• Archives
  • Paris Bucket List 2016

    May 27, 2016

    Here’s to our sixth summer in France and our bucket list of things to do this summer! Can’t wait to get started crossing them off!

    paris2016_002

    Ferris Wheel at Place de la Concorde
    Paris Carousels
    Ménagerie du Jardin des plantes and Parc Zoologique de Paris
    Cruise on the Seine or Canal Saint Martin
    Parisian Parks
    Cité Des Enfants at Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie (Museum of Science and Industry)
    Atelier des Enfants at Pompidou Centre
    Jardin d’Acclimatation
    Disneyland Paris
    The House for Children at Le Centquatre
    Les Baby Z’ateliers at Le Musee En Herbe
    Story Hour at American Library in Paris
    L’Aquarium de Paris
    Coulée verte René-Dumont
    Paris Food/Wine Tour
    Day Trip Outside Paris
    Eat and/or have drinks at these restaurants (Le Perchoir Marais, L’Avant Comptoir De La Mer, Passerini Restaurant & Co, East Mama, Septime, Le Chateaubriand, Hero, Au passage, Clamato, Ellsworth, Yard, Martin, Le Mary Celeste, L’ami Jean, Clown Bar, La Bocca Della Verita, Gout de Brioche par Guy Savoy, Le Dauphine)

    No Comments | Posted in: France, Paris | Tagged with: ,
  • Paris Bucket List 2015

    June 3, 2015

    eiffeltower

    We’ve arrived in Paris (two weeks ago!). Right after we arrived I put together a bucket list with Dusty’s help of the things we want to do while we’re here (and I’m finally posting it). Here they are in no particular order.

    Picnic on the bank of the Seine
    L’Aquarium de Paris
    Paris Food/Wine Tour
    Disneyland Paris
    Day trip to Loire Valley
    Éclairs from L’Atelier de l’Éclair
    Ménagerie du Jardin des plantes and Parc Zoologique de Paris
    Picasso Museum
    Cruise on the Seine or Canal Saint Martin
    Spend some time playing at all the amazing parks in Paris
    Get Annabelle a scooter
    Eat and/or have drinks at these restaurants (Pierre Sang Boyer, Le 6 Paul Bert or Bistrot Paul Bert, Le Cinq, Ellsworth, Frenchie to Go, Hero, Miznon, Heimat, Spring, Chez L’Ami Jean, Bones, Le Perchoir, Clamato, Le Mary Celeste Cocktail Bar)

    No Comments | Posted in: France, Paris | Tagged with: , ,
  • In my last Paris post I gave my top 6 favorite things to do in Paris but I didn’t get a chance to talk about the best places to eat.  I’m no food expert but we do enjoy trying new restaurants, here are our top favorite places to eat in Paris.

    laregalade_011

    La Regalade Saint Honore. For a bit of a nicer night out, not too fancy but fantastic. Classic Paris bistro and a great example of a perfect Paris bistro experience. La Regalade has the best rice pudding you’ll ever have in your life. Never had rice pudding? Think you you won’t like it? Try it! Seriously. You do need reservations for this one but we haven’t had a problem getting them if we call a few days or week in advance. There are two locations so make sure you’re calling the right one when making reservations or getting directions. Located in the 1st. The one we’ve gone to is the one located on Saint Honore.

    frenchiewinebar_007

    Frenchie Wine Bar. It’s a no reservation, first-come first-serve wine bar across the street from Frenchie restaurant.  Opens at 7pm, go a little early to get a spot. Small plates, fresh ingredients, wonderful wine selection.  We went last summer towards the end of our stay and everything was so wonderful (including atmosphere, food and wine) that I had wished we had tried it earlier in our visit so we could have gone back.

    lescocottes

    Les Cocottes. Great fairly casual but nice dinner place in the 7th. No reservations allowed, so you’ll wait in line for a seat. It’s pretty great though. Everything is served in little pots.

    L’as du Falafel. If you like falafel, perhaps the best in the world. Great place for a cheap lunch in the Marais. Located in the 4th. This street is known for having a lot of falafel places but L’as du Falafel is the standout.

    breizh_006

    Briezh Cafe. Best crepes ever. Make reservations, even for lunch as it’s a tiny place. Totally worth it though. Make sure to get the caramel au beurre salé (salted butter) crepe. It’s life changing. We got lucky one time and went at a random time between lunch and dinner and were able to get a spot in the gift shop (they serve food there too).

    Berthillon. Fantastic ice cream place on Ile Saint-Louis. Draws a big crowd. Located in the 4th. Make sure not to stop at the 10 other shops that sell Berthillon ice cream on your way, go to the original location!

    chezl'amijean_001

    Chez L’ami Jean. Super cramped and old, but amazing amazing food. Check out my post to see more of the great food. They have some great rice pudding. Located in the 7th.

    cantinecalifornia_002

    Paris Food Truck, Street Food, or Creperie. It’s not always about fancy French food. And these places are everywhere. Make sure you eat plenty of banana and nutella crepes, kabobs, burgers, etc. If I were to recommend a great lunch place, Cantine California is delicious. They drive to two locations each week. If you’re craving a really good burger and fries or an awesome taco go here.

    There’s also a ton of restaurants that are more difficult (maybe impossible) to get into, but if you can, they’re totally worth it. Fine dining at reasonable prices. A couple really good examples are Septime, Frenchie, and La Chateaubriand. However, if you want the real Paris Bistro experience I can’t recommend La Régalade enough , which I mentioned above.

  • Top 6 Things To Do In Paris

    I’ve started counting down the days until we leave for Paris and I can’t stop thinking about how much fun it’s going to be (and how many things we need to accomplish before we can walk on that airplane)!

    We’ve had a handful of friends who have asked us if we have recommendations for them while they’re in Paris. And of course we do! I’ve been wanting to share some of our favorite places and things to do and thought now was the perfect time as the countdown continues. To start, here are a few sightseeing recommendations for anyone visiting Paris. Of course, these are just a few of our favorites, you can see other things we’ve done in Paris by reading some of the other Paris blog posts I’ve written about this wonderful city.

    Top 6 Things To Do In Paris

    Walking Tour of Paris. There are tons of self-guided and organized tours of Paris. You choose which you’d prefer but Paris is a very walkable city and you should take full advantage! And what’s great about a walking tour of the city is that by the end you’ve seen a lot of the awesome sights all in just one morning or afternoon.  If you don’t have it already, get Rick Steves’ Guide to Paris. Or if you’re traveling around the country get Rick Steves’ Guide to France. It’s fantastic and will save you tons of time in lines, give you great advice on accommodations, etc. Best guidebook ever. And since you have Rick Steves’ book, take one of his walking tours. He has great guides in his book or even better, he has an app that you can download on your phone or iPod and listen to while you’re walking. The app even comes with a map that you can follow. He has audio tours for the Louvre, the Orsay, Versailles Palace, and Historic Paris Walk.

    Top 6 Things To Do In Paris

    Go to the Eiffel Tower (in the day and at night). If you can only go once, go at night! In fact, go sometime a little before 9 or 10pm, take a bottle of wine (and opener) and a blanket. It’s awesome. Every evening the Eiffel Tower sparkles for 5 minutes every hour on the hour. It’s one of our favorite things in the whole world. If you have time, climb the tower but it’s really not necessary. There are tons of places that you can get a great view of the city.

    Top 6 Things To Do In Paris

    Go to a museum. The Louvre is awesome. The D’Orsay is awesome. Rodin is awesome. Pompideau (modern art) is great if you want to look at the building from the outside (not the one I’d choose to pay to go to unless you’re really into modern art).

    Top 6 Things To Do In Paris

    Go to a market. There are a bunch of great outdoor food markets that are a lot of fun. The one near the Bastille is the largest, and runs Thursday and Sunday mornings from 9 to noonish. It’s fun just to walk up and down the isles looking at all of the beautiful food, flowers and random selection of household items.

    Top 6 Things To Do In Paris

    Go to a park or garden. I highly recommend the Tuileries Garden or the Luxembourg Garden. These are huge gardens/parks. Take some lunch and do a little people watching! If you’re looking for something a bit smaller, try Place des Vosges, located in the Marais district.

    Top 6 Things To Do In Paris

    Go on a tour. These past two summers I’ve gone on a Cheese Tasting Tour and then a Taste of Saint-Germain Food Tour. I’ve had really good experience with Paris By Mouth but there are many other companies that offer great options. This summer I’m hoping to try going on some type of tour using Vayable.com. They offer tons of unique tours and experiences for anyone visiting a variety of cities, including Paris. Some of the ones I want to do are Paris Design Tour, Learn to Eat Like a Local, Wine Tasting, and Paris Flea Market Tour.

    I’ve told you six of our top Paris recommendations and really, our favorite things to do but I haven’t mentioned anything about food. If you’re looking for places to eat, check out my next post, I’ll be listing a few places that we think are worth your time.

    3 Comments | Posted in: France, Paris | Tagged with: , ,
  • Paris Bucket List

    June 4, 2013

    Sacré Coeur de MontmartreSacré Coeur de Montmartre

    As you probably can tell, we’ve arrived in Paris.  I took this picture last week (during one of the few nice weather moments) while Allison and I were sightseeing.  We’ll be here for almost five weeks this summer (although more than a week has already passed) and I’ve put together a bucket list of the things I (and a few additions from Dusty) want to do while we’re here.  If you can tell, many of them are related to food, which is really no surprise.

    Lunch at Verjus
    Hot chocolate at Angelina
    Macarons at Carette in Place des Vosges
    Gelato at Pozzetto in the Marais
    Pizza at La Briciola
    Crepes at Breizh Cafe
    Eclairs at L’Éclair de Génie in the Marais
    Steak & frites at Le Relais de l’Entrecôte
    Dinner at Cafe Constant
    Dinner at Frenchie
    Dinner & drinks (for Dusty) at Frenchie Wine Bar
    Dinner at Les Cocottes
    Lunch at Septime
    French Open at Roland-Garros
    Walk the Paris Promenade
    Go for a picnic and lie on the grass at Place des Vosges
    Take a day trip outside of the city
    Go on a date night with Dusty at least once a week
    See the sparkling lights of the Eiffel Tower at night
    Go to La Droguerie and Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche for yarn
    Traditional Paris sightseeing

    And then of course, there’s everything else I want/need to be doing that’s not necessarily Paris related.  Some of them include blog writing and making update to how our blog looks, photoshop class, working on my dissertation, knitting, exercising, preparing for the arrival of our bambino, and prepping for summer classes I’ll be teaching when we return home.

    5 Comments | Posted in: Paris | Tagged with: , , ,