Bon Appétit!

Posted by Ashley

There are so many good restaurants in Paris. With streets upon streets of bistrots, crêperies, and cafés, it's impossible to try every single one. And if you're only in Paris for a short amount of time, you definitely don't want to waste a precious meal in a not-so-amazing restaurant. So, having just finished my trip to Paris, I thought I'd give you a few restaurant recommendations. (I tried to get some pictures, but unfortunately, as I'm still getting used to blogging, I forgot to take them most of the time so either I tried cropping a picture or I don't have one. You can still find some on the restaurant websites though and I put the links in below.)

Le Verre Luisant – 64, rue de la Verrerie, 75004 Paris
Closest metro station: Hôtel de Ville
For me, this restaurant is a must. I go here every year to get the same thing: the steak tartare "Tony Montana." The restaurant itself is not too fancy and there aren't too many tourists so it's nice if you're looking for somewhere local. The prices are also reasonable.

Au Pain Quotidien – 5 rue des Petits Champs, 75001 Paris
Closest metro station: Palais Royal/Musée du Louvre
You may have heard of this already as it's not unique to Paris and it's actually Belgian to begin with. It's a chain and the above address is just the one I went to but they have others around Paris, which you can find on their website. I sill decided to put it on this list because the food is delicious and it's all organic. They serve typical breakfast foods but I went there for lunch and had a delicious salad and a tartine. Perfect for a quick lunch or breakfast.

Le Petit Rétro – 5 rue Mesnil, 75016 Paris
Closest metro station: Victor Hugo
This is more of your traditional Parisian bistrot. With it's iron chandelier, old coffee machine, and floral wall and ceiling tiles, this bistrot creates the perfect Paris-back-in-the-day atmosphere.

Creperie Gaîté – 3 rue de la Gaîté, 74014 Paris
Closest metro station: Edgar Quinet
This was a completely unplanned dinner, when I went with my mom to see the Comédie Italienne and we needed to find somewhere close-by. De-li-cious. The galettes sarrasin were filling and very tasty and the dessert crêpes were yummy!

Galette with goat cheese, tomatoes, and ham

Les Ombres – 27 Quai Branly, 75007 Paris
Closest metro station: Alma-Marceau/Iéna (you then have to cross the Seine)
Now I'm stepping it up a bit. This restaurant is a lot fancier than the other ones and the terrace gives you an exceptional view of the Eiffel Tower. You do have to make reservations quite in advance however, so plan accordingly. You can choose to order à la carte or do as I did and order from the lunch set menu where you can choose starter and main course and dessert, or main course and starter or dessert.

Shellfish Ravioli

Chouquettes filed with praline, almond nougat, and passionfruit

Venezuelen chocolate tart

Those are the main restaurants that I went to this past week that I recommend. Now for some café/pastry shops.

Ladurée – 16/18 rue Royale, 75008 Paris
The famous house of macarons. The above address is the original one but there are others around Paris, such as on the Champs-Elysées.

Fauchon
If you're looking for nicely presented, tasty treats, go here. They have a few in Paris which you can find on their site.

Inside the shop

The lovely cakes!

Korcarz – 29 rue des Rosiers, 75004 Paris
Located in the Marais, the Jewish Quarter, this little shop sells the most delicious Middle Eastern pastries.

Montecaros, baklava, cornes de gazelle, and more!

Amorino
This little gelato shop is literally everywhere! Perfect place for Italian gelato.

In the shape of a rose

Berthillon – 31 rue Saint-Louis en L'île, 75004 Paris
Now this is THE ice cream shop. A must for a true and complete Paris experience. The address above is the main shop but you can find others around the area and some cafés serve them as well.

Quite a long line for this one (that's how good it is)

I guess if there's one last thing to share with you it's some restaurants that I personally haven't been to but have been recommended to me by others or are well known restaurants in Paris that are definitely worth checking out.

Chez Léon – 131 Boulevard Saint-Germain, 75006 Paris
If you like mussels, this is your place! (other addresses online)

Les Deux Magots – 6 Place Saint-Germain des Prés, 75006 Paris
Another great one for that Parisian experience.

Lapérouse – 51 Quai des Grands Augustin, 75006 Paris
And a final touch of classic French.

Bon appétit!

Paris

Posted by Ashley

The clouds, the grey sky, the rain, the disgruntled Parisians. Yep, I'm finally back. I flew in a few days ago from Barcelona (posts from our week there should be up in about a week or two) and was greeted by the yucky weather Paris has had almost all year. Despite some successful purchases on the first day, having walked in the cold and rain, I was already beginning to feel the frustration that many Parisians showed. Finally the sun showed itself yesterday and I jumped at the chance to go down to Paris with my mom.

When the sun's out, Paris is a whole new city. The people are nicer, the streets are more crowded, the food tastes better, and all worries leave you. Refreshed with the weather, we spent the day walking around, starting with the Cathédrale Notre Dame of course.

Then we walked around L'île Saint-Louis, where we stopped for gelato at the infamous Amorino. I tried Cioccolato Amorino, Speculoos, and Caramello al Burro Salato, shaped nicely into a flower in a cone.

We continued our little stroll and passed by the gay pride parade.

Then we walked along the Seine, passing all the bouquinistes, where I bought the book Breakfast at Tiffany's translated into French.

We took a little break in the Jardin du Luxembourg, where I used to play all the time when I was little.

Feeling hungry we stopped at a delicious little crêperie on rue de la Gaîté, where I ordered a galette sarrasin with chèvre, ham, emmental, and tomatoes. And of course I had to have a dessert crêpe. I got the classic butter and sugar.

We finished eating just in time to walk down a little further to the Comédie Italienne theatre to watch a play. It was the first time I'd ever seen the comédie italienne and I loved it. It was hilarious and the actors put all their heart into it. I definitely recommend going if you speak French.

All in all it was a lovely typically French day in Paris and I enjoyed every second of it.

And the typical French fun didn't stop there! We had a lovely breakfast on the terrace this morning. Croissants, pains au chocolat, brioches, apricots, berries, tea, freshly squeezed orange juice, œuf à la coque, and baquette galore! 

Needless to say, I was very satisfied, and with the sun out again, I spent the rest of the day tanning and relaxing.