I’ve been a Fodors lurker (and infrequent poster) on this site for years and I just want to thank this wonderful community for helping me put together my itinerary for another adventure in France. I can’t imagine ever planning a trip without first consulting what others have done and recommended on Fodor’s.
We just returned from 8 glorious days in Paris (11/13 – 11/21) and thought I would share our experiences with you.
ABOUT US:
Our group included myself, my husband and sister, all of us in our early to mid-40’s. This was my husband’s first trip to Europe, while my sister and I have been to Paris several times. We used FF miles to secure our coach tickets from Seattle to Paris on American (via JFK on the outbound flight and ORD on the return flight). We were thrilled to be able to use our FF miles on fairly short notice since we had not decided to take the trip until late August. I suppose it helps that we were traveling in the off-season.
WHERE WE STAYED:
We rented an apartment that we found on Particulier-à-Particulier, one of the largest resources in France for real estate, including rentals. The apartment was in the 5th, right on Rue Mouffetard and a short walk to the Censier-Daubenton Metro stop.
The apartment was quite spacious (70 SM) and had 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, with a nice living and dining area, office and fully stocked kitchen. It was clearly someone’s part-time home as opposed to being strictly a vacation rental. We loved the location and really enjoyed the local market vendors along Rue Mouffetard. We paid 840€ for the 7 nights, which I think was a real bargain. The apartment had all of the amenities you could want, including a computer with ADSL, free phone service to Europe and USA, washing machine, iron and ironing board, hair dryer and even a dishwasher! Although I had seen plenty of pictures of the apartment before renting it, I still was pleasantly surprised when we arrived. It was really nice.
The apartment was located on the 2nd floor (no lift) and could sometimes be a bit noisy from the lively street below. The bedrooms were in the back of the apartment and we were never bothered by noise when we slept, but that was probably due to the fact that we were too exhausted each night (or had too much wine) to really care.
FAVORITE FOODS / MEALS:
Although I diligently researched and mapped out a long list of restaurants I wanted to try while we were there, we honestly didn’t seem to eat out very much and had only a couple of dinners out, which were, unfortunately, very forgettable.
I was completely content on a steady diet of yogurt (YUM!!!), pain au chocolat (my standard breakfast), crepes and stuff we’d pick up from the vendors along Rue Mouffetard, like delicious roasted chicken, along with a side of fingerling potatoes that were roasted in the juices of the rotisserie chickens above . . . (divine) and quite a bargain at 2,80€ for a quarter piece of chicken (leg and thigh) and a generous scoop of potatoes. Naturally we’d grab a baguette and some wine and voila! Dinner was served! We also supplemented our bread, yogurt and wine diet with some excellent cheeses we picked up either at one of the several fromagerie’s on “our street” or from one of the food halls we visited (Galleries Lafayette or Bon Marche). But I honestly just loved the yogurt. I tried as many flavors and brands as I could and they were all so delicious, and thick and creamy. Did I mention scrumptious?
My husband was on a quest to see if he could subsist on bread, cheese and wine alone. His breakfast consisted of (3) croissants (I kid you not) and some yogurt with Muesli. He would eat some form of bread for his “mid-morning” snack, followed by another bread source for lunch. He’d then have a baguette (sometimes complemented with some cheese) for his afternoon snack and usually some more bread with dinner. It’s a good thing we did a lot of walking! Of course, my husband had to brag when we got home that he lost 5 lbs. on the trip!
We did enjoy some fantastic food for lunch, and some highlights were Falafel sandwiches at L’As du Falafel in the Marais (32, rue Rosiers), and the best Moussaka I’ve ever had at the Apollon Cafe in the 7th, near Invalides (24, rue Jean Nicot).
I also enjoyed the wonderful Bordier butter I purchased at Galleries Lafayette, the macaroons and pastries from Pierre Hermé, and my daily baguettes, croissants and pain au chocolat from Les Pantalons boulangerie on Rue Mouffetard.
The 8 Day Bread and Yogurt Diet – A Paris Trip Report
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TR Provence, Israel, Switzerland, Italy..April 16 a day of AA infamy
- 21 Train from Dresden to Nueburg DO in July
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- 24 PARIS: apartment for a family of 4. Could use your help.
- 25 To Clifton, RE: Romania
WHAT WE DID:
DAY 1:
We arrived at 7:25 AM at CDG and were very happy that our bags did too. We had a bit of drama with a delayed flight out of Seattle (mechanical problem) and then almost being re-routed in New York because Air Force One was “in the area.” If you were on the left side of the plane, you could actually see the jet veering off the horizon. After a short delay, we were finally cleared for landing at JFK and even though our flight was delayed out of Seattle, we had plenty of time to make our connecting flight to CDG.
After a short wait for our luggage, we were out the door and out into Terminal 2 for the long walk to the RER train. We secured our tickets and boarded the train without incident. We found our way to our stop on Line 7 and exited the Metro to a somewhat foggy Friday morning in Paris. Without too much confusion, we found our apartment, got the keys from the owner of the brasserie downstairs and dragged our luggage up to the 2nd floor of the apartment. The stairs were somewhat narrow and very curvy – I can’t imagine how anyone ever moved a piece of furniture up these stairs. It was about 9:45 when we finally got inside and after perusing our new Parisian pad, we were all too exhausted to move and enjoyed a short nap until noon.
We had tickets to the fashion show at Galleries Lafayette, which started at 3:00 PM. It was a fun show and we enjoyed the glamour of it all. Although not entirely “age appropriate” for me, a cute winter trend was colorful tights and leggings (the plaid ones were my favorite) paired with a cute short corduroy or denim skirt.
After the show, we browsed a bit throughout the store and made our way to the food halls to purchase some goodies for an informal dinner back at the apartment. By the time we made it back to the apartment it was close to 7:00 PM and it was all we could do to stay awake until 9:00 PM before we all decided to call it a night.
QUICK OBSERVATION:
The weather in Paris during our stay was almost identical to the weather in Seattle. Most days, it was in the low to mid-50’s, which is still fairly mild and nice enough to just wear some light layers without a coat outside. Judging by the way most Parisian’s were dressed, you would think it was 20 degrees below zero in Paris. Everyone was so bundled up (never forgetting the requisite scarf) and every time I went indoors, whether it was a shop, café or museum, I was melting! The heat was always oppressive indoors and I quickly learned how to “layer” appropriately so that I wouldn’t feel beads of sweat dripping between by boobs.
DAY 2:
We were up early (5:30 AM) and enjoyed a somewhat leisurely morning in the apartment enjoying our coffee and daily intake of bread and yogurt. We left at 9:00 AM for our day at Versailles. Upon arrival in Versailles, we purchased our 4-day Museum Pass at the local tourism office, although we did have to pay a 1,50€ fee on top of the purchase price.
We enjoyed our visit to Versailles and appreciated the lack of crowds. The day was a bit foggy and drizzly, so walking among the gardens wasn’t very enjoyable, but since the fountains weren’t on and the gardens were sparse in anticipation of the coming winter months, there wasn’t as much to enjoy outside anyway. We did eat lunch at Versailles at a restaurant near the Grand Canal and regretted not reading the menu posted outside first. When we stepped inside, we were greeted with “would you like a snack or a meal? Snacks are on the left and the restaurant is on the right.” Stupid American tourists! We thought snack meant snack, not delicious crepes and sandwiches and instead spent a whopping 84€ in the restaurant on a very mediocre lunch. This was our most expensive meal during our entire trip. Oh well, not the end of the world and serves us right for not reading the menus posted outside.
Versailles really does take the entire day to explore and I’d really love to visit again during the warmer months so I could really explore the immense gardens and see the fountains. I’ll have to save that for another trip!
It was well after 6:00 PM when we returned from Versailles and decided to enjoy a casual evening back at the apartment. For tonight’s dinner, we picked up some “take away” Italian food from a vendor on Rue Mouffetard and enjoyed some delicious cannelloni, lasagna and salad. We of course had to top this off with a baguette and some wine. Add some Beverly Hills 90210 dubbed in French, and we were happy as clams!
DAY 3:
Today, we were up around 6:30 AM and were out the door around 9:30 to visit Notre Dame. As it was Sunday, we arrived during Mass and enjoyed listening to the congregation and choir singing hymns during the time we were in the cathedral.
After spending about an hour at Notre Dame, we wandered over to St. Chappelle for a quick visit. We also toured the Conciergerie, most notable for being turned into a prison during the Reign of Terror (and where Marie Antionnette spent her last days before facing the guillotine). We then wandered past the Hotel de Ville and into the Marais where we enjoyed our falafel sandwiches at L’As du Falafel.
We spent most of the afternoon at the Musée d’Orsay, getting back to the apartment at 5:30. We sort of snacked on various things (crepes, pastries, macaroons) during the afternoon and none of us were very hungry for dinner, so we kind of just continued our snacking for dinner. You would think that all of the walking we were doing would make us famished, but honestly, none of us really worked up much of an appetite at all for the entire week. Strange. Must be all that bread. And yogurt. And wine. And butter.
It was nice to have Internet access at the apartment. It allowed us to still go about our usual routines we enjoyed at home, such as reading Fodor’s, our local paper and catching up on email.
DAY 4:
Time is flying by and already we’re feeling the pressure of not seeing/doing everything we had wanted to do. Today was the only day that we had a bit of sunshine and it was glorious! We started our day at the Musée de L’Orangerie. This was my first time visiting this museum and seeing Monet’s wonderful murals. They were beautiful and photographs just don’t do them justice. Again, it was wonderful to not fight crowds and we almost had the oval galleries all to ourselves. Some of my favorite artists were represented here and this was probably the museum I enjoyed the most this trip.
Outside the museum we were approached by a woman outside WHO FOUND A GOLD RING. I immediately told my husband about reading about this scam on Fodor’s. The things you learn!
Our next stop was Invalides to see where Napoleon’s tiny little body is encased in a very large tomb and visit the Musée de L’Armée. Although I enjoyed the beautiful architecture of this building, I could have skipped the Musée de L’Armée. If you are interested in seeing hundreds of armor suits and artillery examples, you might enjoy this museum more than I.
From here, we wandered around this district and stumbled across the Apollon Café, where we enjoyed a delicious Mediterranean lunch. After lunch, we wanted to do some shopping, so we hopped on a bus towards Les Halles to shop at the mall. I was unfamiliar with this area, but according to my guidebook, Les Halles was a good shopping destination for affordable, trendy clothing. It wasn’t exactly our dream shopping destination, but we did spend a fair amount of time wandering around. Much to my sister’s dismay, I had to stop at Starbucks (I know it’s wrong, but I’M FROM SEATTLE!), but refrained from walking around with my large red Starbucks Christmas cup. Instead, we all enjoyed a cappuccino while sitting at a small bistro table and doing what we like best – people watch.
We wandered back to the apartment to rest our weary feet for awhile before finding a place in our neighborhood for dinner. We had dinner at restaurant up the street called Le MOUFF’tot MOUFF’tard. It was nothing spectacular.
DAY 5:
Today, we were out the door fairly early at 9:00 AM to catch the RER train to Fontainebleau to visit the Fontainebleau Chateau. From Gare de Lyon, it was about a 45 minute train ride to Fontainebleau. We found our way easily onto the bus at the station for the short ride to the Chateau. Walking up to the entrance, we marveled at the lack of crowds. Imagine our surprise when encountering the sign on the door that read “FERMÉ MARDI”.
“Lucy, you have some splaining to do.” I’m not sure what happened, but somehow I had screwed up. In order to optimize our 4-day museum pass, we had tried to fit in most of the museums into this 4-day period, with the one exception being the Louvre (which we were going to pay a separate admission for). It’s possible in some of our schedule shuffling that I overlooked the fact that this chateau was closed on Tuesdays.
Looking on the bright side, we did get some excellent photos of the exterior of the chateau (without fighting any crowds), had a lovely lunch at a local brasserie and did some window shopping in this delightful little town.
Once we got back into Paris, we wandered around the neighborhood around the Rue Monge Metro stop and went back to the apartment to relax a bit before leaving for a 6:30 PM cruise on the Vendettes Pont-Neuf. I had purchased our tickets on the Internet which saved us 4€ per person. This was the only time we had any real rain and it poured during the cruise. Thankfully, the boat had an indoor area which was great for keeping dry, but not so great for pictures. Luckily, when the cruise was over, the rain had stopped.
After the cruise, we wandered across the Pont Neuf bridge to find a place for dinner. After wandering several blocks and perusing lots of menus, we finally settled on a small Italian place that was bustling with outdoor guests enjoying drinks and smoking, but not many diners inside. Again, another satisfactory, but unremarkable dinner.
DAY 6:
We started our day in the Montmartre area. After riding the funicular up the hill to visit Sacre Coeur (we were too lazy to take the stairs), we wandered downhill for some fabric shopping. My sister is a fabulous seamstress and she was hoping to find some nice fabric suitable for clothing, but at a good price. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be and after visiting about the 10th store, she gave up the search.
We wandered around a bit near the red light district (where my sister and husband both experienced the free public toilettes) in search of a candy store I had read about, A L’Etoile d’Or, which is near the Moulin Rouge. I purchased some insanely delicious caramels and to-die-for chocolate (Bernachon) that is made in Lyon. Apparently this shop is the only place in Paris where you can purchase Bernachon chocolate.
After gorging ourselves on treats from this wonderful store, we caught the Metro to go wander the aisles of the Bon Marche’s Grande Epicerie. The place was really packed and our original intent was to grab something for lunch here, but after perusing the ‘take away” areas, nothing really seemed to call out to us. We decided to just wander around the neighborhood for a brasserie to grab a late lunch (we were always missing the optimal lunch periods and looking for “lunch” around 2:00 or 3:00 PM). We found a brasserie near the store and enjoyed a simple lunch of Croque Monsieur and salad, sticking with the bread and cheese theme of the trip.
From here, we wandered down to the Saint-Germain-des-prés area, window shopping along the way. Our ultimate destination was Pierre Hermé on Rue Bonaparte. Target located and we spent a gross amount of money on pastries and macaroons. Cute bags though!
My feet were screaming at me by this time (early evening), so it was back to the apartment for some reprieve from the pavement. Our intent was to dine somewhere lovely for dinner (perhaps a restaurant on my list), but once we’d settled into our slippers back at the apartment, we were too tired (and lazy) to go anywhere. Yogurt always works for me.
DAY 7:
It’s our last full day in Paris and time has flown by very quickly. Sean and I are off to the Louvre. My sister isn’t feeling too well today and has decided to enjoy a leisurely morning at the apartment for some alone time. The crowds aren’t too bad at the Louvre. We spent about 4 hours there looking at the French paintings, sculpture, , Egyptian artifacts, Napoleon Apartments, and Objects d’Art. We barely touched the surface, but at this point in our trip, we’ve already seen a lot of art and I think we’re pretty saturated.
Sean and I wander around a bit in the area around the Louvre and meet up with my sister back at the apartment. We still wanted to do some more shopping, so we head to Galleries Lafayette. We pick up a few things for gifts and head to the Metro to go check out the Christmas lights on the Champs Élysées. We do some last minute shopping, including a stop at the Monoprix for some yummy foodstuffs. Too bad I can’t bring back a case of yogurt.
DAY 8:
Our flight leaves today at 2:20 PM, so we’re up early to pack and make sure that we leave the apartment in the pristine condition in which we found it in upon arrival. It’s bittersweet that we’re leaving, but we’re all pretty exhausted and honestly, ready to go home.
We took the RER back to CDG and walked the 10 miles through Terminal 2 to the American Airlines ticket counter. The airport wasn’t too crowded and we were through security with plenty of time to spare. Our return flights were uneventful (but long) and we arrived home safely in Seattle (with all of our luggage).
My husband misses his croissants and baguettes and doesn’t understand why he can’t find a similar product in Seattle. He’s also planning our next trip back to Paris and is eyeing another trip in May. He’s caught the bug!
Sorry for the long report. I hope it’s been helpful and I’d be happy to answer any questions.
Hello sherry, I haven't been to Paris but I so enjoyed your trip report and your style of writing!
I hope you two can return to Paris next year. And how fortunate that you all were able to utlize your FF miles! I love trips when inspite of "plans" one just moves as the spirit moves them each day.
Thanks so much for posting your really nice unhurried trip through Paris. Your apartment seems an incredible price - just over 100 euros a day for three of you!?
PLEASE can you post details - maybe a weblink to the apartment rental & also how about some photos now!
Cute report title!
FYI -- they move in the furniture through the street-side windows (if they're big enough). They pull up a crane load the stuff and up it goes!
Thank you so much for this post. It was a delight to read and contains wonderfully useful information - the perfect combination
I've enjoyed your report. I was in Paris at the same time.
I understand about missing the croissants and baguettes. I've been thinking about that myself. In France, bread is an actual food you would want to eat, not just something to hold a sandwich together.
Very enjoyable. Thanks.
I've always wanted to pick up one of those fabulous looking chickens at the Mouffetard Market --and especially to have some of those great potatoes. Sounds so good.
You mention leaving the apartment "in pristine condition." Does this mean that you had to clean it?
And do you have a link to the property?
I really enjoyed reading about your trip
We are headed back in June and I would love to find that chocolate place, Bernachon. Do you have an address for it that you can share?
For a macaroon fix, head to Le Panier. Theirs are pretty good, but of course it will make you miss Paris even more
BTW, I agree about the yogurt. Wonder why it is so much better there than here?
You're right about the rotisserie chicken/potatoes - it's a standard in our meal rotation. I too go nuts on yaourt when I'm there but never eat it here in the states. There's a yummy one from Tours that I buy at Monoprix, and I think Champion has it also. It's in a little glass pot with a paper lid - simply out of this world. Try it if you ever happen upon it.
bookmarking
great report - it made me long for cool November days in Paris....
Thanks for your kind words about my writing style (or lack thereof).
As far as the apartment, we left it in pristine condition because it was in that condition when we arrived. 7 days of bread crumbs, dirt from the bottom of our shoes, etc. had magically appeared on the nice wooden floors and I thought it only appropriate that we clean up after ourselves.
We rented the apartment from Colette and Leopold Reynaud. They can be reached at lreynaud39@aol.com. Their phone number is 01 43 31 57 60. Their cell is 06 07 50 96 43. They were a delight to work with. We wired a deposit of 250 Euros and paid the remainder in Euros upon arrival.
I've uploaded some pictures of the apartment here, although I should have taken some more (these were provided by Colette).
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=fmsabbv.bwvijrm3&x=0&y=x8wxuy&localeid=en_US
The chocolate store, A l'Etoile d'Or
30, rue Fontaine (9th, Métro: Blanche, Tel: 01 48 74 59 55. Open daily, except Sunday, and occasionally closed Monday).
As I'm sitting here posting this information and drinking my morning coffee, I am in serious yogurt withdrawals.
Not even my beloved Fage Greek Yogurt will quelch my cravings.
Vacation withdrawal is hard!
Vacation withdrawal is even harder when you are withdrawing from someone else's vacation! Thanks so much for your post and pictures (p.s., Trader Joe makes a frozen croissant that's worth investigating; not the real thing, but darn close). Let me know if you find a yogurt that suits you - when we were in Paris, I breakfasted each day on croissants (still warm from the boulangerie), a cheap yogurt I got at Monop, and Bonne Maman Quatre Fruit preserves - it was heaven.
I was in Paris the same time as you. In fact, I went to the Franprix on Mouffetard to buy some Coke Light.
Imagine! You could have brushed up against my Brioni opera cape.
Tell you grandchildren, sweetie darling.
Your old friend,
T
So fun traveling vicariously through your report! Merci! Loved reading about your husband's diet of bread, cheese, and wine... and that he LOST 5 pounds! Men!
Wonderful, sherry_toly! If one has been there, it was easy to "revisit" through your report; if not, to want to go very much!
Glad your hub got the bug-I think Paris is one of the best places to explore.
Happy T Day!
We stayed five weeks in an apartment two blocks from Rue Moufftard and ate the chicken and potatoes several times a week, every week. For those going to the area, try La Salle a Manger, 138 Rue Moufftard. It used to be Le Pain Quotidien, for those who know the chain, but it's actually better now. Another good, fairly inexpensive restaurant is Le Volcan at 10 rue Thoulin and Rue Moufftard.
Enjoyed your trip report and pictures very much.
<My husband misses his croissants and baguettes and doesn’t understand why he can’t find a similar product in Seattle.>
Oh, he can! Bakery Nouveau in the Alaska Junction. Leave me some almond croissants.
thanks for an awesome trip report! such a nice break from the office doldrums in the afternoon!
btw, one of the first things we did when we came home from our two weeks in france, was to find a french bakery/patisserie.
i never appreciated the quality and value of baguettes and croissants etc. while in france.
our weekly jaunt to the local french bakery (which is amazing) in toronto is costing us about $30 ... for a baguette or two and a bunch of pastries! eek!!!
btw - i've HEARD that making your own yogurt is about as close as you can get to simulating french yogurt ... which tastes significantly less 'sugary' than north american yogurt.
Oh how I wish I had seen this report before my trip! Have added the candy store to my Goggle map for next time.
Bookmarking!
We were in Paris in August and also enjoyed the excellent falafel at L'As du Falafel. I never cared much for falafel, but it was rated so highly as a 'best buy' by Zagat's that we thought we'd try it. Very happy we did, it was so-o-o good.