AGM_Cape_Cod

Foodie reports about Paris are my favorite thing to find when I open Fodors! We are spending three night in Paris at the end of our Dordogne trip in June. Unfortunately Sat, Sun & Monday evenings which makes restaurant selections difficult. All your information will be welcome for future trips too.

plafield

AGM_Cape_Cod, if you plan in advance, you can eat well every day of the week in Paris. Especially if you're willing to travel out of the city center.

Sunday is a good day for a big splurge lunch and a picnic dinner, especially in June when it's light late and warm in the evenings. You can gather all kinds of delicious treats at a Sunday morning market, go have a great lunch at one of the Michelin restaurants or a good cafe, and then picnic for dinner.

Patty

Abby,
There are several new places that are open on Sunday just since we were all there, Terroir Parisian, Semilla, Les Jalles and Dans Les Landes is open 7 days a week now. Have a great time!

plafield

Day 4- Thursday: Breakfast at home of hot baguette, plain croissant, and apricot croissant from Le Grenier a Pain with butter and nutella. Then we headed to the 10th to check out the Canal St Martin area. It was a holiday in France and we hoped for a good people watching scene but the weather was cold and windy and threatening rain so it was kind of dead.

We took a good long walk through the 10th and along the canal and then decided that since we hadn’t made a dinner reservation, we’d go out for lunch. We hopped the metro and headed to one of our favorite cafes: Le Nimrod (51, rue Cherche-Midi Tel: 01 45 48 17 05) I had an amazing Salad Nordique that had easily a ½ lb of smoked salmon along with shrimp, hericot verts, boiled potatoes, tomatoes, crème fresh, and lettuce with a delicious dressing and DH had a croque on Polliane bread with a lovely side salad.

After lunch we wandered the St Germain De Pres area and searched R. Mouffetard for a slice of good pate for dinner. We soon realized that while many of the boulangeries were open, all the boucheries and tratiers (other than the Asian ones) were closed because of the holiday (Ascension.)

On our travels we stopped into St Medard church, a small and very interesting 11th century church, and lit a candle and then headed home on the metro resigning ourselves to omelets for dinner.

Walking up R. de la Convention (in the rain) we were thrilled to find a wonderful tiny little shop open carrying products from Auvergne (Aux produits d'Auvergne, 244 Rue de la Convention) and we bought a slab of wonderful pate Campagne! We stopped at Le Grenier a Pain and bought another fresh demi-baguette and some pastry and had a lovely dinner at home of pate, cheese, butter, fresh baguette with dessert of millefuelle fraise and a chocolate feuilletine (chocolate mousse cake) which was delicious if not very fancy or complex.

Tired from a day of so much walking, we just relaxed for the rest of the evening and went early to bed. Another satisfying day in Paris.

alg

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YankyGal

I'm loving this report. Isn't it nice to be a regular - even if only for a short time - at a Parisian establishment? We had a Grenier a Pain in our 'hood (Montmartre) last year - SO good.

Just seeing "Jacques Genin" makes my mouth water.

Bummer about lunch at Le Cinq. I hate when that happens. Sounds like it's time for a new splurge restaurant for you.

Cathinjoetown

Excellent! Love the report.

One of my best stays in Paris was in the 14th, near Parc Monsouris. For long stays, it's great to be a bit away from the centre.

LowCountryIslander

This is my kind of trip!

Hershey

Did you come home broader than a barn?

plafield

Hershey, it's amazing but I never gain weight in Paris. Even though I go regularly to a gym at home and so am used to regular aerobic exercise, still the walking we do in Paris always manages to balance all the rich food we eat on vacation. It seems like magic but I'm not complaining.

plafield

Day 5- Friday: Today we went directly to Boulangerie Julien (75, rue Saint-Honoré 1st) and bought quiche au frommage, almond croissant, and millefuelle for breakfast. This used to be the millefuelle of my dreams but no more. While it still has the delicious icing that I love, the cream is now very dry, seems like it’s been thickened with flour in a way it used not to be. The pastry was crisp (probably because the cream is so dry!) and excellent flavor, but far from the delectable treat it used to be. The quiche was goat cheese and quite good and the almond croissant was great. We ate them in the mall at Les Halles with Starbucks coffee!! The Starbucks in Les Halles is well worth knowing about because it’s a great respite on a rainy day (which this was!) and very close to Julien so a perfect place to enjoy great pastry with coffee on a rainy day and because we can sit and eat our own baked goods (from Julien which is right around the corner) without worrying about faux pas and we can use the bathroom!

Finally the rain broke and sky partially cleared so we set off for a long walk around the Louvre, through the Tuileries gardens (gorgeous! Foxglove and iris in full bloom!) and stopped into a gorgeous church with amazing stained glass windows and paintings and sculptures (St Germain L’Auxerrois.) We also revisited Concorde and then to Galleries Lafeyette looking for special cosmetics for MIL. No luck.

Next it was on to Printemps and the WONDERFUL Café Pouchkine where I consumed the single most delicious pastry I have ever eaten: Napolean Pouchkine, Outer layer was crispy phyllo-like dough totally encasing layers of croissant pastry and an intensely creamy vanilla custardy cream. This is not a millefuelle so don’t let the name confuse you. Truly, this was so delicious I wanted nothing else for the rest of the trip and I’m dreaming about it to this day. DH had a “Moskito” which was pistachio paste rolled in pistachio cake. Excellent but not even close to the Napolean. Seriously, the pastry here is gorgeous and delicious and I think a must visit for anyone who loves great pasry. Two double espressos were also enjoyed in the lovely little café. 26E

This place is a beautiful jewel box of a pastry shop. Each pastry looks incredibly beautiful and the taste matches. We returned again and again and I strongly urge you to go and try a few things from this shop. You will not be disappointed. It is located inside of Printemps on the first floor and opens at 9:30 AM. Go for breakfast!

After our pastry break we took a long walk around Opera and Madelaine and then headed home for a rest and change of clothes before going out to dinner at Verjus (47, rue Montpensier (Bar à vin) and 52, rue de Richelieu (Restaurant, which is upstairs from the wine bar) by the hidden kitchen folks.) I so wanted to like this place and I did but...

The food was very tasty but it was NOT a good value. At 55E for 4 courses (and 70E for 6) plus an extra 14E for a none too generous cheese course, I wanted more food, and few more bells and whistles for sure. The wine pairings (at 30E) were well chosen and right size if not generous pours, but the serving sizes of the food courses were quite small. I think many would leave the table still hungry, especially choosing the 4 course without cheese as we did. Note that this is a forced menu so you eat what they’re serving with no choices.
Amuse was a roasted new potato with poppyseeds, burnt bread, and creme fresh. A very tasty bite.

First course: Burrata mozzarella in green gazpacho with white bean hummus, garlic crouton and a drizzle of hot chili-sesame oil. This was amazingly good, complex and definitely awakened the palate in a very exciting way.

Second course: Hake with braised fennel, roasted artichoke,and beetroot, with one clam, saffron sauce and pine nuts. Again quite tasty, interesting flavors and textures, small portion.

Third course: Milk fed veal from the Pyrenees with grilled asparagus, heirloom radishes (sliced paper thin!) and a tomato based paste like sauce (sorry forgot the details here.) This was a very simple dish, everything cooked to perfection and high quality, but other than the radishes, which were truly special (and I wanted twice as many) the dish lacked any kind of pizazz and the portion was truly meager.

We skipped the cheese and had a choice of 2 desserts (both desserts are served with the 6 course menu.) We skipped the lemon yoghurt cake with candied olives (I really don't get the new craze of olives as part of dessert!) and both had a quite delicious deconstructed peanut butter and jelly sandwich: house made graham cracker, peanut butter mousse, chocolate ganache, steamed grapes. Very rich and delicious.

We skipped coffee and they brought 2 tiny almond cookies with the bill. Again, delicious but at this price point I expected a bit more for mignardises. 144E for 2 four course menus, one wine pairing, water and no coffees.

This is a restaurant by Americans and for Americans. Everyone in the place (including the wine bar which I checked out while visiting the bathroom) was speaking English and the staff all speak English with no French accent. They are very friendly and the place is tiny, casual, and aiming to please. If the menu were 35-40E I would say make a reservation immediately. But at 55E, not so much.

After dinner we went for a walk and discovered a number of large windows lit up with hundreds of miniature figurines, This was near the Louvre-Rivoli metro stop but I can’t remember exactly where. I know we were right next to fairly swanky café. The windows were very fun to look into and we struck up a very enjoyable conversation with an elderly Parisian couple, discussing French politics and their new president. We found the French very anxious to talk about it everywhere we went. It’s an exciting time in France!

britomart

I'm enjoying your report very much, I'm hoping to have a trip like this for my upcoming 40th birthday! Thanks for posting. That's too bad that your splurge meal was disappointing...

Patty

Cafe Pouchkine was our favorite new patisserie discovery in March too!

kerouac

I am really enjoying this report and also being happy with the fact that I am not a foodie. Foodies always have incredible lists of restaurants, spend quite a bit of money and always find some disappointments. Nevertheless it appears that their food epiphanies far outweigh their disappointments, so good for you!

We non-foodies are always looking for reasonable prices, so sometimes we have mediocre or even bad meals, but sometimes we have incredibles finds that totally amaze us. But the most important thing for me is that we maintain our total freedom since we do not have reservations anywhere and can change all of our plans on a whim -- never looking at our watches and thinking "oh sh*t, we have to be across town in 27 minutes!"

I think that both groups get a good experience from Paris and do not need to revise their strategy, since most people, even if they have bad or excellent food experiences will still love the fact that they are in Paris more than anything else.

At least I hope so, since I have to put up with all of you. ;-)

plafield

Yes, indeed Kerouac. And while I'm certainly a foodie and Paris is so filled with wonderful food I cannot imagine being there and not eating well, I have learned not to schedule every meal. I also like to be open to a whim, to a picnic, to grabbing a snack when I'm hungry in whatever part of town I happen to be in.

It took me a few trips to Paris to learn this. Now, of the 9 nights we were there, we had only 4 reservations before we arrived. A few of the places I thought we might like to try were in our neighborhood and only needed a couple of days ahead to get a table and we wanted to check out the menus and see how we were feeling. I also knew I wanted to market and "cook" at least one night in our apartment.

But I've also learned that it's better to have a reservation and cancel if it isn't going to fit than be left unable to get a table somewhere decent, especially for people where having a good meal is important. We changed our plans a few times and making and cancelling reservations fairly easily (although some of the more popular and most excellent places often need a weeks notice or more to get a reservation.)

TPAYT

I am enjoying the details of your TR. As much as I love the pastries in Paris, it's the baguettes and breads with the crunchy crust that I long for. I guess I'm in the minority on that subject. Yes, we do have good breads in the US, but somehow they just seem better in France.

lowcountrycarol

Loved this report. I think I gained a few pounds just reading about all the pastries that you consumed.

plafield

Day 6- Saturday: Breakfast at home from Le Grenier a Pain: hot fresh baguette, almond croissant (crisp and moist, lots of almond paste, not too sweet, no slivered almonds on top) and a croissant buerre with scrambled eggs and coffee.

Then we took the bus to Ecole Militaire, said hello to the Eiffel Tower, bussed back to Convention and walked around a bit, stopped for a coffee and decided to head to Montparnasse for a snack before going to a concert. The very best street crepes are to be found at Creperie Genia: (Blvd du Montparnasse, yellow front under the cinema) and we had a ham and cheese crepe (made with an authentic buckwheat flour galette) and a lemon and sucree. We ate them in the little church park across the street and then headed to Saint Francois Xavier church for a wonderful free organ concert. It began to rain as the concert let out so we headed home to rest before dinner at Axuria, (54 avenue Felix Faure in the 14th, 01-45-04-57-59)

Fortunately, the rain had stopped so we walked to this lovely restaurant with very comfortable chairs, tables fairly close together, very French, with a neighborhood feel. Warm welcome and immediately a small plate with a few slices of fine charcuterie and good olives appeared along with the menus.

Next came a lovely amuse of veloute of spring vegetables (tasted like mostly fresh peas) which was tasty but needed salt to really bring out the flavor. The formula is one entrée and one plate chosen off the regular carte for 26E, a real value.

For entrees we had foie gras de canard mi-cuit, a smooth and very delicious pate served with red fruits jelly, bitter greens and toasted baguette. Very flavorful and rich. DH had fish tartare (fresh and smoked salmon and fresh haddock) fresh as can be tasting of the sea. Subtle and delicious.

Mains were bar en croute (bass) served with creamy mashed potatoes (some very flavorful fine julienne of veggies inside the crispy filo pastry with the fish) and filet of beef with roasted potatoes and mixed vegetables. Everything was cooked perfectly but slightly under-seasoned.

For dessert we had profiteroles, filled to order with good vanilla ice cream, topped tableside with rich, very hot, chocolate sauce and a generous dollop of good whipped cream. Also a salted caramel moelleux with hazelnut ice cream and tuille. Both desserts were rich and totally delicious.

This is a very nice restaurant with good honest food. I wouldn’t cross town for it but if you live in the area or are staying close to the 8 metro line, it’s a fantastic neighborhood spot and a fine value. 2 entrees, plates, and desserts with one glass of wine, one bottle of water and 2 coffees 83.80E

Fodorite018

plafield--Our DD lived in Paris last summer for a study abroad term, and Creperie Genia is where she and her fellow students went for lunch every single day. When I arrived, the girls took me there and we had lunch there every day too. They have a deal of a panini and soda for 3,50 euro and add a crepe for 1,50 more. Cheapest lunch around, and really good! So when I saw this name in your report, I got all excited, lol!

Fodorite018

Oops, I just realized I am confused, lol! The Creperie Genia I am talking about is on Rue de la Harpe. We have stayed in the 14th twice (including on last summers trip) and do like the creperies on that street though.