paris eats
Having one weekend in Paris is so intimidating. Honestly, when planning, there were a few times I almost questioned if it was worth it to try to pack that weekend trip in. We had one full day Saturday and half a day Sunday after arriving late on Friday just to crash in the hotel. Looking back on the quick trip, I was again super satisfied with what we saw in the time we had.
London had been a dream trip of mine for so long, and Paris, until the past few months, hadn't really been a major "bucket list" destination for me. I can't say whether London or Paris was "better," but I can say that Paris was more of what I expected: pastel coloured apartments in the styles I'd always envisioned, tiny cafes with outdoor seating, small crowds of people walking along the river... It totally fit the picture I'd had in my mind.
However, one thing that was different from what people say and what I'd read in research prepping for the trip was the cleanliness, safety, and attitudes of residents of Paris. I'd read so much about pick-pocketing stuff in Paris, but I never in the slightest had a moment that I felt unsafe. Additionally, I didn't think Paris was extraordinarily dirty. This is the one city where we didn't use the metro as we did everything on foot, but the streets and river and sights were all very clean, in my opinion. We also had great experiences with super hospitable Parisians, and I'd always heard about how prideful and nationalistic the French were. We spoke not a lick of French, and everyone was always willing to help us in English. Compared to Spain, the French seemed to speak much better English. Keep in mind all of these impressions are from one day, but we were in a mix of environments and parts of the city, and I'd state these observations to be true for everywhere we were!
One of the best things we did in Paris, in my opinion, was eat! With such a tight schedule, I didn't know what our eating schedule would look like, because I hate sacrificing traveling and exploring time for sitting down at a restaurant. Compared to Madrid, food we ate was more expensive, but we also had a few particular food destinations in mind. Compared to London, food was relatively cheap. The only typical French cuisine that we wanted to eat in our trip and didn't was crepes. We started the day at a cafe for a quick breakfast near the Eiffel Tower. It was a spontaneous stop, so I don't remember the name of the place, but we enjoyed croissants, coffee drinks, and fresh orange juice!
Cafe Le Bonaparte
I found Le Bonaparte via a Pinterest recommendation for a quick and affordable cafe off the beaten track. It was also located in the perfect spot en-route to our next stop on our sightseeing itinerary, and at a good time of day for our hunger. The last thing we wanted to do was seek out restaurants out of the way from where we were going and log extra, unnecessary steps (we put in 12 miles on Saturday!)! At Le Bonaparte, Mom and Abby each got a chicken club sandwich, and I had a ham and cheese baguette. The ingredients were amazing and had us raving about our simple sandwiches, but the atmosphere was what really made this destination perfect for us! Another super fun detail at most of the cafes: the tables are squished close together, and all of the chairs face towards the street! We all sat beside each other rather than facing each other! It made for great people watching!
Pierre Herme
Macarons are an adorable Parisian treat, and I read about two top spots to buy the fancy finger sandwiches: Laduree and Pierre Herme. Again, based on location in relation to our stops, we chose Pierre Herme. We each picked out two macarons, and none of us had the same flavours, but we still didn't get about half a dozen of the options! For bite sized items, they are pretty amazing! We enjoyed our treats in a park on the way to our next stop.
Angelina
In addition to Pinterest and general internet tips for Paris, I also used one of my friends who studied abroad in Paris as an "insider" resource! She had great info for what to prioritise, what to skip, and what to eat. Angelina was one of her recommendations, and we can see why! The cafe is very much what I would envision when I heard "French pastry cafe:" light pinks and creams, lots of gold, and petite little pastries! Angelina is evidently famous for its hot chocolate, but the last thing we wanted was a hot drink at that point in the day, and since everything was a bit more expensive (hot chocolate was 8 euros), we opted to go for food instead of drink. Each of us tried a pastry; I got an eclair, Mom got a lemon cake, and Abby got some sort of mousse. All were delicious, plus we got to stop and enjoy some free tap water and air conditioning during a hot point of the day. See the small white rectangle on the top left of my eclair? It's a piece of white chocolate with "Angelina" typed on top! We were amazed!
At the end of our Paris day, we honestly ended up at McDonald's! We were pretty spent after a day of walking and heat, so we saw a McDonald's just a few steps from the Arc de Triomphe and crashed there for a quick meal. Even McDonald's can be enjoyed at cute little bistro tables outside, so we got to take in the atmosphere over our fries and burgers haha. I feel like Parisian food is such a substantial part of the culture and experience, so I'm super happy with the food choices we made and know that if there's a next time, there will definitely be more great eats stops planned in the itinerary!
London had been a dream trip of mine for so long, and Paris, until the past few months, hadn't really been a major "bucket list" destination for me. I can't say whether London or Paris was "better," but I can say that Paris was more of what I expected: pastel coloured apartments in the styles I'd always envisioned, tiny cafes with outdoor seating, small crowds of people walking along the river... It totally fit the picture I'd had in my mind.
One of the best things we did in Paris, in my opinion, was eat! With such a tight schedule, I didn't know what our eating schedule would look like, because I hate sacrificing traveling and exploring time for sitting down at a restaurant. Compared to Madrid, food we ate was more expensive, but we also had a few particular food destinations in mind. Compared to London, food was relatively cheap. The only typical French cuisine that we wanted to eat in our trip and didn't was crepes. We started the day at a cafe for a quick breakfast near the Eiffel Tower. It was a spontaneous stop, so I don't remember the name of the place, but we enjoyed croissants, coffee drinks, and fresh orange juice!
Cafe Le Bonaparte
I found Le Bonaparte via a Pinterest recommendation for a quick and affordable cafe off the beaten track. It was also located in the perfect spot en-route to our next stop on our sightseeing itinerary, and at a good time of day for our hunger. The last thing we wanted to do was seek out restaurants out of the way from where we were going and log extra, unnecessary steps (we put in 12 miles on Saturday!)! At Le Bonaparte, Mom and Abby each got a chicken club sandwich, and I had a ham and cheese baguette. The ingredients were amazing and had us raving about our simple sandwiches, but the atmosphere was what really made this destination perfect for us! Another super fun detail at most of the cafes: the tables are squished close together, and all of the chairs face towards the street! We all sat beside each other rather than facing each other! It made for great people watching!
Macarons are an adorable Parisian treat, and I read about two top spots to buy the fancy finger sandwiches: Laduree and Pierre Herme. Again, based on location in relation to our stops, we chose Pierre Herme. We each picked out two macarons, and none of us had the same flavours, but we still didn't get about half a dozen of the options! For bite sized items, they are pretty amazing! We enjoyed our treats in a park on the way to our next stop.
Angelina
In addition to Pinterest and general internet tips for Paris, I also used one of my friends who studied abroad in Paris as an "insider" resource! She had great info for what to prioritise, what to skip, and what to eat. Angelina was one of her recommendations, and we can see why! The cafe is very much what I would envision when I heard "French pastry cafe:" light pinks and creams, lots of gold, and petite little pastries! Angelina is evidently famous for its hot chocolate, but the last thing we wanted was a hot drink at that point in the day, and since everything was a bit more expensive (hot chocolate was 8 euros), we opted to go for food instead of drink. Each of us tried a pastry; I got an eclair, Mom got a lemon cake, and Abby got some sort of mousse. All were delicious, plus we got to stop and enjoy some free tap water and air conditioning during a hot point of the day. See the small white rectangle on the top left of my eclair? It's a piece of white chocolate with "Angelina" typed on top! We were amazed!
At the end of our Paris day, we honestly ended up at McDonald's! We were pretty spent after a day of walking and heat, so we saw a McDonald's just a few steps from the Arc de Triomphe and crashed there for a quick meal. Even McDonald's can be enjoyed at cute little bistro tables outside, so we got to take in the atmosphere over our fries and burgers haha. I feel like Parisian food is such a substantial part of the culture and experience, so I'm super happy with the food choices we made and know that if there's a next time, there will definitely be more great eats stops planned in the itinerary!
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