So it is with great sadness that I announce I am back from holidays. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to get back into the blog, but not so excited to be back from my trip! It was such a blast, and even though some of the people I was travelling with were ready to come home, I certainly wasn’t. It was a great trip with our whirlwind French roadtrip, an interesting boat trip (such a long story but one that does involve a trip to Albania and not as much cruising around the Greek islands as one would anticipate…but I can say we got to know Corfu port really well!) and an amazing week exploring the Greek Island of Crete. I loved it so much I’m already dreaming of my next trip and aching to book something in so I can look forward to more amazing experiences, scenery, cities and of course food!

As per usual with me my travelling centred around food, and I had so much amazing food that I can’t even begin to share all of it! But what I did want to do was share some of the places we went so that you might be able to enjoy some of the incredible foodie experiences I did. I wanted to start with one of the places that I researched the most before I went: Paris. We were only there for one full day which was definitely not enough time to see and experience everything we wanted to (we had both been there before but really come on, you can never see enough of Paris!). So we decided that with our one day, rather than standing in queues to the main attractions, we would make up our own express walking tour of Paris! I did all the research to find the perfect walking journey from our hotel around some of the main sights, but more importantly centred around the key foodie spots! I spent hours trawling through blog posts, trip advisor and yelp reviews to come up with our walking tour, and so I figured why keep all of that knowledge to myself?

Once I had made the walking tour up, I realised just how much walking it was going to involve. This is definitely not for the faint hearted, so feel free to simply take some of my recommendations and pick and choose where you go to. You might even be smart and catch a metro or ride a bike between places. We didn’t end up finishing my original tour because we got so hot, bothered and full that we decided the priority was getting back to the hotel for a few drinks before heading to the Moulin Rouge, but I reckon if we had broken it up with a bit of using the metro, we probably would have made it through. But we may not have had room for all the sweets! It is a bit of a conundrum you see. I need to make the caveat too that I didn’t look at the opening hours of some of these stores, so when we got there a couple were closed. I’ve written this in the blog post for your reference, so feel free to chop and change based on what you want to see. We definitely didn’t make it to everywhere on my list, so if you are after something that we didn’t make it to you might need to adjust based on my learnings. I think I will need to go back to Paris to do it all again in the name of perfecting it!

You can find the full interactive google map here for your reference. It has another few stops and options for you, and I’ll explain these along the way. Hopefully this will help guide you in your journey, or at least give you some ideas of what to try when you visit Paris.

Foodie Stop #1: L’Eclair de Genie for out of this world eclairs

So the first stop on the tour was L’Eclair de Genie which I had read about everywhere because of the amazing eclair selection they have. They have multiple locations across the city so if you are hankering for an eclair I would definitely try here. Unfortunately we were too early being our first stop (it opens at 12pm) and so we didn’t get to try these, but I really wish we did because I have heard so much about them. Go here for interesting flavour combinations and amazing pastries. I have heard passionfruit and rasbperry are particularly good – FYI these have been voted the best in Paris so they must be good!

We went to the one on Rue Montorgueil but there are other locations so check them out and let me know how they are!

Tourist Stop #1: Rue Montorgueil

This is the longest street in Paris and is exactly what you would expect from the city, like it has come from a postcard, so get your camera ready! I could have spent hours wandering this street with its little bakeries, cafes and florists. It was so picturesque and made for a great sight to enjoy whilst chowing down on a pastry, or 5. Definitely worth having a wander and perhaps grabbing a coffee in a cafe if you have time, or even grabbing some supplies for the picnic you’ll have later (I would highly recommend this if the weather is cooler as by the time we got to the fromagerie I wanted to go to later it was already closed and so we had to go to the supermarket for our picnic).

Foodie Stop #2: Stohrer for the oldest Patisserie in Paris

This ended up being our first stop on our Foodie walking tour and it did not disappoint. It is the oldest Patisserie in Paris and you can see why it has stayed open for all these years. It was a tiny little shop made all the smaller by the huge cabinets filled to the brim with every pastry you could possible imagine. You could barely move with all the people in there but they operated with such efficiency that we got served well before we’d been able to decide between all the sweets in front of us. We opted for a Rhum Baba because this is what everyone recommends to order, and then a coffee eclair because we had a craving after missing out on the first stop. I think you’d be able to order anything from this patisserie though and have something delicious, everything looked amazing! This place oozes Parisian charm and if my French wasn’t so bad I would have almost felt like I lived there ordering our pastries.

Only problem is there is no sitting space to eat your pastries (we found this at most patisseries), so we ended up walking to the Les Halles area nearby which had a nice big park with loads of sitting space. We enjoyed our pastries there, and gosh were they amazing! My partner is obsessed with Rhum Baba and I’m normally not the biggest fan, but this one was delicious! My favourite though was the eclair, it was so perfectly cooked and still crunchy on the outside. I only wish we could have ordered more from this patisserie, but I knew we had a lot more to fit in so we had to keep moving!

Pro-tip #1: If you are travelling with a partner, opt to share between you rather than having one each. It means you can fit more in all round (although you might be like my partner and I and still order 2 things but share so you get to try more…let’s be real you are going to be doing a lot of walking so I wouldn’t worry too much about filling up!)

Tourist Stop #2: The Lourve

We walked from Les Halles down to the river and along until we reached the Lourve. It was early but the lines were already huge so I was glad we weren’t going in! You can go to the Lourve and still enjoy the beautiful architecture without going inside, although if you have more time in Paris I would recommend it for the art. It is a nice landmark to see on your way through to the next foodie stop. Take your tourist snap like everyone else, take a look through some of the glass pyramids to the gallery below, and head on out of there before the crowds get much bigger!

Foodie Stop #3: Erik Kayser for croissants and baguettes

The next stop is a bit of a point of contention because it was really difficult for me to find a definitive answer to one of the most important questions: where can I find the best croissants and baguettes in Paris? Everywhere I read no one had a consistent answer, and I was having trouble deciding where we should go to try the best of the best. I even found out that each year there is an award for the best baguette in Paris, and that you should make sure your baguettes don’t have rounded edges as this means they are machine made (I am pretty serious about my bread ok). After much research and deliberating, I chose Erik Kayser as the bakery had come up multiple times in my search, and it seemed to make the most sense geographically for the foodie tour. It seemed like the logical choice for us, but for your reference, and to benefit those who might be in Paris for longer, I also heard Du Pain et des Idees is meant to be amazing, Ble Sucre or Le Grenier a Pain for bread. Next time I’ll definitely be taking myself on a bread and croissant tour of Paris, because they are just so good in France! I was eating bread without anything on it, it was that delicious (and now I am understanding why I put on so much weight…whoops).

So Erik Kayser had write ups for their bread, sandwiches and of course their croissants. I had decided that we would have a picnic lunch, so we picked up a classic baguette and a plain croissant. I chowed down on the croissant there and then and coming from someone who cannot usually eat a croissant plain without some jam, it was absolutely incredible. The croissant was flakey, crunchy and super soft on the inside. It was absolutely delicious, and I was so glad we had already walked away before finishing the croissant because I would have 100% gone back in and ordered 5 more then and there. The baguette was also perfect: super crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside, it was one of the best baguettes I have ever had. I don’t really know what makes a baguette win an award, but I have to say this bakery won the award from my heart.

Foodie Stop #4: Angelina for hot chocolate

Originally we weren’t going to stop at Angelina for hot chocolate because it was summer, but the next stop on the tour didn’t open until 12pm so we decided to back track. Angelina is a bit of an institution and it is difficult to read a blog about the food of Paris that doesn’t mention it. They are famous for their hot chocolates and I wasn’t really all that fussed reading about them, but we saw the line and figured that it must be worth it. Once we got in you could see already why it is so famous. It has the grandest sitting area of any cafe I’ve ever been to, and even the waiters are in tuxedos. It makes you feel like you are on the set of a belle epoque movie, eating delicacies and enjoying the finer things. I thought the cafe was absolutely beautiful, and sort of wished we were able to stay for a meal, or a high tea, or anything really! But we were there for one thing and one thing only: the hot chocolate.

Like I said, I didn’t know what all the fuss was about before I had the hot chocolate, and I was a little skeptical at the price too. But it was 100% worth it for the experience, and just how delicious the hot chocolate was. It was unlike any hot chocolate I’ve ever had – thick, creamy but smooth and subtle. It was so incredible, and something that was quite special in itself without the whole experience of the grand cafe. Definitely worth a stop, the blogs write about it for a reason! And yes it is totally worth queuing for, so get in that line and get yourself a dark hot chocolate!

Pro-tip #2: Don’t bother ordering the white hot chocolate, it is definitely not as incredible as the classic dark one (it was still good, but no where near as good as the dark). Also, we ordered a mont blanc pastry because it was their signature. Whilst it was nice, it definitely wasn’t as good as I thought it would be, and it wasn’t anything to write home about. My partner enjoyed it more than I did, but my recommendation would be to wait for the next stop for pastries…you won’t regret it.

Pro-tip #3: this is a good spot to stop for souvenirs for your foodie friends. They have a large range of delicious treats in cute tins and jars which are perfect for taking home for someone special, or for yourself.

Foodie Stop #5: Cedric Grolet for the best pastries in the world

The next stop on our Foodie Walking Tour was my favourite spot. Cedric Grolet won the World’s Best Pastry chef award a couple of weeks before we went to Paris, and although I already had his patisserie on my list for the foodie tour, I knew we had to go after hearing this. Unfortunately everyone else wanted to go to, so when we arrived at about 12.30pm, there was a huge line! They only let a few people into the small store at a time, and we were undecided about waiting with so much still to do. But we ended up waiting for about an hour to get in, and it was well worth the wait. My tip would be to get there before 12pm so you are one of the first in line (there was a guy waiting at 11am…but we decided to get hot chocolate instead not knowing about this queue situation). I have never seen anything like it, people were coming out of the patisserie with giant bags filled to the brim with pastries, some even coming out with 2 or 3! I realised in that moment it must be good, so we knew we needed to take the time to wait. After all, you don’t win best pastry chef in the world for nothing!

When we got into the store, it was so special. They have one bench and only a couple of items to choose from, but the man at the door explained what our choices were. Cedric Grolet is famous for trying interesting combinations between fruits and herbs, and we had a difficult choice on our hands! We opted for one of his famous ‘fruits’ which are a pastry shaped as the fruit that it is flavoured, and one of the pieces of his fruit tarts. We got a cherry shaped pastry and a raspberry and thyme tart, and enjoyed them later after our picnic.

If you go to one place in Paris, this would be where I would recommend. The pastries were absolutely incredible, and unlike anything I’ve ever eaten. Everything was special about this experience, from the tiny store, to the packaging (each fruit had its own special box), to the cracking open of the special pastry to reveal the fruit filling on the inside. The pastries were the perfect balance of sweetness so you didn’t feel sick after eating them, and the flavours were so different yet perfect, honestly you can see why he won this award! The raspberry and thyme tart was the most suprising to me flavour wise, who would have thought of putting these two things together? Only a genius! The Cherry fruit was also incredible, and something I wish I had bought two of so I could enjoy it all over again. I know why everyone was coming out with huge bags now!

Just a warning, this isn’t the cheapest pastry shop, in fact the fruits are quite expensive. But I promise you it is worth it for the amazing, unique tastes of these pastries!

Tourist Stop #3: The Tuilleries Gardens

The Tuilleries Gardens are definitely worth a walk around and stop if you are feeling a bit full already, or even just to relax. They are absolutely beautiful, but what I loved most was that there were so many people around running, walking, relaxing. It is a great place to just take a moment, sit down on a chair around the famous fountain, or grab a coffee in one of the cafes. I’ve only been there in winter before and during summer the trees allow some nice shade and are absolutely beautiful! Someone seriously master planned this park down to the finest detail to get them all in such uniform formation. You’ll also get your first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower from here and if you get as excited as I do about it the gardens are a must stop.

We wandered through here on our way to the next stop with a rest around the fountain to catch our breaths and enjoy the scenery. It was a Sunday so everyone was out and about enjoying the sunshine.

Tourist Stop #4: Grand Palais and Pont Alexandre III

Our next stop was a walking stop to walk past the beautiful Grand Palais and across the Pont Alexandre III to the other side of the river. The bridge absolutely took my breath away, and it was also a nice walk along the river from the Tuilleries with plenty of walking space. It also presented a lot of opportunities to take a nice photo with the bridge in the background and the Eiffel Tower at the same time! We didn’t go very near the palace but it was still worth seeing, although the bridge was definitely a highlight.

Once you’ve walked across the bridge, the walk towards the Eiffel tower is beautiful. The neighbourhood on the other side of the river is stunning with its beautiful old buildings and streets lined with trees. It is definitely a lovely place for a stroll, and you’ll keep getting amazing glimpses of the Eiffel Tower as you go.

Foodie Stop #6: La Fromagerie for picnic supplies

Unfortunately we were too late for La Fromagerie, as by the time we got there it was 2.30pm (waiting in line put us back). So we ended up getting supplies and more importantly a bottle of Rose from the local supermarket, but if you arrive earlier I have read a lot about this place online. It is meant to have an amazing cheese selection which will go perfectly with your baguette, so definitely try and make a stop here. The street that it is on is another beautiful french market like street which is full of little shops for grabbing the perfect supplies for your picnic.

If you are like us and don’t arrive early enough, don’t worry! The supermarkets in Paris have such an amazing selection of French meats, cheeses and wine, you won’t be disappointed. We grabbed some french cheese, some ham and a bottle of Rose for our picnic and it was all under 10 euros! You could even grab some foie gras if you are feeling fancy!

Tourist Stop #5: The Eiffel Tower for a picnic with a view

The next stop is something special: the Eiffel Tower. Rather than climb it, we decided to have a picnic with a view. The park in front of the Eiffel Tower is full of people enjoying picnics with friends and family, so it is a great place to enjoy one yourself! We didn’t really come prepared (although we did have a knife) so we were being extra classy and sipping our Rose from the bottle whilst using the wrappers from the food as our plates, but despite all of this it was something really special. There is something about sitting in the sun looking at such a famous landmark that feels so surreal – it was definitely one of my favourite moments of the day!

If you have the time, you could climb the Eiffel Tower afterwards to get a beautiful view of the city. It is definitely something I’ll be looking to do next time we’re there and have more time! But for now it was very special just sitting enjoying the view, and of course ending the meal with our amazing Cedric Grolet pastries! Somehow I feel there is nothing more french than sitting in a park eating cheese and baguettes with a bottle of wine, I felt so incredibly happy in this moment!

Pro-tip #4: If you don’t manage to get wine on your walk to the Eiffel Tower, there are people selling cold beverages in the park (although it will probably cost you more)

Foodie Stop #7: La Pattiserie de Reves for Paris Brest

The next stop is a bit of a walk away, and I’ll be honest, after a wine or 3 in the sun we definitely felt a little deflated. We had been walking all morning and because it was Sunday most of the shops were closed, so there wasn’t much going on. We even stopped for a coffee on the way to our next stop to get us going again, and I think without this we might have almost not made it to the next location. But by the time we got to this area we had made a bit of room and so we popped into La Pattiserie de Reves for the best Paris Brest in Paris.

Paris Brest is a round pastry with creme in the middle, sort of like the sandwhich of the sweet tooth’s dreams. Of course, being in Paris, it was something I absolutely had to try, and I had read that this place had the best. The patisserie has a great fit out, really colourful and modern. You can view the pastries on a round table inside but they bring you out your own from the back once you pay. We ordered the Paris Brest and took our pastry to a local park to sit and enjoy it (again, no seating).

The Paris Brest was incredible. I don’t know what they put in it or how they made it, but the flavours were amazing! It broke apart so easily into little chunks making it super easy to eat and to share. It had a bit of a hazlenut flavour to it which was subtle and delicious. I was suprised by how much I enjoyed it as I usually find Paris Brest too hard to eat and usually too sweet, so I can definitely see why La Pattiserie de Reves won the award.

Tourist Stop #6: Notre Dame

So unfortunately after the last stop the heat really got to us and as a result we decided to abandon our foodie tour and go on a search for a happy hour drink. The main problem was that we were still quite far away from our hotel, so it took us a really long time to walk back, and to be honest we may as well have continued our foodie tour as at least it would have taken us on probably more scenic route. But anyway! We eventually got our drink, and did manage to see one more tourist stop on the tour on the way.

The last time I stayed in Paris we stayed on Ile Saint-Louis, which is really near to the Notre Dame (the next island over). I remember absolutely falling in love with the Notre Dame, and I got that same feeling seeing it this time around. Walking up through the touristy area wasn’t the best, but coming into the main square and seeing the beautiful church took my breath away. It was definitely worth making a stop at to admire before heading over the bridge and back to our hotel in Marais. If you have the time, I highly recommend going in to see the inside, it is absolutely breathtaking. But go early if you are going to do this as the line goes literally out the door throughout the day!

Spots we missed and why you should try to get to them

There were a few spots that we missed on our Foodie Walking tour, and I wanted to include them just in case you had more stamina than we did and were able to fit them in! I feel a little dissappointed that we ended up giving up as some of these we really should have made time (and more importantly room for in our stomachs) but I guess there is always next time! Hopefully you can fit them into your visit.

• Optional stop at Les Deux Margots for lunch before walking to St Germaine – we didn’t stop here because of our picnic under the Eiffel Tower, but if you want to have a more formal lunch, and you also want the full Paris Cafe experience, I would go here on your way from La Patisserie des Reves. I’ve heard the Croque Monsieur is amazing! Plus you get the grande Parisienne cafe experience, something we didn’t really do this time around.
• Pierre Herme, home of the best macarons – This was a bit of a point of contention when I was researching as Laduree was also voted the best, but I chose Pierre Herme because it sounded a little more special (I mean we have Lauduree in Australia now), and because it is famous for its unusual flavours. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to sample a macaron, something I am quite disappointed about now I am writing this (seriously who goes to Paris and doesn’t have a macaron? Me apparently #foodbloggerfail). So if you get a chance to go, please go for me and tell me how it is! There are plenty of locations but I chose the St Germaine one for the food tour. If you’d rather go to Laduree, there is one nearby, and I hear the vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and salted caramel are the ones to get!
• Tourist stop at the Garden of Luxemborg – I really wish we’d walked the extra distance to go here as I’ve seen it all over instagram and it looks incredible! However it is a little out of the way so if you are getting tired, like we did, you probably won’t feel like it either! I think next time I will definitely make the time to go here because it seems beautiful, and is also really close to the Pantheon which is another must see stop! On your way there it seemed from my research that there was a crepe street nearby with some excellent options if you wanted to sample some crepes. Check out my map for the locations.
• Odette for choux pastries – this place I found on instagram and read about, but mainly I just wanted to go for a photo opp (seriously look it up, it is the cutest shop front I’ve ever seen). This is nearby the Notre Dame on the St Germaine side of the river, and is meant to have amazing choux pastries. Look, I know you’ll be full by then, but surely you can fit in a tiny sweet treat? I doubt we would have been able to stop at one if we went, my partner is obsessed with choux pastry!
• Berthillon in Ile Saint-Louis – I really can’t believe we didn’t make it to Berthillon as it is famous for having the best ice cream in Paris, and my partner is obsessed with ice cream, but we were in Ile Saint-Louis the night before and so when we were tired we decided to skip walking through the island again. I highly recommend walking here though after the Notre Dame because it is the cutest little island. We stayed there when I was last in Paris and it has the cutest main street filled with little shops and cafes. You’ll find Berthillon all over but make sure you go to the main store for the real deal. There was a huge line when we walked past, but this is how you know it’s good!
• Breizh Cafe for crepes – I was looking for the best crepe place in Paris and Breizh kept coming up again and again. This is more of a sit down crepe shop and seems to be famous for its savoury crepes (I am a sucker for the ones you get from the little hole-in-the-wall stores that are filled with nutella, but each to their own!) so it would be perfect for a stop for something to balance out all the sweets you’ve been eating throughout the day! If you are in the area, or on the walking tour heading back to Marais from Ile Saint-Louis, I would highly recommend stopping here. We had this Brittany style crepes later in the trip and they are absolutely delicious!
• Jacques Genin – finally, our last stop was meant to be Jacques Genin for the best chocolate in Paris. There were a couple of contenders, but upon looking on instagram I decided that this was the place. They have an amazing selection, and I’m sort of glad we didn’t go in because I think I would have been totally overwhelmed with making up my mind on what to try! They have plenty of locations across Paris but I chose one near the hotel we were staying at.

So there you have it! It was a whirlwind one day tour of Paris, and my legs were so sore from walking in sandals for days after but it was totally worth it! Can you believe after this tour we went to the Moulin Rouge and even had dinner?! We are pretty serious when it comes to food, but this foodie tour did defeat us. I would definitely pick and choose and perhaps use other methods of transportation if you were to do it yourself! I am so glad we did it though because we had such a fun time and it was the perfect way to see Paris in a day! Next time I will definitely give this city more of my time, and probably not do this on a Sunday so that more is open! But that’s the magic of travelling, sometimes you just have to go with the flow. And hey, we still had a great time!

Let me know if you try any of my tips in the comments below!

Until next time, happy eating!

Ella xx