Oh la la gourmet moments in springtime Paris

TEN hot gourmet experiences in Paris

Oh la la spots, including a magnificent stained glass dome or two, to enjoy great coffee, a pastry treat, relaxing casual lunch, superb dinner, buy a yummy picnic, have a chocolate fix, lick luscious icecream or sip a late afternoon glass of wine.

1. Breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien
Serving their own healthy (well mostly) delicious artisan products and specialising in certified organic bread. The spacious high stud setting has natural wood furnishings and large black and white floor tiles with seating inside or outside at a traditional communal table or smaller tables. Tear apart warm flakey croissants or fresh French bread and spread with handmade conserves like sweet orange, Morello cherry, four berry fruit and apricot or a delicious thick roast nut or white chocolate spread. There’s also creamy bio-yoghurt, bowls of fresh fruit salad, plus tarts, cakes, pastries, meringues and nougat and terrific espressos and decafs, plus plenty of room to spread out maps and notes to work out the day’s travels.
• Le Pain Quotidien, 25 Rue de Varenne, 7th arrondisement, metro Varenne

2. Market shop or browse with locals at Convention
Enjoy a busy market day on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Buy a snack, food for an apartment meal or just indulge in the pleasure of looking, then relax with a morning coffee from one of the sidewalk cafes and people watch. A packed kilometre of market stalls, lining both sides of the main street, is just a few steps from the metro. Honey, fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices, poultry, red meat, salamis and sausages, cheeses, breads, cakes, sweets and flowers. The selection will always come with much about its superb quality and if its food, advice on how to cook or prepare the item, but be warned if you’re buying, leave the fresh food choosing and packing to the produce seller. You’ll be soundly growled at if you touch anything. There’s also household linen, clothing for all the family, soaps, jewellery and nicknacks.
• Metro stop Convention, 15th arrondissement – Tues/Thur/Fri/Sun

or

Raspail Bio market, superb organic fresh food Sunday outdoor market
• Rue Raspail, 6th arrondisement, metro Rennes

3. Morning tea in a Salon de Thé & Patisserie
Fabien Le Doux in beautiful St. Germaine des Pres, near the Sorbonne and St. Sulpice Church (Da Vinci code). Order a delicious pastry with a coffee, tea or hot chocolate. Enjoy it at a marble topped table surrounded by glass cabinets displaying champagne ham, pate, cheese or fresh salad filled baguettes, savoury quiche, brioche, plain and almond paste croissants, pain aux chocolat, tubs of fruit salad, dark chocolate squares, glazed custard tarts with pear, strawberry, raspberry or apple, small and large charlottes, iced cakes and éclairs. Fun to listen to the stream of counter traffic made up of local residents.
• cnr Rue Guisarde & rue Babylon, 6th arrondissement, metro Mabillon

Depending on your lunch style…..

4. Leisurely lunch at the L’Institut Café & Brasserie,
On the corner across from the Arab World Institute (fronted by sun control moving parts), where the Sunday clientele is all French, sit back in comfortable leather armchairs in the quiet rear library area lined with paperbacks and enjoy excellent service, wine and food. The menu offers a full range of salads, grills, roasts and traditional French Croque Monsieur and Madams. Finish with a smooth full-flavoured coffee and complimentary chocolate.
• Boulevard St. Germain, 5th arrondisement, metro Jussieu.

5. Galleries Lafayette 5th floor for a fast moving cafeteria lunch French style.
Hop outside for a roof view over Paris chimney tops before joining locals (and some tourists). A huge choice of hot or cold platters, salads, sandwiches and hot pastries, with soft drink options or red/white/rose wine in bottles or on tap, can be followed by sweet pastries, cakes, coffee, tea or hot chocolate, or from a central station, order a tall dishes of icecream or sorbets with all the trimmings. Just right to put you in the mood for shopping afterwards, under the department store’s stunning glass dome.
• Lafayette Café, 27 rue de la Chaussee d’Antin, 9th arrondissement, metro Chaussee d’Antin

6.. Bon Marché for picnic food treats from around the world.
This 1852 building was designed by Gustave Eiffel (Eiffel Tower) and is the oldest department store in Paris with the best Gourmet food market. A picnic paradise for hot and cold ready-to-go dishes of pasta, meats, vegetables, prepared salads, cheeses singly or in trays, pastries, quiches, cakes, biscuits, chocolates, or rab a long baguette and buy fillings of your choice. Soft drinks, juices, sparking and still water along with a great range of wine, including mini bottles.
• 24 rue du Sevre, 7th arrondissement, Metro – Sevres/Babylone

7. Exquisite dark chocolate and luxury boutiques at Passages Jouffroy and Verdeau.
Passage Jouffroy which accesses the Paris waxworks, Musee Grévin,and Passage Verdeau, are 1800s arcades with glass roofs and tiled floors, lined with beautiful boutiques selling antiques, comics, ceramic and brass handles and knobs, household items, walking sticks, doll’s house items, old books and photographic equipment. Enjoy with the perfect pick-me-up, a chunky stick of 75% cocoa chocolate purchased from A La Mere de Famille, hand makers of chocolates since 1761. Located at the entrance to P. Verdeau, they also sell cocoa dusted truffles, assorted shiny glazed fruit, almond paste cookies, real fruit paste sugared sweets, along with pots of exotic jams made from figs, quince, Clementine and date, many laced with fine liquors.
• Passage Jouffroy (between 10 Boulevard Montmatre and 9 rue de la Grand Bataliere) and Verdeau (Rue des Faubourg Montmatre), 9th arrondissement, metro Richlieu Drouot and A La Mere de Famille, 35 rue du Faubourg Montmatre, 9th arrondissement

8. An afternoon wander on tiny Isle St Louis with a cone or pot of Berthillon luxury icecream.
Stroll along the cobbled central street, where one gorgeous beauty, art and gift store, coffee and eating place follows another. Lick and walk, indulging in luscious icecream, made with all natural ingredients and flavourings. Milk, sugar, cream and eggs are mixed with chocolate, vanilla, salted caramel, rum and raisin, coffee and whisky, chestnut, Earl Grey, Tiramisu, pistachio, caramel and ginger, cinnamon, nougat or Grand-Marnier. Fresh fruit sorbets come thickly flecked with apricot, pineapple, lemon, fig, strawberry, raspberry, passion fruit, raspberry, lychee, myrtle, mango, melon, blood orange, grapefruit, peach, pear, green apple, blackcurrent or rhubarb options.
• Berthillon, 30 Rue Saint Louis En Ville, 4th arrondissment, metro Pont Marie

9. A pre-dinner drink or snack next to the Eiffel Tower.
Pre-dinner drink at Café de Seine, right next to the Eiffel Tower. Sit at floor to ceiling windows on a bar stool, overlooking the Seine, watching the boats passing by. For the best takeaway location, there’s ‘Oh Regalade’ Kiosk at base of Eiffel Tower selling hot crepes and hotdogs, candyfloss, hot chocolate and coffee, and soft drinks.
• 7th arrondissement, Metro Bir Hakeim

10. A special night out at glamorous Bofinger (Bow-fahn-jay/soft ‘g’) restaurant.
Established in 1864, Bofinger Brasserie is the place to sample the best in Parisian dining under a magnificent glass dome ceiling, seated on padded black leather bench seats, surrounded by bronze wall lights, copper rails and gilt mirrors. Waiters wearing black with crisp full length aprons, fly down the vast sweeping staircase to all corners of the restaurant carrying impossibly laden trays. Seafood is a specialty and silver tiered dishes layered with ice, dripping with lobster, mussels, prawns, oysters, scallops and longustines, abound. Entrée favourites - smooth duck fois gras, with pear chutney and toasted brioche slices or crayfish salad, Mains - bouillabaisse or lamb with fondant of artichoke hearts and desserts- crème brulée, fresh fruit tarts and homemade sorbets.
• 5 & 7 rue de la Bastille www.bofingerparis.com Metro Bastille