Paris recommendations? I've got 16 straight from the local's mouths

I've just been to Paris so I hit up my sources for their foodie secrets, for those places that don't have huge queues or flower walls (thank you TikTok). True Parisians do not queue!

Bonjour!

Firstly, to clarify, I’ve just got back from Paris but I wrote half of this post last week (before I went on Friday). However, that GREAT Ganni show from last Tuesday completely interpreted my flow and I immediately had to share my thoughts with you on that delicious show.

So! I’m bringing you this post-Paris rather than pre-Paris, which is actually even better since I did go to some of these eateries and can add in my honest opinion, straight from the horse’s mouth so to speak (the expert food critic that I am).

Hopefully, this will B a handy resource for you to keep for your next trip to Paree!

And please do comment with any of your faves!

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* Written last week… I’m off to Paris this weekend for 4 days, thanks to the Eurostar sale in December, which for once I actually checked straight away and secured cheap tickets (I didn’t go with the cheapest as the times were odd / didn’t work for us but paid around £85 each, which I didn’t think was bad).

* How hilarious now that I wrote that last Thursday, with our tickets London - Paris being the next day on Friday 7th March, the morning of which engineers working on the Eurostar line just so happened to find an unexploded WW2 bomb - what are the chances!! All trains CANCELLED!

Yep, the whole of Friday’s Eurostar service cancelled (during Fashion Week too, you can imagine the disruption). We had some hope at first as our 13.31pm Eurostar was not showing as cancelled from first thing… until 10am when they wiped the whole day out. Waaaaa!

What’s a girl desperate to go on her long weekend to Paris to do? Well, marry a man who loves to drive and raves about the Euro tunnel - thankfully I married this man in 2021 - he can’t remember the year we got married but he can drive us to Paree!

So, yes, we drove to Paris.

This is actually the third time we’ve done this… and each time I’ve declared NEVER AGAIN.

If you’ve ever experienced Paris traffic / Paris parking you’ll understand - think London 10 x slower / more likely to get your car bashed - basically there is no give-way system. And let’s not talk about the time we drove around for 2 hours searching for an available car park (they’re all underground and tiny). Sadly, I’m not exaggerating!

After this third time I’m declaring it a third and FINAL, after almost 2 hours to get 6km through Paris at 5pm to the hotel. But, I am so grateful we got there… especially as I didn’t pay the extra for the hotel cancellation.

* After that travel interlude, back to what I had written…

We always usually go on a European long weekend at some point in March, as it’s my husband’s birthday towards the start and mine at the end of the month.

Last year’s March trip was Porto, which is a way better bet for some early spring warmth - you’ll find my Porto locals guide on here from last year (how has that been a year ago already!).

Porto Travel Post - My Local Guide!

This time I booked the Eurostar tickets and the hotel as a Christmas, combined with birthday, surprise for the very lucky husband (hello, he’s married to me 😂).

Which he’s now trying to claim as a joint birthday present for us both, erm, excuse me, I’ve paid for it all… and Charlotte Simone have an archive drop on the 26th, conveniently 2 days before my birthday (hint HINT husband).

My god I LOVE both of these @charlottesimone - sneak peeks from their next drop (the archive drop). Yes, I may already have the longer version of that red jacket from the December drop (the Taylor Swift coat, can I say it again that I had it before T even wore it) but I adore it / wear it so much that surely there’s space for a jacket version in my life too (strangely this coat is the only thing I own that gets most complimented by men, really surprises me!).

Sorry, back to the point in hand, ah yes, Paree!

We’ve been quite a few times over the years and usually just love to wander, pit stop in various cafe’s / bistros for un verre de vin rouge, eat avocado vinaigrette and steak frites on repeat and go to some old favourites, but this time I realised - after booking - it’s actually fashion week whilst we’re there.

Sadly, I am not attending (I wish) but I thought it might be best to be partly prepared and book in some dinners.

Loves a French bistrot. And wine. And dessert.

The places I like to go probably aren’t fashion week haunts anyway - a bit of a rough around the edges bistro that’s been there forever, does amazing old school french food and is full of old locals.

But, I thought it best to hit up my sources and ask for restaurant recommendations from some foodie friends and a couple of Parisian locals I know, plus, I consulted some old Substack’s I’d saved for this purpose.

So, here it is in one place, 16 of my Paris recommendations.

For those places you might not find so easily on social media, and which certainly don’t have pink fake flower walls (my most hated), giant chocolate mousses as big as your head (just, why?) and queues (my husband hates to queue, for anything).

Sacré bleu, locals do not queue! I imagine the French would find queuing so insulting they’d just plain refuse and go elsewhere.

We had similar advice from a local when we were last in Paris, early summer 2023, coming to the end of our European road trip with Mabel (the whippet) - they told us the French would be insulted if a bistro / bar / shop refused their precious pooch entry, so to just waltz Mabel in anywhere and everywhere and she’ll be accommodated / warmly welcomed. It really was true! Paris loved her.

Sorry, finally I’ll get on with it, and I’ll keep this nice and easy to read (+ shorter and snappier) - I’ve screenshot the places from my Google Map, with my brief notes I made for each, and I’ve added the links underneath.

I’ve also shared with you my Google Map link for all of these as I’ve saved them on there. Voila!

https://www.instagram.com/f.o.l.d.e.r.o.l/?hl=en

Folderol has been on my list for years, wine and ice cream, what’s not to love? Well, as it turns out, the queue outside, the tiny space inside, the ‘cool girls’ sat on the curb outside taking photo after photo… not the Parisian vibe we were after.

We kept on walking and went to a very busy cafe on a corner with loads of tiny tables and bistro stools outside - good wine, great people / style / dog watching spot. Ideal.

https://www.bouillon-julien.com/

Now this place I didn’t get chance to go to, which I am now regretting as the interiors look so beautiful - art nouveau, classic French elegance, in a mint and burgundy colour scheme. I hear it’s a bit of an institution and I’ve had it recommended by a few people (with rave reviews on the food too, not just the decor).

Saving the best two we went to (+ the other 12 and a really useful foodie link) for my Paid Subscribers… these were two of our best meals, in the world!