It was so good to finally visit Paris again, after seeing the city for the first time six years ago. Paris should definitely be on your travel list, it’s a foodie heaven and everywhere you look is simply stunning. My sister and I managed to get some low prices airfares and were lucky enough to be kindly hosted for our trip. Read on for my recommendations of where you should stay, eat, drink and see in this wonderful city.
Once we were in Paris we found ourselves doing a lot of walking, but I’d recommend downloading the Citymapper app as always, as the metro is really the fastest way to get around. We got a day pass for €7.50 and did so many trips with that.
Okay, so it feels a little silly listing the main tourist attractions here, but I thought I’d pop down what we saw.
We started over at Montmartre village. Montmartre is full of charm! Perched on the top of a small hill, the most famous Parisian spot. We spent the afternoon wandering around, sipping on mulled wine and taking in the wonderful views of the city from the top of Sacré Coeur, then set off in the steps of Amelie of Montmartre.
It’s also worth grabbing a ticket and seeing the views from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. The entrance was €12 and was so worth it. We got there early in the morning around 10 am and was hardly any people there. We then made a short detour to the Rue di Rivoli and onto the beautiful grounds of the Louvre.
We stayed at Le Narcisse Blanc Hotel & Spa on our first night in Paris. It’s a 37 room luxury boutique hotel located on the Left Bank in Paris’s seventh arrondissement, just a few streets away from the Eiffel Tower. The interiors and overall design of the hotel were inspired by a famous Parisian ballerina and twentieth-century It girl: Cléo de Mérode.
It’s in a great location, nice and cool, ridiculously chic and comfortable and so, so quiet. I’d 100% stay here again.
Le Narcisse Blanc also has a world-class spa and a fine dining restaurant, Le Restaurant Cléo (named after Cléo de Mérode). We enjoyed the most heavenly three-course meal, was perfect after a busy day of exploring Paris and nice we could just head up to our room afterwards. I loved the mushroom risotto and the selection of cheeses they served afterwards.
Le Narcisse Blanc Hotel & Spa -19 Boulevard de la Tour-Maubourg, 75007 Paris, France
Paris is such a foodie city. The food, THE FOOD! Where to start? Every meal we had was so great and every recommendation in this blog post I would definitely re-visit. It was well worth the effort of taking the time to research beforehand to avoid disappointment and any tourist traps.
Buvette is a great spot to head for some lunch, grilled ham, and cheese, what’s not to love?! Baked ham and cheese with béchamel oozing out all over the place with gherkins, yum! The Nutella waffles were also delicious! The food was great, but we waited a while for it, I think maybe because it was the weekend.
Go for a pastry at Du Pain et Des Idées, known to be one of the best bakeries in Paris. It’s famous for its chocolate and pistachio escargot which I can confirm tasted incredible.
For lunch, we visited Pink Mamma located in Pigalle. The restaurant is part of the Big Mamma group a 100% Italian restaurant, serving fresh products brought in from Italy. We had lunch on the top floor, which looked like the inside of a greenhouse, full of plants, flowers, and vines draping the chandeliers and wooden beams.
We had the most insane lobster pasta to share and the tiramisu for dessert is a must. The restaurant is quite touristy, I can see why, the food, and cocktails are full of flavour and truly tasty.
We checked in to the stunning Hotel Monge on our second night in Paris. The design and feel of this hotel I absolutely loved, it had a real cosy, homely feel to it. Not only was the room Instagram gold, but it was also quiet, warm, clean, well located. The bathroom was also stocked up on L’Occitane products and the bed, can’t explain how comfortable it was. I would highly recommend this hotel and would definitely stay here again on my next visit!
Hotel Monge – 55 Rue Monge, 75005 Paris, France
Paris has plenty of speakeasy bars, a favourite of mine is Moonshiner where you go through the fridge door of an Italian restaurant. It’s a 1920’s cocktail bar, serving cocktails, strong cocktails! Great vibe and loved the music.
For the best cheese fondue in Paris head to Pain Vin Fromage, has to be my favourite meal. A quaint cosy authentic French restaurant. I loved it that much the first time I came to Paris, I had to come back and bring my sister. Make sure to book ahead as it’s a very popular spot. It’s honestly a cheese lover heaven. We ordered a Comte fondue which was served with fresh bread and pickles. The meat plate and potatoes are a great addition as well. Still dreaming of it now!
If it’s more of a lunchtime light bite that you fancy then you must visit Miznon, run by a famous Israeli chef who opened the original in Tel Aviv. The lamb and cauliflower pitta were so fresh and unbelievably tasty. Definitely worth a visit as it’s really reasonably priced.
I haven’t dwelled on shopping here as we didn’t have much time and felt that there were better uses of what time we had in Paris, although I did manage to make a trip to a French Pharmacy (City Pharma) and a Sezane. I’d definitely recommend the pharmacy in the St. Germain-des-Prés neighbourhood, it’s the biggest one and has some great discounts.
I thought I’d mention some other recommendations I was given if I had more time I would for sure check these out. Bistrot Paul Bert, Le Servan, Mokonuts, Fragments, Cafe Berry,Clamato, 5 Pailles and Neighbours Paris.
