For me, food is a big part of travel. It allows you to experience new cultures and meet the locals if you do it right, and being a fussy eater at the best of times, I like to have a few places scoped out before I arrive. I was only in Paris for three days, but we managed to find some great little places so I thought it would be worth sharing. I've also added in a little map to the bottom of this post with all of the details, hopefully it helps if you're planning a trip to Paris!

Time for Tea

Angelina

If you find yourself in Paris, you must visit Angelina for one of their famous hot chocolates and cakes. Angelina was first founded in 1903 by Antoine Rumpelmayer and quickly became the place to be among the Parisian aristocracy and Coco Chanel herself. If you only try one thing, make it their African Hot Chocolate. The famous african hot chocolate is composed of three carefully selected kinds of African cocoa sourced from Niger, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, and is unlike anything I've ever tasted. While you're sipping on your hot chocolate, you'll also *need* a pastry to go with it. The Mont-Blanc is Angelina's most famous pastry combining meringue, light whipped cream and chestnut paste vermicelli - a unique and unrivalled recipes since 1903. 

Pierre Hermé

Pierre Hermé is the home of the macaroon - a must for any parisian stroll. Pierre Hermé is a french pastry chef and chocolatier, who created his own brand in 1998. Heir to four generations of alsatian baker and pastry-making tradition, Pierre Hermé began his career at the age of 14 as an apprentice to Gaston Lenôtre, so it's fair to say he knows his stuff. Since then, he's been awarded the title of World's Best Pastry Chef and fourth most influential French person in the world. His stores are scattered across the city, so you're bound to stumble across one on your walks. 

Ladurée

When in Paris, tea and cake at Ladurée is a must. The recipe for the Ladurée macaron hasn't changed since the middle of the 20th century, and with good reason - it's delicious. The restaurant on the Champs Elysées is simply stunning - sit and let the world go by as you enjoy one of the worlds most famous macarons, in one of the worlds prettiest restaurants. 

Lunch and Dinner

La Bocca Della Verita

If you're craving italian food whilst you're in Paris (honestly, I'm always craving italian food!), then La Bocca Della Verita is a must. The menu is pretty small, but they've perfected everything they serve. Their hazelnut and rocket pesto pasta is to die for, and the cocktails aren't to be missed either!

A La Cloche d'Or

If you're wanting to try traditional french food, then A La Cloche d'Or is perfect for you. The baked camembert is the best I've ever had, and the staff are all super friendly. The restaurant serves food until midnight, and I'd say the best time to go is around 10pm. You can also book this restaurant online here to guarantee a space and it's in the perfect location right next to the Moulin Rouge!

Frog Hop House

The Frog Hop House has been brewing beer in Paris since 1993 (the year all the best things were born haha) and has since opened up their own bar/restaurant right by Rue Cambon. It's perfect if you want American-French food (their halloumi burger is great) and a cocktail or two. They also serve a great breakfast and the atmosphere is laid back, so perfect for an easy dinner. 

Light Bites:

Bistrot Valois

Located right across the street from the Palais Royal (a.k.a my fave spot in Paris), Bistrot Valois is perfect for grabbing a bite to eat and a glass of bubbly. We stopped off for just that to beat the cold before heading back to the hotel - I'd really recommend the cheese and meats board. 

Café de Flore

The Café de Flore is one of the oldest coffeehouses in Paris. Located at the corner of Boulevard Saint-Germain and Rue Saint-Benoît, in Saint-Germain-des-Prés in the 6th arrondissement, it is celebrated for its famous clientele.

Thomas Jefferson famously said 'a walk in Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of life'. Desperate to experience this for ourselves, we booked a short break in the much-loved French capital city. Having lived in London for a while now, it's a wonder as to why I've not made Paris my second home. It's so close to London, yet so far from what London is...indescribable differences that make these cities incomparable, yet beautiful in their own ways. I've said it time and time again, whilst I love London, spending too much time there can wear you down...Paris on the other hand, is the city to visit when you want to feel alive. 

Even emerging from a railway station, you're surrounded by the beauty of the city. Take the Gare D'Orsay for example, you're instantly hit by a view of the Seine and it's many wonderful bridges, the Louvre, Notre Dame, the beginning of the Champs Elysees, I could go on....there really is nothing like it on earth. 

Anyway, I digress, today I wanted to share with you my first day in Paris, and how I instantly fell in love with the city. Our flight left London Heathrow bright and early, so we were lucky enough to catch the morning light in Paris by 8am. The first part of our morning was filled with the necessary admin tasks that come with landing in a new city - finding the hotel, checking in, and of course caffeinating for the day ahead. Unfortunately, Air France lost our suitcase, so a lot of our day was spent on the phone to their (somewhat useless) customer service team trying to locate our belongings, with little success.

Determined not to let the small issue of a missing case ruin our mini-break, we hopped on the metro to the Grand Palais for a quick look, we were pretty behind schedule at this point so we didn't have time to go inside, and then a wander down the Champs Elysées to the Arc De Triomphe. We found that the best way to see Paris was to walk, theres so much beauty in the architecture and the quaint little shops and cafes that you'll miss if you're on the metro - so it was definitely worth the extra steps to walk everywhere on day one.


As I said, the architecture in Paris is something to behold, and the Champs Elysées is just stunning. The Avenue des Champs-Elysées is probably the most famous avenue in the world. The impressive street stretches from the Place de la Concorde (the famous fountain where Anne Hathaway throws her Blackberry away in the Devil Wears Prada a.k.a my fave film ever) to the Place Charles de Gaulle, or the site of the Arc De Triomphe.

Determined to make it to the Arc De Triomphe before it got too dark to enjoy the view, we strolled down the Champs Elysées without stopping in any of the shops (serious will power was required), only stopping to take a few snaps of the beautiful buildings.


When we finally made it to the Arc De Triomphe we spent some time exploring the beautiful details of the statue and paying our respects to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It's often easy to forget that the Arc De Triomphe is more than just a beautiful statue, but a monument to honour those who fought and dies for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The monument has the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer pillars, and beneath the monument lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from WW1, marked by the first eternal flame in Europe since the Vestal Virgins' fire was extinguished in the fourth century. It can be quite a solemn experience, but something I'd definitely recommend visiting if you're into your history like me.

After we'd taken it all in underneath the monument, we headed inside to purchase our tickets and hop in the lift to the top. It turns out that a visit to the top is actually free if you're under 25, so remember to take your ID with you and you can save yourself a few euros! We then quickly discovered that the lift was out of service for maintenance and that we'd have to climb all the way to the top...this wouldn't normally be a problem but I was suffering with the flu and trust me, it's not easy to climb when you can barely breathe! After we'd finally made it to the top (after multiple little breaks) we were amazed by the view. From the top of the Arc De Triomphe you can see pretty much the whole of Paris - everything from the Sacre Coeur to the Eiffel Tower and all of the pretty buildings in between. It was a pretty misty day when we visited, but luckily we were still able to enjoy the breathtaking view.


After we'd made it safely back down the Arc De Triomphe, we decided to rest our legs and do the typical girls weekend thing of going for tea and cake at Ladurée. The Ladurée restaurant on the Champs Elysées is simply stunning, it's typical parisian ornate decor was everything I'd ever dreamed of and the treats were to die for. I had the hot chocolate with chantilly cream and it was honestly like nothing I'd ever tasted - simply amazing. Between us we managed to try one of their chocolate delights, a cheesecake and their famous Ispahan, all of which were so tasty. As I go through my three days in Paris, I'm sure you'll start to notice a theme...hot chocolate and cake!


After we'd finished up at Ladurée and felt we were ready to brave the cold, we hopped on the metro and took a quick train to the Louvre. We didn't spend long here as it was getting dark, and we'd all been before, but it was still lovely to have a quick walk around and grab some photos next to the famous art gallery. It was already dusk by this point, so there wasn't too much more sightseeing we could fit into the day, however we did quickly cross the road to admire the Palais Royal - one of my favourite places in Paris. As it was getting dark quickly, we made the decision to revisit the Palais Royal another day, as we wanted to admire it's beauty during daylight.


As it had been quite a long day (especially with losing all of our belongings - thanks Air France!) we decided to treat ourselves to some bubbles and some traditional french snacks (french bread, french cheese and french cold meats) at Bistrot Valois, located right next to the Palais Royal. The Bistro was a traditional french cafe, complete with european festive decorations - it was the perfect way to get cosy before heading back to the hotel.


After we'd drank our way through a bottle of french champagne, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for dinner - although there wasn't much we could do as we didn't have our outfits and makeup with us! For dinner, we headed to La Bocca Della Verita - a quaint little italian restaurant recommended to me by Jenny from Margo & Me (she's your go-to girl on all things Paris!). If your craving italian food, then this place is to die for - their rocket and hazelnut pasta is divine.

If you're a foodie visiting London, then you need to take a trip down to Borough Market a.k.a foodie's paradise. Borough Market is London's most renowned food and drink market, and for good reason. I had the day off work today, so I decided to take a little trip across London to see what all of the fuss was about...

Located right next to London Bridge Station, the market is made up from 70 stalls all selling gourmet food from across the globe. Before you enter the market, you're greeted with hundreds of buzzing tourists and Londoners eating, chatting and snapping the odd photograph, which makes for such an exciting atmosphere - the whole place was buzzing. 

Borough Market is quite a loud place, and it's definitely very busy (especially around lunch time - abound the 12pm rush if you can!), so it's not one for the faint hearted...but then again, I wouldn't say London is for those who prefer a quiet life! There's so much to see, eat and do at Borough Market, it's really worth planning to spend half a day looking around the stalls so that you can see everything. I ended up staying for around 3 hours, just wandering through all of the stalls and sampling the culinary delights...everything from scallops to donuts, but the cheese stalls were definitely my favourite (and of course the prosecco spritzers!). 

With so much on offer, it's easy to get overwhelmed and go for the first stall you see. However, my top tip would be to take a walk around the whole market first before deciding what you want to eat..there's nothing worse than settling for the first thing you see then getting major food envy right after...and definitely go with an empty stomach! 

If you've traveled all the way over to Southwark to see the market, it's worth planning in some time to explore the surrounding area. London Bridge area is alive with history, so it's definitely worth planning in one of the Jack the Ripper tours...if you can handle a fright!

Bon Appétit!