On Paris food

My first time in Paris in 2004, I had no money to buy proper food or go to a proper restaurant. When I met a Filipina OFW while looking for Eiffel tower, she became my generous host and treated me to an American meal at Planet Hollywood and a restaurant in Venice where I had pasta. In between, I had some Filipino home-cooked food care of my newfound friend, food from grocery stores and McDonald's which was the cheapest meal I could find there. It was also near where I lived. Oh, and it was the first time I used Couchsurfing. It's even better than Airbnb because it's free!

my own room in a flat owned by a nice French family

Anyway, for the first few days Claire (the French woman) prepared breakfast for me. I think she pitied this poor traveler and thought i had no money for food whatsoever so I got the feeling that she expected me to eat there for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was very thoughtful of them but I didn't want to trouble them. So in a nice way, i pretended that i wasn't used to eating breakfast but secretly, I went to McDo every morning before i take the Metro. Then i eat outside before i go back to the flat at night.

Now that i try to recall it, I don't remember anything i ate in Paris except for the McDo breakfast with orange juice and the hotdog I bought in the streets while walking around.

When i traveled before, the important thing for me was to just take in everything. I didn't think or plan where to eat. I could eat anywhere decent (fastfood is decent) or live anywhere (with a nice family) as long as i could travel. I didn't care about the distance. The flat in Paris was about 15 or so minutes away from the center and it was about 10 minutes walk from the Metro to the apartment building but it was free! My first time in New York, i lived in Queens with a friend which is about 30 minutes away by train. In Japan, i lived in Saitama also 30 minutes away from the center. Just like food, accommodation was not a priority to me.

I guess it's different when you're on a budget.

It has changed dramatically ever since I got myself a boyfriend who's hard to please when it comes to food. Nowadays, food is a major part in our travel itinerary. Planning one's travel around food has its disadvantages like going all the way to San Sebastian just for the food and realizing 2 days is already enough to explore the place instead of 4 OR not being able to just go in any restaurant without checking first the reviews at Tripadvisor. Still i appreciate good food when i have it. And in Paris, there were no shortage of it even in small cafes in nondescript Parisian streets.

Here are a list of my recommended restaurants in Paris. Make sure to eat here if you visit Paris.

1. Les Enfants Perdus
Rue des Recollets, 75010 Paris, France

We were lucky to have this restaurant just a few meters away from our apartment. I still don't know how to pronounce the name but we went here twice and enjoyed both meals. We wanted to eat there on our last night in Paris but it was packed. Good service, nice restaurant ambiance, great food!

the blood sausage aka dinuguan French style

the best cheesecake i've ever eaten in the whole world!

try everything on the menu!


2.  Le Comptoir de la Gastronomie
34 rue Montmartre
75001 Paris
Neighborhood: Châtelet - Les Halles

We ordered the foie gras, beef tartare and this risotto.  Sadly i failed to take pictures of the others because i was so hungry and they were just delicious.

My risotto

Just don't order desert here :) We tried 2 of them and both were not good. If you go here, don't forget to drop by their store just beside the restaurant where you can buy canned foie gras and other products. You can't miss it.

3. Je The...Me

4, Rue d'Alleray Paris, France

We went here on a Monday and found out it was closed Sundays and Mondays. Good thing we came back because the food didn't disappoint us.

My appetizer: foie gras pate

Erik's appetizer: tuna tartare

Iberian pork! I can eat this everyday!

Erik's main course. Looks delicious right?  

This restaurant is run by a family. The father takes the orders. I believe the son is the chef.

4. Claude Colliot
40 rue des Blancs-Manteaux, 75004 Paris, France

I think i had the veal while Erik had sweetbreads. We enjoyed our food very much. And the good thing about this is it's not that expensive if i remember it right. Erik had the tasting menu while I ordered a la carte.

My asparagus salad

Erik's soup

Erik's fish

My yummy veal! 

Erik's delicious sweetbreads

I think this is the dessert but i don't remember

All i remember is that we were very satisfied after our meal.

I don't think i'll ever eat at McDonald's in Paris again. Thanks to Erik, his food addiction and Tripadvisor's free offline app because i discovered my love for French food. Now I can't wait to go back to Paris to eat more food and more foie gras! Sorry goose but i love to eat your fattened liver.

these shoes are made for walking!

during travels abroad, about 50% is spent walking, 10% standing, 20% sitting down and 20% sleeping so naturally it's important to find the best and most comfortable shoes available. 

i remember my first out of the country trip, i relied on a Gola sneakers in white with flowery details. it was comfortable to wear and i never found another rubber shoes from Gola like that. ironically, it was my first and last Gola shoes. 

when i went to the US several years later during winter, i bought a Dr. Marten's high cut boots and i ended up using it about once for the whole trip. it was so uncomfortable! maybe because i didn't bring long socks to match it so it scraped my leg in the process.  

it's easy when travelling in late spring or summer because i can bring my sneakers, flats or open sandals but it's expected that my feet will hurt at the end of the day.  

but during this recent trip, i discovered the best shoes ever! thanks to Google and to the various travelers who posted about their experiences because i found the most comfortable shoes: Cole Haan!

this is the one i wore most of the time. it's best worn without socks (with your ankles showing) BUT since it was soooo cold (lowest at 7 degree Celsius!), i wore it with stockings or long socks. never in this trip did i ever complain of painful heels even if i walked all day! and aside from that, it's stylish and fits right in Paris. yes it's true. Parisians are stylish and even the guys only wear black or dark-colored sneakers/shoes. if you want to stand out as a tourist, wear a colorful Nike. 

i also bought my gray Converse sneakers which i always wear when traveling despite arch pains but this time, i found the secret to protect my feet: Dr. Scholl's gel insoles!

quite expensive at P1395 but worth it! speaking of insoles, i didn't need one for my Cole Haan. it has a Nike Air technology which basically means it's like wearing rubber shoes! 

i'm quite disappointed though with my Cole Haan flats. 

when i tried it on in the mall, it was comfortable but when i wore it to a meeting, it felt cramped in the toes in my left feet so i didn't bring it in my trip. i instead brought my comfortable Payless silver flats but since it was raining all the time, i only got to wear it once on a sunny day. 

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just back from Bacolod. will write more about our trip as soon as possible. 

Airbnb it is!

if you're travelling anywhere in the world, you should try to book an accommodation at Airbnb. i just discovered it recently and will use it for our trip to europe this april. we were even able to book an entire apartment for the 3 places we'll go to! and they are cheaper than staying in a hotel :D

our apartment in Barcelona, Spain

then we'll be going to San Sebastian where it's very hard to find accommodation

so we ended up booking through Agoda.com.

back to Airbnb for Provence!

our apartment in Provence

we have a pool of our own. 

we searched a lot of accommodations before deciding on this.

this is the provence i imagined. 

from there, we'll be heading to Paris!

i'll be posting about our experience using Airbnb after our trip. 

i can't wait...i can't write...