Back in mid-December, Lewis and I headed to Paris for a long weekend. This has become somewhat of an annual ritual – it’s great to get away from the pre-Christmas madness (even if you’re just stressing about buying Christmas presents in another country) and Paris is wonderful at that time of year.
If you’ve been on this journey with me for years then you’ll know that I used to live in Paris, for three years during my early twenties. I am still utterly head over heels in love with that city and I always feel like I’ve come home as soon as the Eurostar pulls into Gare du Nord. Because of this, I guess I haven’t really done any travel style posts about Paris for a while, just covering our recent trips through outfit posts or over on Instagram. So, this time I decided to cover our trip on film and do a mini updated Paris city guide, sharing our favourite corners of the French capital that we head to time after time on our trips back. Enjoy!
Crêpes are always high on the list of food agenda when in Paris. We usually head to Chez Suzette in St Michel on our last day for pre-travel fuel but this time we also added another crêperie to our address book. Straight off the Eurostar on Friday evening, we met our friend Hannah who lives there and headed to Canal Saint Martin in search of some dinner. My favourite, La Marine, had a long wait so we went to Lulu La Nantaise for good old-fashioned galettes and crêpes. Situated just off the Canal, this small restaurant was the perfect setting for eating some gorgeous French food, drinking red wine and catching up. Top tip: when in doubt, always go for caramel au beurre salé…I’ll be back.
Top of the food agenda: croissants. And pains au chocolat. And pains au chocolat aux amandes. Ok just all the baked goods. And bread. The reason I could never be fully vegan – la boulangerie française. We always make a trip to what was our local-ish bakery when we lived in Paris, which is situated near Bastille on boulevard Beaumarchais. Maison Landemaine Beaumarchais does the best chocolate almond croissant ever. In fact, it’s all good – even the bread – and it’s perfectly situated for fuelling up on pastries before heading to Merci, The Frankie Shop and then into Le Marais for vintage shopping and wandering its pretty streets.
We’ve spent many a day in Paris just in Le Marais, browsing the shops and hopping from one food place to another. It’s my favourite area of the city – my old stomping ground. Once I’ve shopped, it’s usually time for lunch and we always head for falafel at Chez Hanna on rue des Rosiers. With a takeaway price of €6, it’s the cheapest, most filling and delicious lunch you’ll get. Then, if you’ve got space, head around the corner to Le Voltigeur for liquid hot chocolate and whipped cream, or come back when it starts to rain.
My final recommendation is a pizza place called Simonetta that we discovered on our trip to Paris back in May when, being situated on the Canal de l’Ourcq, it was the ideal place to head after a few drinks canalside in the sun. Having tried quite a few pizza places during our time living in Paris – Lucky Luciano, Grazie, Maria Luisa La Cerise sur la Pizza, to name a few – we have come to the conclusion that this is the best one. The dough is super soft and squidgy while the tomato sauce is the most delicious I’ve tasted and they aren’t sparing on the toppings either. I’d highly recommend opting for burrata to start – also the best I’ve ever had. To top it all off, the décor is to die for. Pale green velvet booths, big wicker lampshades, rows of plants; it’s an art deco meets retro heaven and makes an evening out there feel quite special.
Unfortunately, for this trip to Paris the weather wasn’t the best but we did have a beautiful, blue sky-filled day on the final day so we took the opportunity to do lots of walking around. From our favourite bakery again and down by the banks of the Seine over to Jardin du Luxembourg, the Latin Quarter and a peak in English bookshop Shakespeare & Company. Always walk when you can in Paris, it is just so beautiful and will never cede to take my breath away.
