A Parisian City Break; What To Do & Where To Eat

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To mark out 10 year anniversary Sean & I decided to take a little city break to Paris where neither of us had ever been before… as you guys know travel has been a big part of our relationship but we generally settle for city breaks these days as, opportunities to take 2 years to travel the world seem a little out of reach these days!

The last city break we did was Barcelona back in March where we were absolutely blown away by the food; we went to go clubbing as a group of 4 but ended up just eating our way around the city until the early hours each night, forgoing dancing in favour of sipping on good wine in good company.

(I didn’t do a blog post on where we ate in Barcelona like I did with my Amsterdam Trip as it was a trip to celebrate Cathal’s birthday so didn’t want to be constantly asking people to let their food go cold while I snapped it but, for the official record the restaurants we were blown away by were FOC Bcn, Pla, Federal for their rooftop brunch and Gourmet Tapas by Sensi… all insanely good places!)

I put the same level of research into our Paris trip but unfortunately we weren’t as blown away by the gastronomical experiences overall. Now, it goes without saying that I can’t tally up Paris’s restaurant offerings based on a 4 day trip, it may very well have been that my research just let me down but either day we had a few misses but also a few hits… this post shares them both plus what we got up to & what made the trip so special, hope you guys find it helpful xx

Where We Stayed

We stayed in an Airbnb like we always tend to do, it was based in the Saint-Louis Hospital quarter which was an excellent base for exploring the city although, with their metro system being so amazing I imagine you;d find it easy to get around from almost any spot in the city.

Where We Ate

The Good

Vivant– Beautiful little restaurant offering exciting, seasonal options. Great service, great ambiance, fantastic wine… just fab, an absolute must if you’re in Paris.

Hollybelly– Tasty mid-week brunch offering in a fun, laid back setting. Great service, great coffee and the best hash browns I’ve ever tasted… not to be missed.

Paperboy- Perhaps a little less exciting than the two aforementioned but deserving of a spot nonetheless. This trendy brunch location serves up set brunch options for those who are very hungry; they include coffee, juice, main, a tonne of bread & dippings as well as a small dessert.

Their bread & homemade peanut butter was to die for but we were a little taken aback by the set price menus coming in at around €24 per person granted there was a lot of food but we wouldn’t have personally ordered that much food so felt frustrated at having to pay for it rather than just order a la carte.

 

Tour Of Rue Du Poissonnière & Rue Des Petites Ecuries

After our trip to Vivant we walked out & noticed the general area looked like it was heaving with amazing looking eateries so, on our last night we decided against going anywhere specific in favour of doing a little tour of these streets.

We stopped in various restaurants & cafes choosing a glass of wine & some nibbles/ a cheese board etc, sitting outside & watching the world go by. We finished with a dish in Encore before walking home full of good food & chats… I’d highly recommend doing something similar to this as it was a lovely casual way to pass the evening with some people watching & a few glasses of vino.

The Mediocre 

Twinkie– This spot is accustomed to rave reviews online which is why it was added to my list of places to try but it was just a bit ‘meh’…. food was grand, service was grand, pricing was grand. We did avoid the overpriced set as, unlike Paperboy, this place did have a la carte offerings.

This may have been where we went wrong if all of their efforts go into perfecting those with other standard menu offerings being an afterthought (we both went for bagels) but either way that’s not good enough our food tasted grand, nothing to write home about whatsoever & nothing you couldn’t whip up yourself in a few minutes imo.

The Terrible

Bouillon Cartier– So unbelievably shite that it was actually a funny experience. You’ll queue for around 45 min to get into this place where you’ll be offered the most uninspiring menu & served the blandest, most boring student food you’ve ever come across in your 4 years at university. Awful. Comically bad.

What We Did

Aside from the usual touristy stuff like wowing at the Eiffel Tower and eating our weight in pastries we also got up to a few other bits-

We visited a pop-up rooftop roller skating rink on the Montparnasse Tower complete with cheesy tunes & a champagne bar. This pop-up ends shortly but it looks like they often do similar things which can be accessed with a standard tower ticket which is valid to use for the pop-ups without booking.

We visited Disney Land! So much fun… I know some of you guys weren’t overly impressed & advised me against going but I have to say that we really enjoyed it as a fun day running around like kids together. We got discounted tickets with 365tickets which I was somewhat apprehensive about but decided to purchase after some research on the company & the tickets were totally legit.

We wandered the Saint Germain Des Pres area & Latin Quarter on our last day visiting cheese merchants, old designer consignment stores, vintage shops and chocolatiers; I really loved the vibe of these areas & would highly recommend visiting them to while away a Parisian afternoon.

We went to a Sunday flea; Id intended on visiting the Saint Ouen flea on the Sunday we arrived but ended up stumbling upon a pretty substantial flea near our brunch location and, with an hour to wait for a table we took it as the perfect opportunity to sift through the all the trinkets & treasures on offer. This is something I love to do in other cities so if you’re looking for a fun weekend activity make sure to look up a flea market to suit.

There you have it guys, a little insight into our trip to Paris, I really hope you find it useful for any upcoming trips & please be sure to share this post with any friends planning to travel there too. Be sure to tag me in any Parisian adventures inspired by this post!! xx

Recent Comments
  • Trasa says:

    I’ve never been to Paris either I keep dropping hints

  • I mean, this is a dumb question but: did you just bring carry-on? How did you fit so many pairs of shoes?!!!

    • Sarah says:

      I bring carry on but I also have this huge cotton bag that I use as my ‘handbag’ for planes, legit fits about the same as a carry-on case so this is how I manage to bring allllll de shoes! <3 xx

  • Janet Rosel says:

    Fab Sarah!! Will use all your tips for this weekend!! Merci merci merci! 💋

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