My Paris trip: Food

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.

My Paris trip: Part 2

Here is the second half of my week in Paris. There might be even more pics in this part, cause it includes my trip to the Louvre and Versailles.

On Day 4, we headed out to the Marais district. Elisabeth, our tour guide, explained the history and significance of this district. She was great at really making the history of Paris come alive.


The center house still has wood framing. Most of these were covered with plasted hundreds of years ago to try and pevent fires.

This is a Holocaut memorial. Paris was taken by the Nazis, but recently they have begun to post plaques and memorials to commemorate those lost.

I the Jewish district in Marais still has one Jewish Boulangerie.

These are some musicians we saw on the street. Pretty cool to have live music as you walk around.

This is the Place des Vosges. It's the oldest square in Paris. Many famous people have lived in these aprartments, including Victor Hugo. 

I don't remember what this house was, but was just used it as a walk-through to get to the other side of the street. What a great walk through!

That evening we headed to the Louvre.

 Before the Louvre was a ridiculously huge museum, it was a fortress. At the bottom of the Louvre you can see remnants of the fortress, including where the moat was.

Inside the Louvre was also Napoleon's apartment. These brocaded covered pigs caught my eye. They were so cute and weird.

 

Then we got to this room full of statues. It's made to feel like it's outside, cause the Louvre's designer wanted to make sure that the statues were seen in natural light, as it was inteneded for them.

And in one of the other rooms full of statues, we came across a goddess Diana statue. You know I had to take a picture with her.

And then we were off to meet some famous ladies. First was the Venus de Milo. She was beautiful.

Then we were off to see Winged Victory. She was truly impressive. I think she was my favorite.

And no stop to the Louvre would be complete without visiting the Mona Lisa. She was so much smaller than I thought. I just wasn't impressed by her (sorry Mona).

I had been singing in my head all week "Do You Hear the People Sing?" from Les Mis. And this painting, Liberty Leading the People (La Liberté guidant le peuple) totally made me think of the song even more. I just loved it.

The next morning, we took the RER train to head out to Versailles.

Just a cozy little hunting lodge in the country, turned into a huge palace.

This was the king's bedroom. I love those feathers at the top of the bed.

And this was the queen's bedroom. So girly and floral.

This is the hall of mirrors. It was a huge deal, because these mirrors were all made in France. And mirrors were something hard to come by back in the day of Louis XIV. 

After touring the house, we headed out to the garden. Calling this garden HUGE is a total understatement.

Marie Antoinette hated staying thin the main palace and all of the dutires that came with public life, so she often retreated to the Petit trianon, a smaller home in the back of the gardens of Versailles.

By the Petit Trianon she had a little village built, cause she wanted to play "farmer's wife."

Marie Antoinette's hamlet was beautiful. I loved walking around it and looking at all of the little houses she had made for her country village.



There was even a farm with animals and everything.

How picturesque is this? I wouldn't mind spending my summers here.

The last day started with a with a walk, and we passed by the Place de la Concorde. During the French Revolution, this is where the guillotine was. Now there is an obelisk in its place.

 

We also got a view of the Champs Elysees from the other side.

 

We started the morning at the Orangerie, seeing Monet's water lilies, but there were no pictures allowed. The water lilies were amazing though. Then we headed to the Orsay Museum. 

 

I snapped a few shots before I noticed that this museum also didn't allow pics. The Orsay museum used to be a train station. The main part of the museum is gorgeous.

And they had a little Statue of Liberty right in the front (she was a gift from the French after all).

After they Orsay I headed back to the 7th Arrondissement for lunch. I ended up on the Rue Cler and got to see all the little food shops in action.

Cheese!

And the flowers were so pretty.

I happened to stumble across a yarn shop too. Leave it to me to accidentally come across the craft shop.

In the afternoon, I headed to the Rodin Museum. Inside the house they had tons of his work the sculptures were beautiful.

Then in the garden they had the larger statues.

Including "The Thinker". 

That evening was the farewell dinner with the tour group. We headed over to a more modern area in Paris. 

And dined at a restaurant down this little row of cafes and shops.

The next day I ate my last French breakfast, and headed to the airport to come back home.

I have one more post left about all the deliciousness I ate while I was in France. So check back in a few days for that one.

In the meantime I'll be uploading even more pics to my Flickr. So check back there if you want even more pic overload.