A Parisien feast

This week in Paris couldn’t have come at a better time.

After two relaxing weeks with the family in Italy, the past month has been a blur of festivals, festivities, and constant catching up with friends (old and new). Don’t get me wrong, these past weeks have been wonderful…but I was more than ready for a week of not having to do anything. Of getting up when I felt like it. Of sitting in cafes watching the world go by. Of exploring new neighbourhoods, and coming home for a nap when my feet began to ache.

And this was what Paris was to be. I’m staying in a beautiful Air BnB apartment right at the doorstep of Sacre Coeur in Montmartre with a Tegan, a good friend from Melbourne. We met five years ago in a hostel in Budapest, and, as happens on rare but wonderful occasions, our travel companionship grew into a real world friendship.

In Melbourne, our social life often revolves around food – eating out, hosting dinner parties, or simply sitting down over a cup of tea or a glass of wine with cheese. It shouldn’t be of surprise to anyone who knows me (or has been reading this blog) that these past days in Paris have consisted of much the same.

Exploring our neighbourhood of winding cobblestone streets, travelling the criss cross of metro lines, and following in the footsteps of some of our favourite bloggers (most notably http://www.messynessychic.com) we have slowly but steadily been eating and drinking our way around Paris.

We took our morning coffee in the leafy courtyard of the Hotel Particulier – hidden away behind wrought iron gates off a quiet street in Montmartre – and imagined ourselves rich enough to be staying in the 400+ euro a night suites.

The secluded garden of Hotel Particulier.

The beautiful china and setting made up for the average coffee.

We took a break from morning wanderings and gave ourselves an energy boost by sampling the endless range of pastries, found on almost every corner.

Breakfast of champions.

We wandered through the tiny Le Marche des Enfants Rouges, allegedly the oldest market in Paris, following Messy Nessy’s recommendation of a Cornet Vegetarien from Alain, the eccentric dancing crepe seller.

Alain, the dancing (and slightly cheeky) crepe maker extraordinaire.

Enjoying our ‘Cornet Vegetarien’ (wholemeal crepe, lettuce, grated carrot and fennel, goats cheese, avocado, parsley; honey and spices) in the park…they were so good I could have*almost* eaten both.

We spent hours hopping between fresh produce stalls and the adjacent flea market at Marche d’Aligre, emerging arms heavy with bags of fresh berries, greens and multicoloured tomatoes.

I could have spent all day browsing these fresh produce stalls.

They tasted as amazing as they looked.

And, every day, we have inevitably sat down to lunch or a late night scratch dinner of French cheeses, baguettes, salads and wine in our Montmartre home.

Sitting down to another late night dinner of salads, bread and cheese…and of course a glass or three of wine.

It’s probably lucky we’re only here for a week, I’m not sure if we could fit out the doors if we continued this much longer…