As Ella Fitzgerald sang: I love Paris in the springtime, I love Paris in the fall. Let’s face it, it’s a pretty easy city to love – and I find it grows on me a little more with each visit.
Paris is a dream destination for food lovers. It’s packed with fabulous bistros, wine bars and food shops – and a wonderful city to explore on foot, walking off all that delicious French food. Here’s my guide to Paris for food lovers, where to stay, eat and drink and some insider tips on where to explore too.
Stay Hôtel Relais Saint Germain
This boutique hotel, with each room dedicated to a literary figure who lived in Paris, is an easy walk to so many of my favourite haunts. I love the mix of ancient, uneven exposed beams with luxurious fabrics and antiques, views out over the rooftops, and breakfasting in the beautiful art deco dining room. Thankfully, little appears to have changed since Michelin-starred chef Yves Camdeborde sold it to Sandrine Besnard in 2021.
Eat Aux Lyonnais
If I only have one night in Paris, this ornate dining room is where I eat. From the generous bowl of herbed cheese and little sack of dark bread on arrival, to the excellent desserts, this is typical Alain Ducasse: wonderful service, setting and food. I love the charcuterie plate with pickles jar and wooden tongs, crisp fried frogs’ legs, and the famous seafood quenelles with Nantua (shellfish) sauce.
Drink Paris Wine Bars
Frenchs joie de vivre is all about eating, drinking and socialising. And Parisian love few things more than a glass of wine and a nibble with friends at one of the city’s many wine bars.
Shop Covered Passages
Paris’ ornate galeries and passages are glass-ceilinged alleys full of interesting shops and cafés. Stroll from Passage Verdeau (antique books and comics) through P. Jouffroy (walking canes) and P. des Panoramas (philatelist shop), to Galerie Vivienne with its magnificent mosaic floor and gorgeous lifestyle shops. Paris is full of wonderful quirky shops too and the Place de la Madeleine is a food shoppers paradise.
Art Musee Rodin Sculpture Gallery
Skip the crowded Louvre and take a peaceful stroll among Auguste Rodin’s larger than life sculptures, such as The Thinker and The Burghers of Calais, in his beautiful rose garden. Inside are his smaller pieces and the Roman, Greek and Egyptian faces, hands, feet and torsos that inspired his work.
Explore Père Lachaise Cemetery
Paris’ largest cemetery, the most visited necropolis in the world, is 44 hectares of beautiful wooded hillside on the outskirts of the city. It’s easy to pass a few hours here wandering along the shady cobbled pathways from the top of the hill, discovering interesting monuments and visiting the famous, including Oscar Wilde, Brillat-Savarin, Colette and Jim Morrison.
Updated 21 Dec 2024
