what i ate in paris
from the girl that went to paris
i think about lisa love a lot. more specifically, i think about her absolutely eviscerating lauren conrad on the hills, telling everyone about how lauren is the girl who didn’t go to paris. i wonder if lisa love wakes up every morning with her first thought being “i DID that”. this past week, i got the chance to go to paris, and while a beach house with my boyfriend does sound nice, off to paris i went!
this trip, i realized paris is an extremely difficult city to be two things in – diabetic and in a relationship. everyone is gorgeous and there seems to be pastries in every other window. but as one of the greatest cities for food in the world, i thought i should share a recap of where and what i ate! since i haven’t been back in a while, i felt super out of the loop, but luckily i got some pretty amazing recs that had that, how do you say? – je ne sais quois?
Mamiche -
This bakery in Republique is one of my favorites. When I came here two years ago I went every single day for breakfast and got a pain perdue pastry that changed my life. i think about it all the time, so knowing that i would have the chance to eat it again, this place became a bit of an obsession this time around. alas, while they did not have the pain perdue available while i was in town, i got their chocolate babka which is god tier (there is so much babka in paris, it kind of catches me off guard? it is so not french to me, but i am certainly not complaining. i also got a pain au chocolat that was nothing to cry home about which was redeemed the next morning by an almond croissant i would consider going into a diabetic coma for.
after eating the babka on the first day i over estimated my insulin and almost blacked out from low blood sugar on my way to find a cold brew! a big merci beaucoup for glucose tablets!
Sexy and sleek wine bar and tapas in the 11th. Had a fabulous skin contact wine and some really fun dishes like a brazilian tapioca cheese bread, ouefs mayo, artichoke hearts with pesto and really delicious octopus! my boss also deboned a fish better than anyone i have ever seen before in my life! my food ick is that i really struggle with fish bones, if i even feel one, the meal is over for me so the fact that i even had this was an epic sign of my trust. dessert here was just okay, but i did enjoy the lemon meringue tart!
a highlight of this trip! my french-swiss boss invited us to dinner with her parents to their favorite restaurant near the arc de triomphe, and she warned us saying it was going to be “very french”. to which i thought “how french could it possibly be?” spoiler alert: it was tres tres french. i could instantly tell this restaurant has been around since what i assume is the beginning of paris. we walk in to the owner, the greatest character i have ever met of whom i understood zero percent of what he said. he greeted my boss’ parents in a way i knew could only mean they have been eating there for decades. they knew every waiter, and i immediately went from feeling like a stoopid american to a VIP. the restaurant itself is decorated with pictures of the owner with various celebs over the years, and it made me feel like i was right at home in a west village pizzeria.
everything about this place was perfect, and the food was fab. it was classic french –multiple bottles of red wine, white asparagus, oeufs mayo, celery remoulade, and i was forced to wanted to try snails for the first time!
we ended the meal with espresso and an iconic baba rhum cake drowned in a tiki bar’s worth of rum! *insert insulin pen NOW*
a tale as old as time – a boy takes the day off, a boy goes shopping, a boy spends too much money and then thinks “let me take myself out to lunch”. classic. i went to this italian spot in the marais which my coworkers had told me about. i was in the area and my shopping bag was big and heavy and i didn’t feel like walking far so i popped in to see if they had room for one. i was in luck and they sat me down.
with nothing but my shopping bag as my date, i got a great glass of wine and one of the best pastas i have ever had – a paccheri with garlic miso butter and fried artichoke hearts! 10/10, no notes. i won’t stop thinking about this much like i won’t stop thinking about lisa love.
my last stop for breakfast before my flight was a cute new spot in Republique called Blondie where i got a delicious quiche and a coffee before heading to the airport!
after all of the pastries and wine (and a few glucose tablets), i somehow made it out of paris alive. if you learned anything from this, i hope it is to always remember to be the girl who goes to paris (and to try snails!). my lesson was learned and i am all the better/fuller/drunker for it!
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lisa love would want you to! <3
au revoir!