Atelier Interior Design Takes Paris: A Week in the City of Lights
Earlier this year we had the pleasure of heading off to Paris to spend our annual Atelier Interior Design team retreat attending various interior design events that were happening there, such as Paris Deco Off to Maison & Objet. It was a whirlwind week spent exploring the city, showrooms, and events/parties alongside our lovely friends at Studio R Design. It isn’t often that you get to go to Paris to preview the hottest new collections and innovations from around the world so, from the minute we landed, our schedule was packed, honey! We made sure to squeeze everything out of the trip that we could - yes, we came back to Denver exhausted, but we were also inspired! Here’s a peek into what the trip entailed and what caught our eye along the way:
Day 1 | January 13th
The fun began on January 13th when Katie, Kelly and Annie flew into Frankfurt. After landing, we hit up a traditional German restaurant for a local meal. Kelly of course chose the pork knuckle… an unappealing-looking-but-surprisingly-yummy German delicacy. That was followed by a visit to Eischenheimer Tower for some drinks - it's an old watch tower in the middle of the city from medieval times, why not make it into a modern day watering hole? The following day we took the train to Strasbourg, France and stayed at the most amazing hotel called the Maison Rouge. The rooms were donned in this gorgeous dusty minty blue color (color-drenched, aka the walls, trim and ceiling were all the same color), with gold, burnt red and black accents. The spa at the hotel was also so incredible - we had the whole space to ourselves, including the all-white lounge serene area with the coolest wood turkish bath. We ended the day with dinner at another really cool, really old underground restaurant, Restaurant Gurtlerhoft, right by the Cathedrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg - gotta love some traditional Alsatian food. We also explored the Petit France area along the river, which was so cute and full of character. Then the next day, it was off to Paris via train - oh la la, very Euro of us we know!
Day 4 | January 16th
\The day everyone arrived in Paris! The first day in Paris was spent walking around Le Marais and ended with a glorious river boat dinner. The boat took us through Paris, showing all the major sites lit up, especially the Eiffel Tower. It was stunning and we had the whole boat to ourselves since January is the off-season so we able to go to different sides of the boat to see everything in clear view. We obviously drank champagne and had a fabulous time. We would absolutely recommend the boat dinner to anyone new to Paris!
Day 5 | January 17th
We had scheduled to tour Versailles Palace on this day, which ended up being a great planning move since it ended up being rainy. We ubered there (which was also so smart since the train tracks were icy so the train wouldn't run) and got a coffee at a local cafe - I don’t think people know that Versailles is an actual city that has its own cafes and everything so we were able to hide from the rain and get breakfast until our tour started. The tour itself was so great - they explained all the different furniture pieces, the history behind the artworks, and the stories behind all of the rooms. The history component of the tour was great as well because you wouldn't have learnt about any of the important information without the tour, unless you do some of your own research beforehand. January was definitely the best time to go to Versailles because no one was in the actual palace, which is abnormal because you’re usually shoved in like sardines - and the King’s and Queen’s chambers are not huge rooms either (for such a grand palace the rooms were quite actually humble)! The best part about it being empty was the Hall of Mirrors, probably the most famous room at the Palace, because it was so great to be in that fabulous of a room without that many people. Being able to take our time walking through and observing all the beautiful details of each room was such an incredible experience. The only bummer was that the grounds were closed due to weather so we couldn’t go see any of the gardens or other buildings. Regardless, it was a wonderful day!
Day 6 | January 18th
During the day we went to the Pompidou Museum and it was so rad! It is a very contemporary and unique museum with so much to see. The first area we went to was fine art, and then the next part was more sculpture and installations, which absolutely blew our minds. It was so inspiring and thought provoking. We all absolutely LOVED this museum and would say it is definitely a must-see of Paris museums.
In the evening we attended the Schumacher party, which was so cool. It was hosted in a former hotel that was very traditional Parisian style. It was like a mystery, magic theme. There was a woman on stilts and a unicorn out front of the venue, and inside there was a magician and tarot card readers. They set the mood so amazingly with candles everywhere, dark moody lighting, and a pianist. There was a great photographer as well!
Day 7 | January 19th
The Louvre was another tour we had scheduled and it was so worth it! There is so much to see at the Louvre and it was great that someone was able to filter out what we should be looking at. It was also really cool that the tour guide gave us all the history of the building itself. According to the guide (but in our own words) the Louvre started as the King’s palace, then Louis the 14th built Versailles to move the palace outside of the center of Paris because he had enemies. Then, some drama happened with Louis the 16th (you know, riots and beheading - our girl Marie Antoinette was no longer) and the King moved back to the Louvre as the palace, but still had haters so they started building out the wall around the grounds of the Louvre. All this to say, you can actually see the original structures of the first fort and the palace still standing from like 600+ years ago - it’s wild! Bonus, we walked right up to the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Venus de Milo, and even the Mona Lisa - another big plus of going to Paris in the off season!
After the Louvre, we went to the Saint-Germain-des-Pres neighborhood where all of the interior design showrooms are and all the fabulous people were! We loved the Arte, Schumacher, and Casamance showrooms the best, but all were amazing. This is where Deco Off was so the showrooms were all decorated so extravagantly. Pro tip: there is also amazing shopping over there as well so it's a must see for our fellow shopaholics!
In the evening, we had the infamous American in Paris party! This party was a huuuuuge designer event at the beautifully famous Hotel de Ville. They had a live band, fantastic cocktails and snacks, and they lit up the room with dreamy pink and blue lighting. Everyone was dressed to the nines and we absolutely adored meeting all the incredible people we only ever hear about!
Day 8 | January 20th
We wanted to get in some antique shopping and the Paris Flea Market was the best place to hunt for treasures! There were rows and rows and rows of tiny shops - some full of thousands of trinkets, some with specific items like art, rugs, furniture, clothing. Our favorite shop was a mid-century modern antique shop that made our jaws drop. As you can imagine, we purchased a lot of great unique finds, but could have chartered a whole container full of amazing furniture finds if we were feeling ambitious!
After the flea market, we stopped by the Eiffel Tower for a much needed photo-op. It was just a pit stop, but our uber driver took us right to the base (once again, another perk of being there in the off season) where we put our tourist hats on! We finished off the long day by attending the Pierre Frey office party that evening. The way they decorated their four-story office space was so spectacular and we couldn't have asked for a more inspiring end to a very galvanizing trip! To cheers the end of the trip, we went out for drinks at a great restaurant called Royal Vendome followed a night out of dancing in the 10th!
