food

Je t'aime, Paris! (part 1)

By Shu - 05:58

Hello folks. I have not updated in ages, but I'm back in London now and settling in really well so all's good! I've been travelling like crazy as well, first to Paris almost just after touching down in London, and then a week later to a little city beside Stuttgart, Germany. Life is good! :) I love travelling, the wandering around is both aimless and purposeful, and you get to immerse yourself in new cultures and new people, plus of course try some amazing food (esp in Paris!!!)

So, here's a little post about my trip to Paris just a couple of weeks back. Get ready for a picture spam as well - I loving my new DSLR camera heh! It is probably quite an understatement to say I love Paris - both the glamour and grime, and of course the food. YUM.

One of the things you MUST do everytime you visit a major European city is definitely to go for one of these Sandeman's New Europe Tours. They are free, and AMAZING. I've been to the tour in Prague as well, and both times the tour leader was really knowledgable, funny and engaging. MUST GO! (You are expected to tip them of course, but with the great quality of the tour, I won't hesitate!)

 The ticket to Sandeman Tours

So halfway through the tour, just after we went around the Louvre, we stopped for a quick break along this rather busy road lined with shops and cafes. Imagine my delight when I saw Eric Kayser!! Don't salivate too much, but omg don't the tarts look delicious?! I wish I had time to go back for more! Yum!


 Boulangerie Eric Kayser
16 Rue des Petits Carreaux, 75002 Paris, France ‎ 

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Of course, when in Paris, a visit to the Louvre is quite the essential. While the art exhibits are housed in a magnificent and grandiose building like many others in Europe (sorry, not an architecture aficonado), I thought the glass pyramids at the courtyard were, while rather out of place, quite a breath of fresh air. Of course, they also made rather good photo taking spots.



After a bit of a queue, we finally got into the museum. Psst, EU students get in for free at most (if not all) Paris attractions - just bring your student visa! Like most other tourists, we made quite a beeline for the star painting for the Louvre - the Mona Lisa. Well, like most other tourists too, I cannot quite understand why this painting is so famous. I'm not a particular fan of art, especially if its before the impressionist era, so this was just another 'tourist-checklist' for me. Truth be told, the art-insensitive me did not enjoy the Louvre. On the contrary though, Musee d'Orsay was fantastic. I could spend an entire day in there with its extensive impressionist and post-impressionist art galleries! More about that another time.



 The next day, we headed to another one of Paris' most-visited landmarks - le Tour de Eiffel. The Eiffel tower certainly exceeded my expectations, and with its meticulously designed metal frame, has definitely earned a spot on my list of "most amazing landmarks to have ever seen". We decided to climb up to the 2nd storey for a panaromic view of Paris. 2nd storey, however, is a massive understatement!!! The climb felt like it took 30min to complete, and it brings you to a pretty high vantage point (more than 10 storeys I reckon...) where we enjoyed quite an impressive birds eye view of Paris. Our initial plan was to go all the way to the top of the tower, but after seeing the snaking queue, we decided to head down instead.


 Mandatory Jump Shots! 


We then headed to a restaurant located pretty near the Eiffel Tower for lunch. Unsurprisingly, french food just cannot go wrong! I ordered fowl which was light but flavorful, and the cod in mashed potato was so creamy and mega delicious! French desserts are the best as well. Of special mention has to be the chocolate lava cake with the most amazing pistachio sauce ever. I ordered one of my favourite desserts, creme brulee and it was definitely more than passable too! Heh I really enjoy cracking the caramelised layer of creme brulee hahaha!





Le P'tit Trouquet
28 Rue de l'Exposition, 75007 Paris, France

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Also on our to-visit list was the famous Notre Dame Cathedral, which looked even more splendid in that day's perfect sunny weather!


Loving the bokeh from my new prime lens (with a Canon 100D)

Dinner was at le Zephyr, a restaurant just a 10min walk away from where we stayed in Belleville. It is best to stay away from the city centre in Paris - food is so much cheaper, and as good! A main at le Zephyr would set you back only around EUR10, which is something you definitely can't get at the city center!


Free flow of freshly baked baguettes! Yum!

Duck Confit
Definitely one of my favourite french dishes! This did not disappoint, and I especially loved the garlic infused chips! They were fried to crispy perfection, and with the garlic, I could eat this all day!!! Highly recommended!

Lava Cake with Ice Cream
 The lava cake was nothing spectacular, and I was disappointed at how it wasn't oozing out liquid chocolately goodness when I cut it into half! ): The ice cream had a rather dinstictive taste to it though, and was largely enjoyable. But at only 5EUR, I'm not complaining!

Le Zephyr
1 Rue du Jourdain  75020 Paris, France


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Till the next! Totally regretted writing this at 11pm!! I'm so hungry now argh! ):

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