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"   March 25, 2008   Outside the Hotel Bel-Ami in the St. Germain After spending a few incredible nights at the Fouquet&amp;#039;s Barriere, I shuttled around town from hotel to hotel like a very indulged orphan. First stop? The Hotel Edouard VII in the Opera. If you are looking for an authentic, slightly old-fashioned Parisian experience, this is your home away from home. Gone were the sleek, modern touches of the Fouquet&amp;#039;s\u2013in their place were traditional pieces of furniture, brocade and velvet bedding, a rustic wooden floor, and a gorgeous tassled canopy over the crisply made bed. The location was ideal\u2013a five minute stroll to the Louvre in one direction and the same to the Opera Garnier (the one that is famously haunted by the Phantom of the Opera!) in the other. As a bonus, the yummy, highly rated Angl&amp;#039;Opera restaurant is right downstairs in the lobby.  After the old-fashioned charm of the Edouard VII, it was on to Hotel Bel-Ami in the St. Germain neighborhood (which you can closely compare to the West Village or SoHo here in New York). As the cab drove over the Pont Neuf bridge, taking me to the Rive Gauche (or Left Bank), we passed Cafe de Flore, an old haunt of such literary luminaries as Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. Turns out, the cafe is on the corner of the hotel, just a few steps away. Also near the hotel: fantastic boutiques, restaurants, small art galleries, and most importantly, Laduree (maker of the most divine macaroons in the world). The area is definitely cuter and more homey than the Champs-Elysee or the Opera. That said, the Bel-Ami fits right in with it&amp;#039;s surroundings. It&amp;#039;s a cozy, trendy boutique hotel that offers different color-themed rooms depending on the &amp;quot;mood&amp;quot; you want to create (I was placed in an Orange Room which are meant to &amp;quot;lift the spirit&amp;quot;). On my last night in Paris, I filled the deep bathtub with scalding hot water, bubbles, and soaked for, I kid you not, two hours while engrossed in a novel...their bathrooms are vibrantly decorated and scattered with single flowers to make you feel right at home.  Stay tuned for more Paris Notebooks\u2013I&amp;#039;m not done yet, ladies! xo "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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