Honeymoon in Paris

My sister L and her new husband went to France for their honeymoon. I asked her to share a bit of their food experiences since I knew they would be eating amazing food.

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We were advised that as newlyweds we should ask to be bumped to first class. After being refused at the Air Transat counter, we asked the flight attendant during boarding. We were still in our aisle seats when we took off before finally being switched. Yay! Honeymoon lesson: keep asking to be upgraded until someone says yes!

In first class we got free cocktails, a "snack" accompanied by wine and a hot breakfast all served on real china with real cutlery! The "snack" was composed of a slice of cold roast beef, a Caprese salad kabob and a Lindt chocolate. The hot breakfast was Eggs Benedict which was disappointingly scrambled eggs!

La Boulangerie par Véronique Mauclerc
83 rue de Crimée
75019
T 01 42 40 64 55

We were staying in Belleville in the 11th arrondissement by the Parc des Buttes Chaumont. Our first food endeavour was to seek out La Boulangerie par Véronique Mauclerc, a boulangerie recommended by David Leibovitz, which was nearby.


La Boulangerie par Véronique Mauclerc.

As an afternoon snack (after an evening of three meals), we shared a chocolate pear tart. D definitely thought that this was the epitome of chocolate tarts. I was much more charmed by the little bakery with its lovely displays and the picturesque old building and sign. Interestingly in France everyone loves fresh bread, so bread is bought by weight and you can purchase half a baguette if that’s all you need, and a few hundred grams of a loaf. I was able to enjoy half a loaf of a lovely organic whole grain bread which I had for breakfast for the next few days.


Different breads sold by weight and our chocolate pear tart.

We also passed by a few lovely fresh fruit and vegetable stands where I found these lovely green stalks laying on beautiful cherries. According to the merchant, they are young asparagus or some kind of asparagus…



Before leaving for Paris, I couldn’t wait to stuff my face with good cheeses and croissants. And boy did we get to… We did not waste any time by hitting up the local fromagerie for a little pre-dinner wine and cheese.


Cheese galore!

Le Pain Quotidien
various locations
website

Breakfast in France consisted of toasted baguette with butter and jam (tartine) sometimes served with a croissant or other viennoiserie (chocolatine, etc.). Our favourite breakfast by far was from Le Pain Quotidien, recommended by my Paris food guru David Leibovitz. At Le Pain Quotidien, actually a Belgian chain, they took breakfast a step further by serving different sliced breads from their organic breads selection, half a baguette, a flaky croissant with fresh pressed orange juice, a bowl of café au lait and unlimited spreads from all kinds of jams (including sugar free jams) to hazelnut butter, chocolate hazelnut and white chocolate spreads. All this for 9€. This was actually plenty to share between two people, but the first time we ordered an extra croissant and café.


Communal tables at Le Pain Quotidien.


Croissants & jams.


Chocolatine.

Chez Paul
various locations
website

Lunch was often a sandwich and our first lunch was from one of my favourite chains in Paris Paul. We hit up the Louvre outlet of this large chain for a Parisien (ham and butter on baguette) with an Orangina and an apricot tart. The sandwich, ridiculously simple was just delicious, the tart was flaky with a thin custard filling and apricots, yum! If I could eat at Chez Paul every day I would. Well, every other day at least.


Lunch at Chez Paul.

Le Bistrot des Peintres
116 Avenue Ledru-Rollin
75011 Paris, France
01 47 00 34 39

Bistro eating is very good in Paris and after a fruitless search for Le Bistro Paul Bert for steak frites we ended up at Le Bistrot des Peintres for a very eclectic supper. I ordered a Salade de ravioles farcies au basilic, Saint Jacques poêlées, haricots verts, tomates confites (12.90 €). Saint Jacques, which is the term used for scallops instead of the word pétoncle used in Québec. The scallops were served raw in a pesto like dressing with an assortment of sides, eggplant tortellini, a green salad topped with cooked string beans (overcooked à la française), a salmon salad and bread sticks. It was oddly satisfying. D ordered Poulet de la ferme d'Alice (10.90 €),
the more traditional roast chicken and frites. The dessert on the menu that caught our eye was profitérole géantes (6.90 €), and they did not disappoint; the cream puffs were filled with ice cream and topped with a chocolate sauce, a perfect ending to our casual meal!

Salade Saint-Jacques at Le Bistrot des Peintres.

Hope you enjoyed reading about some of our meals in Paris!