Hiiii there! First, I owe everyone an apology for my major lag in writing (not only this post, but in general). I can blame it on an insane whirlwind of work events back to back, but it’s mostly a lack of prioritizing. Which in life everything could potentially be boiled down to, you know?
But let’s keep it moving. We’re BACK! And by we, I mean those of us in this small newsletter bubble of a community that I appreciate so much. Also, WE (meaning my now fiancé and I— still not used to that word) are BACK from an incredible trip to France. And who am I if not an over-sharer? I also found so much value in the tips / itineraries shared by others on the internet so maybe you’ll glean something from this recap! If you’re not interested in trip guides or if you have zero desire to every touch down in France (are you okay?), feel free to skip this post. I promise, I’ll be back soon with recipes + food things.
It has been a while since I planned a trip overseas. Outside of the flights, we didn’t really even think about anything until maybe one month before. It was overwhelming and I wasn’t sure where to start so I put it off until that was no longer possible. Thankfully, there are so many incredible bloggers and travel experts on the internet that provide endless inspiration + information. Something that also really helped was creating a “FRANCE” folder on my Instagram to save any and all posts related to France. From restaurants and vintage stores to neighborhoods and must-see spots.
A few words on my travel style: I’m definitely a planner by nature (mainly around food) and truly believe there’s nothing worse than paying for a subpar meal. It makes me sweat just thinking about it. However, I also know and appreciate the special nature of spontaneously walking into an unsuspecting cafe and having the best lunch of your life. But I also know that it’s very possible to have a shitty dining experience abroad; Paris has bad food just like any other city, ya know?
Michael is a bit more of the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of human. So the compromise (and what I’ve find to work the best for me over the years), is to have a handful meals planned or reserved and then leave the rest up in the air. This way, I can experience some of the restaurants that I want to try, while leaving room for the unplanned magic that can happen on vacation. Dinner reservations in larger cities are, however, a non-negotiable. There is nothing worse to me than wandering around on a Saturday night, hanger rising, while becoming more indecisive by the minute (spoiler: this did happen to us one night in the pouring rain, which has further solidified the rule). So these are the terms— for both restaurants and itinerary— a little planning and a little wiggle room!
ITINERARY:
We knew we were flying in & out of Paris and wanted to fill the other days exploring a more rural side of France. The train systems in Europe in general are so wonderful and my personal favorite way to get around. I had heard about the Provence (Southern) region over the years, and after exploring a few other options, it was the winner. From there, I googled my nights away, researching little towns and coming up with a loose game plan:
PARIS: 3 NIGHTS
HIGH-SPEED TRAIN TO AVIGNON (only 3 hours!)
RENT CAR + DRIVE 30 MIN TO ST. REMY
ST. REMY: 2 NIGHTS
LEFT THE NEXT 2 NIGHTS OPEN FOR FLEXIBILITY
TRAIN BACK TO PARIS
ONE LAST FULL DAY IN PARIS
FLY HOME!
A WORD ON GOOGLE MAPS:
As you can see, it was a pretty loose plan, but gave us some structure to work around. We do need to take a minute to discuss my love for Google maps and how much easier it made the trip. (If you don’t use it, delete the default Apple maps your iPhone comes with and switch over immediately.) For one, the ability to save places and “star” them is a hack I’ve used for years in so many different locations. You can also compile “lists” for different vacations to keep things more organized. It’s super helpful to remember certain restaurants, attractions, and overall places you want to visit. Not to mention, seeing them in a map view is ideal, for obvious reasons.
The second life-changing feature that I just recently learned about through a friend, is the offline maps capability. To get specific— go to your avatar / photo icon in the top right corner. Click “Offline maps” + then “select your own map”. It will then show you a (pretty large) radius of where you’re located and you then hit “download”. You can rename the map in case you create more for different locations. By doing this in each city we were in, I could stay on airplane mode / not use any data while away from wifi, but also had access to all of my saved places AND could navigate through every town. The GPS still works without data so that little blue dot that shows where you are in real time? YES, it still works! This helped us get around, both on foot and in the car.
PARIS:
There are so many amazing neighborhoods in Paris, so it was definitely overwhelming to figure out where to stay. I started by reading many blogs (this one was the most helpful) to educate myself on each arrondissement (aka neighborhood) so I could have a better feel for which would be the best fit. I narrowed down to a few and went from there. While I do love an AirBnb situation, we decided to go with a hotel for these first few nights; we both love a hotel in a city, it’s nice to have the room cleaned each day, and we wouldn’t really need access to a kitchen, especially when mostly eating out. The main goal was somewhere on the quieter / residential side with shops + restaurants and not necessarily next to main attractions.
Where we stayed: Hotel Taylor - this very small boutique hotel (like, the elevator fits two people max) was everything we needed. Clean with a nice ambiance and great location, while being affordable. The subway system in Paris is so great and very efficient to get around — I don’t think we waited for a train more than 3 minutes the whole trip. And of course, walking is the best way to see a city; we clocked over 20k steps per day! So overall, I knew we’d be bopping around and didn’t need to spend a ton of money on the hotel. I’d rather spend it on food (but you knew that).
Where we ate: I had an endless list of saved food spots on my map, but these are the places we made it to (and the ones that stuck out). I also threw in a few we didn’t get to, but were really high on the list.
BOULANGERIE (BAKERIES):
Patisserie Terroirs d’Avenir (a couple of locations): MUST go. Get the Kouignamann + the baguette w/ salami and pickles.
Le Boulanger de la Tour: best pain au chocolate I had!
Mamiche: A few locations around, they have great pastry, but also sandwiches + quiche
Du Pain et des Idees: Did not make it here because they’re closed on the weekends (which I will never understand), but the reviews are amazing and it’s one of the oldest bakeries in Paris.
LUNCH / DINNER
L’As du Fallafel: A place that I was hoping was worth the hype and man, is it ever. Located in a historic Jewish district, this casual-but-iconic spot is popular for a reason. There is typically a line, but it moves really fast— we snagged a street-side table (or you can order at the window to go) and enjoyed every single bite. I went with the classic falafel pita.
Dumbo: Did not make it here, but this roadside smash burger spot is all the rage and I *will* be back to confirm.
Le Clown Bar: We had dinner here our first night; it was quaint, cozy and perfect. The food was so fresh, light, and flavorful. Not a classic french bistro, but more of a modern seasonal type of cuisine.We had beef tartar with nori crisp + lime. A savory crab beignet and the most fresh spring cod.
Brasserie Martin: This was a last minute find and I thankfully snagged a reservation that same day (being a Sunday probably helped). We absolutely loved this spot. It was such a cool atmosphere + vibe, the food was amazing and I couldn’t recommend it more.
La Jacobine: Another spot we didn’t make it to (or rather, got turned down as they were too booked). But I can recommend this in confidence, because friends of ours were in Paris one month after us and confirmed it was one of the best meals they’ve ever had. #jealous
OTHER MISC SPOTS/THINGS TO CHECK OUT:
La Grande Epicerie de Paris: This 5 story gourmet grocery store / department store is UNREAL. It reminds me of New York based Eataly and is such a delight to wander around, even if you don’t buy a single thing (ya, right). The mustard aisle alone is a thing of beauty.
Flea markets!!! Outside of food, I was the most excited about the vintage shopping opportunities— there are SO many around the city. The main flea market (and I think the most popular in the world?) is St. Ouen, which sits at the Northern part of Paris and has many different markets within it. We mostly shopped the Vernaison section, which is known for more affordable treasures + bargains. I can’t lie, it was good, but I was expecting a little more. Maybe it was the time of year, the cooler weather that day, or the fact that we were limited to suitcase-appropriate items, but I would love to go back to check out some of the other markets around town. (one being Marche Puce de Vanves). There are, however, lots of Broccantes around the city, which are pop-up style street-side sales. Here’s a website that tracks them weekly. We happen to run into one on the last day and the selection was so good, the prices also super reasonable. I wanted so many things that would not have fit into our already-stuffed bags, but did manage to squeeze a few items in.
Seine River Cruise: This was an impromptu choice on our last day in Paris and we LOVED it! There are many different times + styles of tours, but we opted for a “happy hour” one that came with one drink per person (and without a microphone-armed tour guide). It’s a great way to get a different view of the city and a major close up of both the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. Book here.
Ile Saint Louis: There are 2 little “islands” in the Seine River and on our last night in Paris, we stayed in a cute little apartment on one of them. It’s very small with walking bridges to the main land so it’s easy to find your way on and off, but it’s definitely a neighborhood we wouldn’t have exactly thought to explore had we not stayed there. It was SO cute with so many restaurants and a very residential vibe. I’d definitely go back.
Outside of the obvious heavy hitters (ie. Eiffel Tower), there are things to see at every single turn. The best thing to do is just start walking and let the wind take you (while checking your offline maps every so often, of course). The sprawling gardens, winding river, old bookstores, quaint alleyways, historic department stores, and colorful people watching are endless. It’s such a magical city that I cannot wait to go back to!
PROVENCE
ST REMY:
This quaint and charming town is only 30 minutes outside of Avignon. Renting a car (via this site) was relatively seamless and allowed us to hop in and out whenever we wanted to. Thankfully they do drive on the right side of the road! We rented an adorable little guest house through AirBnb— the host, Dominique (who lives in the main house next door) was so kind and helpful. The little cottage was just a 5 minute walk into town, where we spent the day weaving through (and falling in love with) all the winding streets.
St. Remy was a great home base while we explored nearby towns and since we left those 2 days unaccounted for, it allowed us to have some wiggle room. Dominique didn’t have guests for the following few nights so we ended up leaving for one night to stay in another town and then came back to her place for our final night, putting us closer to the train station for our early departure to Paris our final morning. She even let us leave our things there— so having that flexibility really worked out!
ST REMY HIGHLIGHTS:
Bar Tabac des Alpilles: We stumbled upon this unassuming restaurant off the main drag and when they had a wait for dinner, we knew we were in a good spot. We added our name, killed some time, and came back for one of the best meals of the trip. It’s a classic French bistro, casual with fresh ingredients and so much flavor. The shrimp w/ aioli was out of this world, the foie gras + house-roasted lamb also incredible. You can’t go wrong. We even went back the following night, which is something I never do on vacation!
Chapeau de Paille: This little gem is so special. Not only because we ate here directly after getting engaged, but it’s just everything you’d picture in a small French restaurant. Run by a wonderful couple, there’s fresh bread being cut in the dining room, radishes on the table when you arrive, and a roasted lamb that is the absolute best I’ve ever had.
Bistrot Les Pieds dans l’Eau: This is just one restaurant inside of a very cool and swanky hotel. We sat outside on one of the patios for an afternoon drink before dinner and while we didn’t eat there, it was such a cool vibe. Definitely recommend as there are several options to enjoy in one place!
Maison Bergese: A lovely bakery tucked in the center of town.
Les Jolies Choses: This adorable antique shop had so many great pieces and at very reasonable prices. We grabbed a few antique dishes that I’ll always remember!
DAY TRIPS:
LES-BAUX-DE-PROVENCE:
I had many towns “starred’ on my map so it was easy to make a day-of decision on which to explore, especially because most were within 30 min of St Remy. We headed out to Les-Baux-de-Provence, stopping at Noves on the way (which was cute but really didn’t have much going on). Les Baux, on the other hand, was very very cool. This mountain-side village dates back to the Middle Ages, where you can also explore a fortress from the 11th century!
BONNIEUX:
For our one night away from the guest house, we headed about an hour East to Bonnieux, which we could use as a home base to explore a few more towns out that way. Bonnieux is another small and charming village with lots of little winding streets and shops selling art. We stayed at Clos du Bois, a beautiful boutique hotel with valley views, homemade breakfast included, and even a pool. We paid about $160 for the night and booked the day before! So that was a big win.
GORDES:
From Bonniuex, we set out to explore Gordes, which I think has to go down as the most beautiful village we saw. It’s hard to accurately describe and pictures don’t do it justice, but it looks like a postcard. It was definitely bustling with people, but not in an obnoxious way; I’d imagine that end of April was a better time to be there vs. the busy season of summer.
ROUSSILON:
On the last day, on our way back to St. Remy, we stopped by one more village called Roussilon. Known for clay in their soil, most of the houses have a red tint; it was like a mix of Arizona, France, and a little Adirondacks with the lush surroundings. I wish we could have hiked / explored more of the area, but this was the one day it did pour all day (not bad considering the forecast!), so we did our best and ultimately headed back to our cozy guest cottage.
And that’s a wrap! I included the highlights from our last day in Paris in the beginning of this post to hopefully make it somewhat streamlined. I linked as much as possible, but feel free to comment if you have any specific questions. Couldn’t recommend France more and cannot wait to go back!