Food & Where to Stay in Paris

Best Food & Where to Stay in Paris:

When visiting a new city it can be very intimidating figuring out where to stay, eat and explore. Before every trip I do so much research to make sure I am organized. My mom and I like to plan beforehand so we can avoid rushing to Yelp to review the best food options. In Paris we were able to go to the best restaurants and stayed in the perfect location. These restaurants are not mediocre, they are places you have to go!!

I know with the Corona Virus travel is on pause but there is nothing wrong with saving a couple of these ideas for a trip down the road. If I could go back and relive this trip 1000 times I would!!

Where we Stayed: Le Derby Alma

THIS PLACE! Wow we truly could not have stayed at a more perfect place. I feel that where you stay on a trip impacts a lot! This hotel was only a couple blocks from the Eiffel Tower and was located along the cutest street. This made it so easy to go over and see the Eiffel Tower whenever. We walked the Eiffel Tower multiple times just because it was so close!

One block down there was a gorgeous flower shop and amazing boutiques. The location was absolutely ideal and made walking around very easy. Also the room we requested had a view of the Eiffel Tower which felt straight out of a movie. I still remember waking up and looking out my window to see the Eiffel Tower and feeling like I was out of my body.

They had an amazing breakfast buffet that was included with the room. Each morning that we stayed we would get so excited to eat all of the pastries and different food they offered! Funny story…the first morning we were so jetlagged and out of our routine that we all three woke up around 3:00am STARVING.  We were dressed, ready for the day and waiting at the restaurant door by 7:00 am when they opened.  Ahhh so good.

If you ever go to Paris in your life I highly recommend this hotel! Staff was so kind and had the perfect atmosphere.

Pink Mama:

Besides all of the amazing places we saw and toured this restaurant is something I will NEVER forget. I had seen a picture of Pink Mama on Pinterest years ago and knew at some point I needed to go. I did my research and found the name and made it a priority to go during our trip. This was seriously one of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to. They had a couple hour wait time so we put our names in and walked around the streets to kill time. I had zero problem with walking around Paris while we waited.

Once we walked inside I was blown away by the atmosphere. The restaurant has four levels with various rooms each with a different vibe and décor. There were windows, vines and cool artwork everywhere with a spiral staircase taking you to each floor.  At the top of the staircase the roof was all windows and vines. It was so fun to explore that I had to walk around the entire restaurant a couple times to truly capture everything it had to offer.  At the time I wasn’t hungry for a meal so I ended up getting a dessert instead which was absolutely amazing. 

Even the bathroom was stunning….

If you are ever in Paris this restaurant needs to be added to the itinerary. I do recommend calling ahead or planning around having a wait time. I seriously can’t emphasize enough how much I loved this place.

Picnic by the Eiffel Tower:

This iconic picnic in Pairs is what started my obsession with picnics. Everyone dreams of laying in the grass eating bread and cheese while watching the sunset behind the Eiffel Tower. A picnic in Paris had to happen to complete my Paris dream.

Rue Cler was on our bucket list and fortunately was within walking distance of our hotel to pick up some picnic essentials. It was truly the Paris experience with cafes and specialty stores one after another. Each shop had unique food including breads, cheeses, fruit, wine and flowers. The market street was full of friendly faces and excitement. We wondered around for a while intently picking out what we wanted to take with us to watch the sunset. After filling our hands with bags of food we quickly headed to the grassy area behind the Eiffel tower.

We knew the grass behind the Eiffel Tower was going to be the perfect spot but then we ran into our first problem of the trip.

We went to the grass field to lay out our blanket only to see the entire area was blocked off with fences. We quickly had to reroute as golden hour was being interrupted by clouds

Instead we found a patch of grass in front of the Eiffel tower. It took us a bit to get there because it was a much farther walk then we had anticipated. Once we found our spot we laid out all of our goods.

I truly do not think I have ever been happier than in this moment.

Le Paradis Du Fruit:

On one of our tours we were able to see the Notre Dame from the outside. While we were there it was under construction from the unfortunate fire two months prior. However a couple blocks down we found an amazing restaurant that overlooked the Notre Dame. It was just what we needed for lunch. They had an amazing variety of salads and juices. We needed some thing to help wake us up and shake off our jet lag as this was our first full day in Paris. If you are visiting and are near the Notre Dame I would definitely stop by and at least get a hand pressed juice!

Cafe Le Flore En L’ile:

Whenever I imagined being in Paris I always thought of sitting at a cute cafe with my specialty coffee. I was so happy because my vision was able to come to life. After a long day of tours we stopped at a cafe along the river. We ordered coffee and took a breather from all the walking we had been doing. The cafe was adorable and had a plenty of outside seating along the river. I swear coffee has never tasted so good.