Paris: the land of brasseries, macarons, and crepes

This past weekend, we went to Paris to celebrate Kevin's 21st birthday. There are so many things to do, see and eat in Paris.

We went all around seeing the Notre Dame, Louvre, Arc de Triomph, Jardin di Tuileries, Eiffel Tower, Saint Chapelle, Marche au puces (world's largest outdoor market) and Montmartre. There are just so many places and monuments to see around Paris. I would recommend getting the metro pass, for students its only 3.40 euro for the whole day. Also, bring your student IDs if your are studying in Europe. We were able to get into museums for free because of them.

Sacre Coeur

The weather was great as well; the leaves were just starting to change.

I wish I had several extra stomachs to fit more food in. Here are some of my favorite places that we ate at. If you are ever in Paris, please give these a go. Also, be sure to get as many crepes, pain de chocolats and baguettes as you can. I don't have any particular places but crepe stands and bakeries are practically on every corner.


L'as Du Falafel (34 Rue des Rosiers, Paris, France. Near Saint Paul Metro)

Ok, I know. It's not really French, it's middle eastern. But this place was written about on practically every food blog about Paris. The fried chickpea spheres were layered perfectly with the pickled cabbage, cucumber, tomatoes, and grilled eggplant. They were all tucked into a pita and topped with a creamy tahini sauce and hot sauce. The long line was well worth the wait.The whole thing was only 5 euro. There will be a guy asking how many falafels you want, pay him and he'll hand you a ticket and then you get in the line. It moves faster than you think. There is another falafel place benefiting from the popularity of L'as du Falafels and I'm sure they're good but you did come all this way. We came here twice on our 3 day journey in Paris.


Amorino Gelato (4 Rue di Buci, Paris, France. Near Metro Saint Paul)

This is only a couple of streets over from L'as du Falafels. Their all-natural gelato is refreshing, creamy, and the perfect place for a stop after walking around Paris all day. If you order a cone, they put the gelato in the shape of a flower for the same price as a cup. 

Another cool thing is that you can choose as many flavors as you want. I suggest the Amaretto and the Passion Fruit.

Chez Janou (2 Rue Roger Verlomme, Paris, France. Near Metro Chemin Vert)

If there one place that I had to make a recommendation for it would definitely be for Chez Janou. It is a local bistro place and it was pretty hard to find. Thank goodness for the lady at the dry cleaners; even she got excited that we were going. Try and make reservations before going, it does fill up. So the main problem. No one in our group speaks French, not even a little bit. So the menu looked the same. I did know a few foods. I saw margret de carnard aux baies de cassis and I knew I wanted it. It was duck of some kind and that's all that mattered.

 My friend, Angela, asked about the foie de veau aux pommes; I advised her not to because I think it was veal liver with potatoes...turns out I was right. Those hours of watching Julia Child and Jacques Pepin as a kid finally paid off. Our very patient waiter was able to explain all the dishes for us in English. Kevin got the cuisse de lapin confit a huile d' olive which was rabbit leg confit. Janice got risotto d'epeautre et ses Saint-Jacques, seared sea scallops on a bed of risotto. I got the seared duck breast with mushrooms and potatoes which was cooked perfectly and Angela got the espadon a la provencale, a huge steak. This bistro has served the best food that I have taste since I landed in Europe. I thought about it the rest of the night. It was about 14-18 euro a plate which is about normal for dinner in Paris and we were celebrating Kevin's 21st Birthday. It was well worth it.

Laduree (16 Rue Royale, Paris, France. Near Metro: Madeline or Concorde)

This is a luxury French bakery; it is the bakery that invented the double-decker macarons which are one of the big food fads right now. 

I got a lemon macaron and Kevin got a Madagascar chocolate macaron. It was crisp on the outside, slightly chewy in the middle and bursting with lemony goodness.

We had such a great time in Paris seeing all the sights, tasting all the food and experiencing the city with some of my best friends. I hope that you can eat at some of these places, too. Bon appetit!