I knew I would find good food in Paris, I mean, seriously, it's Paris. But I was so surprised, every single thing I had was good.
So here is all that I ate in Paris. I only forgot to take pics of my first dinner there, but everything else is here.
Lunch Day 1:
Le Champ des Délices Boulanger Patissier
After a nap when I arrived at the hotel, I headed downstairs and asked
at the front desk for a good place to get some lunch. They recommended
this bakery just around the corner. There was a bit of a line when I
arrived (a good sign!) and it gave me time to look at what they had.
I had a slice of
Quiche Lorraine (which they warmed up for me) and
Citron Meringue tart. This was my first Parisian meal and it was amazing. The quiche was perfect and the crust was buttery and yummy.
They wrapped up the tart like this for me. I thought it was so cute, and it helped the the meringue not to get crushed.
I love a lemony dessert and this one hit the spot after all that airplane and airport food. I should have brought one of these home with me.
Dinner Day 1:
La Terrasse du 7eme
This was our first group dinner, and the only meal I didn't photograph.
We got to choose between some entreés, plats and desserts. I chose:
soupe a l'oingon gratinee (french onion soup),
steak with fries and
béarnaise sauce and
crème brûlée.
The soup was delicious, the steak was tender and the crème brûlée was to die for. Along with some wine, this was a great way to welcome us to Paris. Then we ended the evening with some coffee on the rooftop terrace of the restaurant. So great. (I did get a pic of the coffee!)
Breakfast:
Breakfast was served in the hotel each morning. They picked up baguette and croissants from the local bakery. They also had some cured meats and cheeses and also some yogurt and fruit.
I had some fruit salad along with my baguette and butter and croissant in the mornings. Talk about carb overload. I always love bread, but this baguette was crusty and chewy and just delicious. And the croissant was super flakey and buttery. I have to admit I was looking forward most to the bread in France and I was in heaven.
For breakfast, you were also able to choose between coffee, tea and chocolate. I had
cafe au lait. But the best part was the sugar. How adorable are these sugar cubes?
Lunch Day 2:
Aux Tours de Notre-Dame
We had lunch across the street from Notre Dame. It was just a little cafe and I got something I wanted to have while in Paris a
Croque Madame. Burnt melted cheese and runny egg yolk... mmm.
Snack: Resaurant Jules (
Glace Berthillon)
Elisabeth, the tour guide, took us to get some of the famous Berthillon glace. She took us to a little restaurant that serves the ice cream so we could have a taste without waiting in a long line.
I had a scoop of the
Glace Caramel Buerre Salé (salted butter caramel). It was so good. I love salted caramel and salted butter caramel was even better. Plus having my ice cream in a Parisian street was just perfect.
Dinner Day 2:
Cafe Constant
This cafe was literally on the corner of the block where the hotel was. I noticed that this place always had a line in front, but I passed by the second night and it did't seem too packed, so I waited a bit and was seated.
I ordered the
Tarte fine aux gambas grillées, salade de pousses d'epinards et sauce citronnelle (grilled shrimp tart with spinach and citrus sauce) as my entreé (an entreé is an appetizer). It was so amazingly good. The sauce was buttery and the tart shell at the bottom was puff pastry.
Then for my plat (what we call the entree) I had the
Volaille <<Patte Bleue>> rotie au beurre d'herbes, petit oignions, lardons et champignons (roasted chicken with herbed butter and onions, bacon and mushrooms). When I ordered this I didn't think anything of it. It's roasted chicken. How different can it be? But then it came and I tried it. OH MY GOD. This was just amazing. I need to find out how they seasoned that chicken, cause it was to die for. This was hands down my best meal in Paris.
Then for dessert I had
Profiteroles maison, sauce au chocolat chaud (profiteroles with hot chocolate sauce). Cream puffs, ice cream and hot chocolate sauce was the best way to end this meal.
Lunch Day 3:
Cafe les 2 Moulins
This was the cafe where Amelie worked, so since I was in the neighborhood, I had to stop there.
I got a plat and dessert special. I got
chicken with pommes frites and green salad. This chicken had the crispiest skin ever.
Then for dessert I had
fraise melba. Yummy strawberries and ice cream.
Wine Tasting:
That evening we had a wine tasting at the hotel. We tried a sparkling crémant (like champagne--just not made in the champagne region), a white and three reds.
Of all of them I liked one of the reds best, kinda shocked me, since I usually like the whites better.
Dinner Day 3:
Le Bosquet
After the wine tasting, we walked over to the restaurant for another group dinner.
My entrée was a
salade de chèvre chaud (goat cheese salad). The goat cheese was on top of some bread which was slightly sweet, like it had been caramelized with some sugar. It was good.
Then for my plat I ordered the
confit de canard, frites (duck confit with french fries). It was good. The meat was so soft and melt in your mouth. It totally tasted like really tender roasted lechon.
For dessert, I had the
Tarte Tatin (upside down apple tart). This was really good. I mwan you can't go wrong with apple pie, but the French gave it that extra kick. It's got way more apples than a regular apple pie and they taste really fresh.
Breakfast Day 4:
This day along with the baguette for breakfast was a chocolate croissant. Talk about heaven. This was a perfect end to my breakfast and an awesome way to start the day (they also served chocolate croissant on day 6!).
Lunch Day 4:
Crep' and Tea
I hadn't had crepes yet, so I had to have one. I had a galette (buckwheat crepe) with ham and cheese.
Snack:
Since I didn't have a dessert with my lunch, I had to get something sweet, so while I was out walking around I got a chocolate eclaire. Wow this was so good. The filling in the middle was also chocolate, but very light. It was so good.
Dinner Day 4:
Cafe Le Dôme
On my way back from the Louvre, I took the bus, and the stop was right across from this cafe. After looking at the menu, I decided to stop and have my dinner here.
I ordered the
boeuf bourguignon and it hit the spot. The beef was yummy and falling apart with all those veggies cooked with the beef and wine.
The dessert menu had something I hadn't had yet,
ile flottante (floating islands). It's a meringue floarting in a pool of custard. So good.
Lunch Day 5:
Angelina @ Versailles
There was an Angelina bakery at the Petit Trianon in Versailles, and after the recommendation of the tour guide, I headed there. I had
quiche and a green salad. French quiche is so freaking good. I don't think having quiche here at home will be the same again.
Then, for dessert, I ordered some macarons. I got one salted caramel and one strawberry. I hade the salted caramel one first and it was good.
Then I bit into the strawberry one. This one was filled with strawberry jam. It was out-of-hand good. I should have gotten a few more.
Dinner Day 5:
Le Café du Marché
After the long day at Versailles, I looked in my guide book to find a good place to have dinner in the neighborhood. I found Café du Marché on the Rue Cler. I wish I would have found it earlier. This place was jumping. It seems like the locals all head here before heading home. I loved that everyone was there having drinks and maybe even dinner before heading home. It felt really Parisian.
I ordered the special, chicken paillard with mashed potatoes and salad. The chicken was yummy and moist and light. The mashed potatoes were great. There were still chunks of potatoes in there, and it was so creamy.
For dessert, I had a pear tart with warm chocolate sauce. The pear was sliced so thin and the chocolate was perfect with it. It was great to sit and enjoy this while I felt so Parisian.
Lunch Day 6:
Bar Brasserie "Aux P.T.T."
The night before when I went to the Café du Marché, I saw a few other restaurants on the Rue Cler, so I headed back there for lunch the next day.
I had one of the lunch specials,
chicken with fries and salad. It was a bit chilly this day, so the warm meal was perfect.
For dessert I had the pêche melba. The peaches were so good and it was topped with a raspberry sauce which was perfect and tart.
Dinner Day 6:
Chez Bruno
This was the farewell dinner from Paris. Our tour guide took us to the more modern side of Paris, and we went to this restaurant, Chez Bruno.
There was a special entrée od
foie gras. I can't say it was bad, cause nothing in Paris was bad, but it would have been better spread a bit thinner.
There was red and white wine at the table. I had the white. It was delicious.
I chose the rabbit as my plat (I had a choice between that and fish, and I don't do fish). It was tender and tasted like chicken. The egg noodles that went along with it were so fresh and delicate.
For this group meal, we were given a cheese course. I almost forgot to take a picture of it! It came with a green salad. The white cheese in the top right was my favorite.
The dessert was two little cups of heaven, the whipped cream topped one, was a coffee flavored dessert and the other a chocolate mousse. I usually think of mousse as being very light. Somehow this mousse was light and yet super chocolatey at the same time. And it tasted like real chocolate, it was like whipped chocolate in a cup.
After dessert, I had a cafe. A perfect end to a week of awesome meals.
Well that's it for my Paris posts. I hope you all enjoyed them half as much as I enjoyed Paris. I can't wait to head back and experience even more of the city.
