, I believe) to the hotel to pick up our luggage. From there we walk to Gare du Nord. At 15:25 we take the Thalys back and at 18:42 we are on the platform of Amsterdam Central. It was wonderful.