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Today’s post is about the place we stayed in Paris. We rented an apartment this time around, which we have never done before! You see, our favorite hotel has closed down and we had to look for an alternative place to stay. Le sigh. So the search began. I have read about staying in gorgeous apartments in Paris, but I was a little iffy on how it actually worked. Well, truth be told, it was pretty easy.

Now, there are a bunch of different websites that rent apartments in Paris. We actually tried to rent an apartment from both Paris Perfect and Haven in Paris but the apartments we were interested in weren’t available at the time of our trip.

When choosing a hotel vs an apartment, there a *few* things to consider:
Apartment upsides:
– You have your own kitchen so you can prep a few of your own meals
– There is a dining table, so you can grab things and take them to-go and eat at home. It’s a big way to save money.
-Some apartments have their own washer/dryer, so you can do laundry
-You can stay for extended periods of time for cheaper
-If you are traveling with more than 3 people in your party, it is more economical to rent a big apartment then several hotel rooms (That’s why we went with an apartment)
-It is usually much more spacious than a hotel room

the beautiful antique oil paintings in the apartment we rented!

Apartment Downsides
-There is no concierge, which can be helpful if you need directions or reservations
-Luggage store could potentially be a problem: If you arrive early and the apartment is not available until 5pm, you will have to have somewhere to store your luggage. There are luggage storage locations in most train stations in the city, but it’s such a nuisance!
-Some apartments require you to bring your own linens, towels, and shampoo/conditioner. Go with a reputable place!
-Look to see if it’s on the 5th floor. 5th floor means its hot. And a lot of places don’t have elevators. So every time you go home, you have to hike 5 floors up to your place.

the beautiful antique oil paintings in the apartment

Things to Consider When Selecting an Apartment (or hotel, even!)
-Is there Wi-Fi?
-What floor is the apartment on?
-Is there an elevator?
-Is there a bathroom located in the apartment or is there a shared one down the hall?
-Is there air conditioning? (unlikely)
-Is there heating?
-Where is the apartment located? LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION.  Before we went, I google street mapped where we were potentially going to stay to see if the neighborhood was going to be safe.
-Is the rental company reputable?
-Which way does the apartment face? If it faces the street it could be super noisy
-Is the apartment no-smoking?
-Is the requirement for length of stay?
-How many beds are there AND what size are they? It might say 3 bedroom BUT they are 3 TWIN beds.
-Is there a washer/dryer?
-Is there a kitchen?

The reason we chose to stay in apartment this time around is we were traveling in a group of 4 and it was cheaper to rent a bigger apartment then rent multiple hotel rooms (at least in the hotel-price range we were looking at). The other reason is that we wanted to be able to prep a few meals at home to save some money on dinner. We didn’t want to spend 60 Euros per person every night on dinner!

the view into the main room

Now onto the apartment we rented… We rented this very large and spacious apartment located near the Palais Royal. Our closest metro stop was a 5 minute walk and it was Pyramides.

Renting the apartment from this company was easy and done online.

To get the keys to the apartment was a little bit trickier: we had to call the management company once our plane landed from the airport in Paris. Only one problem: our phones don’t work in Europe. I know you can buy a sim card for your phone to work over there but we did not. The payphones over in Europe require a special phone card that you have to buy… they don’t take coins. Eventually the French lady at the help desk in the airport just made the phone call for us. And everyone keeps saying the French aren’t nice… I have *never* had a problem with the French. I think if you’re nice to people they’ll be nice to you, Kindergarten 101.

Then we met the lady in front of the apartment. Did a quick check in and went over the rules. Super easy!

more of the antique art!

The apartment looked into a courtyard that was quiet.

I don’t know if you can tell, but these curtains are made from Fortuny fabric!! Wow!! The old wood floors were a problem – they were so incredibly squeaky and you had to wear your socks or shoes while walking around because the wood and old nail heads would poke you a little.

Checking out was a breeze. You just… leave the keys in the door and close the door. Done.

Here are some of the professional photos of the apartment we rented:

It had a nice kitchen with a stove, oven, dishwasher, microwave, espresso maker, and refrigerator!

One of the bedrooms…

The other bedroom…

My overall review of the actual apartment we rented:
-I liked the location, it was easy to get to. It was safe. The Metro was a short walk away. The apartment was clean with new sheets and towels. They provided toilet paper, shampoo, soap. This apartment was also huge! It also felt French to us, which was important! We wanted to stay somewhere that felt French! There were also 2.5 baths here! This place could sleep 6 people!
-My dislikes were the wood floor. It was really squeaky and you couldn’t walk around at night without waking the other person up. I wish we were a little bit closer to some of the areas we preferred to shop and eat, but that’s okay, all and all this was a great location.

Would I stay in this apartment again? Yes, but I think if I were to stay in an apartment again I would want to stay somewhere in St. Germain, just to try something new!  So, yes, I do recommend this apartment if you’re headed over there. An honest unpaid review here.

Where do you stay when you go to Paris? Leave me a comment, I will need a place next time I go!

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I have found that you have been enjoying reading my Paris posts.  Today I am writing about eating in Paris.  These include things that I believe are a must-try!  I’ll tell you how to save some money while eating in Paris and I’ll give you some tips if you are a vegetarian headed to Paris!

a raspberry tart… enjoyed on my birthday!

The Croissant
Let’s start with the most obvious thing that you must try – the croissant.  The French croissant is nothing like any croissant I’ve ever had in the USA.  It’s just so much better.  To get the very best croissants, you need to enjoy it by 10AM. Why? Because the croissants are baked very early in the morning and have a short shelf-life… enjoyed in the afternoon, they will loose some of their crunch.

For half of our mornings in Paris, we would go just down the street to Eric Kayser and enjoy a cappuccino and a fresh croissant. While Eric Kayser is a chain, don’t let that fool you – he has written a book and still produces some of the best baguettes and croissants in the city!

eating at Eric Kayser

Another croissant we enjoyed… from Boulangerie Julien Paris!

Of course, if you like almonds… the croissant aux amandes is always a good choice!

Now this funny looking croissant that looks like it has 2 sunny side up eggs is actually a croissant aux abricots AKA apricot croissant. It was quite tasty!

BUT, my MOST FAVORITE croissant of all was the ispahan croissant from Pierre Herme. THIS IS THE BEST CROISSANT EVER!!! Yes, I’m shouting because it deserves that type of praise. Get there early in the morning as they sell out quickly!

The perfect croissant has a little crunch to it then filled with layers of buttery goodness.  Honestly, I have never had a bad croissant in Paris. You can look at reviews of the “best croissant” in Paris, but I find them all to be good.  In fact, my first croissant from Paris was one by Dad brought home for me… it was smashed and survived the 12 hour flight home… and I still remember proclaiming how it was the best croissant I’d ever had ever… until I met the ispahan croissant, that is!


The Baguette
Everyone knows France is famous for their baguettes.  Why? Because they are SO GOOD.  Every morning, many locals head to the local boulangerie to pick up a fresh baguette.  What’s not to love about fresh bread?  Well, besides the fact that they all taste delicious, they are only about 1.50 Euros— AKA your cheapest meal in Paris! That’s so cheap for such a good tasting product!! What I also don’t understand, is how universally good all baguettes are in France, yet in the USA we seem to screw it up.  What’s their secret???

hubby with a baguette

hubby with a baguette on a bike… so French!

Sandwiches

You know what tastes good on those baguettes? Cheese. And meat. And fresh tomatoes. For lunch, we always ate a sandwich.  Our favorite places to go to: Paul, Eric Kayser, Le Petit Vendome were our favorite places to go to! Additionally, almost every little bakery has sandwiches in the window. If you’ve never been to Paris, a favorite of many is the Croque Monsier – ham/cheese sandwich. As a vegetarian, I’ve never had it, but I’ve heard from many it is their favorite! I personally love the caprese sandwich.

Butter

Okay, so I know you’re thinking… butter, seriously?  Yes, seriously!  We all know that the French love their butter.  This butter is from happy cows in the Normandy region of France (they’re happy because Normandy is so pretty, who wouldn’t want to live there? j/k). But this butter takes 3 days to make and hours of churning and then getting hand-beaten with wooden panels. It comes in many different flavors, but it seems everyone’s favorite is the Beurre butter (salted butter) as it has flakes of salt in it…. so yummy! Seriously we would eat bread, butter, and fruit for dinner because it was THAT GOOD.  So when you’re in Paris, I recommend stopping by one of these places to get some.

oh, how i love thee!

Below is a selection of all the different types of Bordier Butter – this was at the Le Grand Epicurie!

Bordier Butter

Our finds at Le Grand Epicerie – a fresh loaf of bread, some butter, and some amazing jam! Yep, that was dinner one night – added some cheese. So good.

 

Macarons

Ok, y’all need to try a macaron in Paris. Just one. I recommend trying at least one of these flavors: pistachio, raspberry, or salted caramel. Then if you decide you like macarons, venture out and try some other interesting flavors!  I already wrote about my experience eating at Laduree (famous macaron shop!) and here I wrote about Pierre Herme (the other famous macaron shop!)

Macarons at Laduree

Ice Cream and Gelato

Okay ice cream lovers, this message is for you – you MUST try the ice cream in Europe! It is a bit different than the ice cream here in the states.  The most famous ice cream maker in Paris is Berthillon, located in the Il de la Cite. His ice cream was extremely smooth with NO ice crystals! It was amazing!  The flavors we tried: salted caramel (caramel beurre sale), raspberry (framboise), orange chocolate (gianduia orange). I honestly can’t pick out a favorite. Their salted caramel receives a TON of raves. The raspberry tasted really like raspberry and was delicious. And the chocolate orange? AMAZING.  Now, I read online the two must try flavors were salted caramel and fresh strawberry (fraise de bois). But the fraise de bois wasn’t available when we were there!

raspberry and salted caramel

chocolate orange and salted caramel

There is always a line at Berthillon – do not fear, it goes pretty quickly and is worth the wait. You flew to Paris – you can wait 20 minutes for the best ice cream ever.

 

Another place we tried the gelato at was at Laduree!  It came in these pre frozen containers – we tried lemon (citron) and raspberry (framboise). It was amazing! It included a little macaron on top too!  This was so refreshing on a hot day!

 

Pastries – Gateaux, Viennoiseries
When you walk through Paris (and the rest of France), you are surely to pass some window with a bunch of pastries on display!  They all sing “eat me” as you pass on by!

My absolute FAVORITE gateau (Gateau means cake) is the Fraisier! The Fraisier is basically like a strawberry short cake – only a bit more refined than the American version.  It is SO refreshing and light!  My favorite version is sold by Angelina – my most favorite pastry shop in Paris!

Oh dear, do I spy more Fraisiers in the window calling my name??  The Fraisier is only available when fresh strawberries are in season. The first days we were in Paris no one had Fraisiers – but the the last TWO days the strawberries ripened and voila! Frasier season time! I love the Fraisier so much, I actually found a European baker in San Francisco who made a Fraisier for our wedding cake!

Of course, you should always try a tart.  This one was a raspberry tart that we celebrated as my birthday cake!

Did I get another Fraisier? Oh, I guess I did.  Oh and what’s that?  a little strawberry tart!  What it nice is that the pastries are usually served in a whole bunch of different sizes – bite size, small, and then large for sharing!

Yes I know this is a crappy picture below, but doesn’t the chocolate look delicious?

Below is a raspberry financier from Eric Kayser.

And we also tried a pistachio financier which was delicious!  I recommend grabbing one of these little viennoiserries and putting it in your purse so you can have a snack during your sight seeing during the day!

Pistachio Financier

One last look at some pastries while window shopping!
Oh! Also, I had saved this website link which contains of a list of the best bakeries in Paris listed by location!

Crepes & Galettes
Another thing you must try in Paris are the crepes! They are so delicious!!!  The other thing that’s nice is that they are a relatively cheap meal!  There are creperies scattered all about the city – some are better than others. I suggest looking at trip advisor or yelp to see which creperies are good near where you want to head to. The savory crepes are actually galled Galettes (not to be confused with the free form pie version). They are served in squares and made with buckwheat flour. The sweet crepes are made with traditional “crepe” recipe that we know of. One of the creperies I do recommend eating at is here near the Louvre – a perfect lunch stop during your day at the Louvre!

a buckwheat galette with cheese, egg, fresh greens, and tomatoes! yummy!!

a raspberry crepe!

Chocolate
Yes, chocolate. You need to try some. La Maison du Chocolat has some of the best chocolate truffles in the world. Go and try one.  I remember someone telling me it was like a symphony in your mouth, as the chocolate melts you get different flavors. Enjoy it. Don’t take the truffle in one bite. Enjoy in 2-3 bites.

I forgot to take a picture of the chocolate because, um, I ate it. It was hot and it was melting and I couldn’t get my camera out fast enough.

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Alright, the next place that is even MORE famous for chocolate is Angelina’s African hot chocolate (chocolat Africain). This chocolate has 3 different types of chocolate mixed in. It is nothing like your Swiss-Mix. It is like literally drinking liquid chocolate. It is SO rich. You could share it with someone. But you need to try it, at least once. Just know though, that sitting inside Angelina’s costs an absolute fortune – I recommend the takeaway counter.  Although, the dining experience in Angelina’s tea room is really fun!

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Head to the Market
Ok, Want to know a secret to save money while dining in Paris? Head to the local market. That’s what the French do. Don’t you want to “eat like the locals”? So then eat like the locals! Here’s what you do – go to the bakery. Get a baguette for 1.50 Euros. Then head to the store. I don’t know French really well, but I learned a few things. If you want to order meats or cheese, you say “tranche, s’il vous plait” (sliced, please!). If you want like 4 slices you say  “quatre tranches, s’il vous plait”. Point to the cheese or you meat you want, as long as your playful and nice, they will help you! Try to say the French words, they will be much nicer to you! Also, don’t grab the vegetables out of the container, please point to them. The storekeeper will get it for you.

Now head back to your place and enjoy a nice French meal – fresh meats, cheese, veggies, bread, grab some wine (or Orangina if you don’t drink) and have a picnic in the park. Or in your hotel. This is how you can save a LOT of money! Also, as a vegetarian, you can really pick what you want! To save money, we brought over some plastic utensils. I highly recommend doing this so you can eat on the cheap!

 

The reason you want to dine at the market for a day or two, is so you can save money to eat at somewhere fancy!

Dine at fancy restaurant
C’mon. It’s Paris. You MUST eat at one nice restaurant! Now, keep in mind. Dinner starts around 8pm. It will last approx 2-3 hours. You are supposed to enjoy the experience and enjoy the food. Enjoy the whole production! It is a show, after all! So stop rushing. Stop staring at the waiter. Do not call the waiter Le garçon. It’s an insult. And don’t be loud in the restaurant, talk in soft voices. Don’t wear your ugly tennis shoes. Wear something fashionable!

Now, as a vegetarian, it is difficult to eat in French restaurants at dinner.  I also don’t speak French, so I don’t know how to politely ask for something vegetarian. The fancy restaurant we ate at that also has a nice vegetarian selection is called Maceo. It was really quite tasty! They have a selection for meat-eaters and vegetarians! It was also one of the fanciest places I’ve dined at before.

Now, there are much fancier restaurants to eat at.  If you are staying in a hotel that has a concierge, your concierge can call the fancy restaurant and request special meal requests (like vegetarian) ahead of time for you. But we stayed in an apartment so that wasn’t an option.

Some of my friends are total foodies and also went to Paris just before and just after us.  They are not vegetarian and they highly recommended trying one of these three fancy restaurants:
– Jules Verne, located on the Eiffel Tower. Has the best views of Paris, and is a Michelin star restaurant.
– Guy Savoy’s restaurant – two of my friends say this is the best food they have ever had in their entire life. I would hope so, it cost a pretty penny!
– Epicure – one of my friends has been here too. They also said this was the best restaurant, best food, and best overall dining experience. But it also the most expensive.

Some pictures of our fancy food we snuck at Maceo…

my vegetable appetizer, how cute is it!

 

Fish appetizer

We forgot to take a picture of the main dish – oops! Got hungry.

dessert, a deconstructed millefeiulle with fresh strawberry ice cream and a praline nougat candy

Where is your favorite place to eat in Paris? Leave me a comment!

If you’ve missed a Paris trip post, catch them ALL RIGHT HERE!

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Let’s talk about one of my favorite things to do in Paris… Shopping!! Shopping in Paris is every girl’s dream, right?

Shopping in Paris

 

Shopping on Rue St. Honore

Astier de Villate
173 Rue Saint Honore
This shop is the cutest shop full of handmade porcelain.  A lot of the porcelain is in white – their signature look.  But the white is NOT boring… they have interesting motifs.

 

This is what I carried home in my carry-on… these two cute little bud vases! J’adore them!

Herve Chapelier

390 rue Saint Honore

Ever heard of this brand?  It used to be kind of popular in the 90s.  They make great travel bags, beach bags, school bags, and lug-around-town bags.  I used to use one of these for my books in college. Tres chic. I get a bag from here every time I go. I can’t help myself.

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Longchamp

404 Rue Saint Honore

Longchamp is a very French brand.  They make beautiful handbags and I’m sure a lot of you already own a Le Pliage bag.  But did you know they are a LOT cheaper in Paris??  For instance, the long champ le pliage large shopper is $145 in the USA.  In Paris, it costs 78 Euros which equals about 90 US dollars (Spring 2015).  If you spend over 150 Euros at this store, you can get the VAT tax back and save an extra 15%.  Just saying… this is a VERY FRENCH and VERY NICE gift for someone (or yourself)!

picture from here

Anne Fontaine

370 Rue Saint Honore

Anne Fontaine is known for making beautiful white blouses.  They are timeless and classic.  They also have trendy designs too.  I highly recommend taking one home… just know they aren’t cheap (uh, is anything in Paris?).

picture from here

Colette 

213 Rue Saint Honore

Everywhere I read on the internet before I left was about how “cool” Colette was.  Honestly, I didn’t think that this store felt very French to me AT ALL.  It reminded me exactly like Kitson, a store in LA.  They had loud music blasting full of a lot ofAmerican brands. I’m sure a lot of people will think this store is cool, but to me it did not feel Parisian at all.  If you want nice clothes you can shop here, but if you want Parisian clothes, skip it.

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 Manoush
162 Rue Saint Honore
This is the cutest clothing store.  Ironically my cousin posted a picture on instagram when she went to Paris a few weeks after I did.   I totally recognized the dress she was wearing in the dressing room… it was from this store!  While I did not buy anything here, I would’ve loved to have something from here!

picture from here

These cute dresses were in the window display when I was there:

E. Goyard

233 Rue Saint Honore

This company is famous for their luggage and hand bags as well.  They have a famous print and if you’re in to collecting suitcases or pretty bags you need to go there.

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Hermes

24 Rue de Fabourg Saint Honore
A lot doesn’t need to be said about Hermes.  If you want to have the most fashionable scarf from Paris, you go here.

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Le Petit Bateau

9 Rue du 29 Juillet

This is a clothing store for children and babies.  But is is the cutest clothing store!!!  These locations are all over Paris and is where the Parisians buy stuff for kiddos.  If you want your toddler looking tres chic, check them out! (FYI, I wore Petit Bateau when I was little, my mom had me starting out in French fashion! Is that why I love Paris?). Also a some great gift ideas you can take home easily.  These locations are all over Paris.  You can check out the location finder here.

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Near Saint Honore… either a 10-15 minute walk…

Christian Louboutin

19 Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Just like the Louis Vuitton, Louboutin’s are also quite a bit cheaper to buy in Paris.  I had so much fun looking at all of the shoes… while there were quite a few pretty shoes, I didn’t see any I couldn’t live without.  I don’t wear super high heels anymore.  However, next time I go I will be on the hunt for some pretty red-soled shoes!

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E. Dehillerin

18 rue Coquilliere
This is the oldest cooking ware store in Paris!  They have so many unique items here.  This is where Julia Childs bought her copper pans!  I wrote about it in a post here.  We bought several tart pans and wooden spoons.  If you like to bake or cook, head here for your souvenirs!  Just remember, you can’t take knives or objects that could be used as weapons on the airplane!

Printemps

64 Blvd Haussman

This is a large department store in the 2nd arr in Paris.  While we were there they were decorated in Spring pink celebrating their 150th birthday.  This store is HUGE.  They have many different places to eat inside.  If you know you want to buy lots of things under 150 euros, buy them all here so they add up to over 150 euros so you get your VAT back.

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Galeries Lafayette

40 Boulevard Haussman

This department store is just across the street from Printemps.  It was a ZOO. The tour group buses have this store on their maps so EVERYONE was there. It was so crowded I couldn’t stand it.  But they did have some good deals on scarves here. If debating between the two dept stores, I would go to Printemps.  But my favorite dept store is Le Bon Marche in St. Germain.

Galeries Lafayette

Champs Elysees
Louis Vuitton
101 Avenue de Champs Elysees
Since I had last been to Paris, the shopping scene has changed.  The Champs Elysees seemed to be where all the super high end shopping was; now it seems it has moved to St. Honore.  But if you are looking to buy a LV purse, you MUST go to the headquarter store on the Champs Elysees. It’s FIVE stories!  I wrote about buying a LV in Paris here.

St. Germain des Pres

Le Bon Marche
24 Rue de Sevres
This is the best department store in Paris.  They have everything and it is not very crowded like Printemps or Galeries Lafayette.

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Le Grand Epicerie
38 Rue de Sevres
If you are a foodie, you MUST go to Le Grand Epicerie which is the next store down from Le Bon Marche.  They had FIVE ROWS of jams and jellies alone.  I stood there just staring because I couldn’t decide what jam I wanted to take home!

Check out all the different types of mini madeleine cookies! LOVE.

They have fresh fruits and veggies. It is a giant market.

I love how they have a cute little truck inside full of fresh items as if it were just hauled in on this truck!

Can I just say that I wish our strawberries were sold in these cute little containers? PLEASE oh please! Aren’t these baskets the cutest?

This store is actually full of good ideas for souvenirs to bring home – you can bring a nice French jam (keep it under 3 ounces if you want it on your carry on!).  We brought home truffle salt too which makes a nice gift. They have tons of various types of honey – another good gift!  Even those little madeleine bags would be a nice gift.  Just don’t bring home dried meats because I don’t think customs will let you.

Le Jaquard Francais

53 Rue Bonaparte

We’ve all seen the pretty tablecloths that this company makes.  They have a nice store in Paris. I highly recommend going in!

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Faconnable
174 Boulevard Saint Germain
This is a nice store that mainly sells men’s clothes.  I tried to get my husband to wear a scarf because his heritage is French – but he didn’t want to. Sigh. So we got him a really cool belt here.  Very stylish store for guys!

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I’ve already discussed these stores above, but they have locations in St. Germain as well:

Hermes 17 Rue De Sevres

Herve Chapelier 1 bis Rue de Vieux

Louis Vuitton 170 Boulevard de Saint Germain

Longchamp 21, Rue du Vieux Colombier

Now, my favorite shopping in Paris is… Window Shopping!  I wish I took more pictures of the cute window displays.

Some of my loot… I love how they wrap everything like it’s a present!

I love how pretty their wrapping is even for the simplest of items

Um. I like to shop. These are all of my goodies!

 

I hope you enjoyed my round-up of my favorite shops in Paris!  This is by no means bargain shopping – you don’t go to Paris to look for bargains except at the flea market!  Where do you like to shop in Paris?

If you’ve missed a Paris trip post, catch them ALL RIGHT HERE !

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