Spring weather is here, finals are near, but let’s face it, we’re all making summer plans. Surely you must be thinking (or dreaming) about Paris for a few days! But if you want to inside story on enjoying the City of Lights like a local, you can forget about the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Elysées or the Château de Versailles. Here is your guide to the best-kept Paris secrets from a native Parisian herself.
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Food
Breakfast: Ladurée isn’t so cool now that it has moved to Madison Avenue. Instead, try a real French boulangerie and gorge yourself with croissants (literally about 1 euro each), pain au chocolat and pain au raisin.
One of my favorites: Boulangerie Kaiser, (you’re going to wish you dorm room smelled that good) 79, Rue du Commerce 75015.
Tea: Thé aux Trois Cerises.
Only a 10 min. walking distance from the Eiffel tower (which you obviously will go visit) there is a tiny tea place only well known in the neighborhood. There you will find the most amazing lemon cake I have ever tasted! (Ask for the “cake au citron”). They even have a little garden in the back for warm sunny afternoons!
Address: 47 Avenue de Suffren, 75007 Paris
Dinner: Le Refuge des Fondues
I tried this restaurant when my (awesome) freshman-year roommate came to visit me over winter break and suggested we go there. It is a “fondue restaurant” in a tiny street up on Montmartre’s hill. You only have two choices there: cheese fondue (fondue savoyarde) or meat fondue (fondue bourguignonne). Even cooler, red or white wine is served in a baby bottle (seriously coolest place ever, you can even draw all over the walls with a chalk).
Address: 17 Rue des Trois Frères, 75018 Paris
Chic Dinner: Les cocottes de Constant (beware, no reservations—try to get there around 7:30 pm to get a table)
Offers very fine French cuisine with very original flavors at a reasonable price. Amazing meat and fish are cooked and served in pots (“cocottes”). It has become quite famous among tourists and very famous among French natives, but nonetheless has a very cozy atmosphere and President Obama dined with his wife and daughters a few steps away from there!
Address: 135 Rue Saint-Dominique 75007, Paris
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Shopping
Skip the Galeries Lafayettes where you won’t be able to walk two meters without stepping on someone. Instead, stroll the grands boulevards and find all the same brands there.
Rue de Passy: Here you will find your typical Parisian gorgeous brands (Maje, Sandro, Comptoir des Cotonniers etc.) as well as the normal Zara, H&M and Sephora. Try early Saturday mornings, you won’t be bothered by the crowds and will be able to spend hours shopping.
Address: Rue de Passy, 75016 Paris
Rue du Commerce: A little more crowded especially on weekends, because a few schools and a big subway station are there, but as you walk further down the street it becomes narrower and cozier. You will find the same stores and also a few great brunch places surrounding a garden, great for a lazy Saturday!
Address: Rue du Commerce, 75015 Paris.
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Walks
If you want a nice pretty walk try these places that are very famous, but not too touristy:
Ile Saint Louis: Walk through the tiny paved streets of the Ile Saint Louis and stop for the most delicious ice cream at Bertillon (29-31 Rue Saint-Louis en l’Île 75004 Paris, France).
And if they are not flooded with people taking endless pictures, walk along the “quai” on the Seine.
Address: Ile Saint Louis 75004, Paris
Saint-Germain-des-Prés: Stroll through this legendary neighborhood (no, not because Gossip Girl was filmed there), the center of literature and music after the Second World War.
Visit the Saint-Sulpice Church and eat at the Café de Flore or Café Les Deux Magots, once flooded with philosophers and writers. Perhaps their spirits will inspire you!
Address: Saint-Germain-des-Prés 75006, Paris
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Museums
Le Petit Palais: Many know about the Grand Palais, right behind the Place de la Concorde, but if the line is too long (which it obviously will be), try this beautiful museum, originally built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition. It is built around a little garden/courtyard and always has fun exhibitions. Its permanent collections have paintings by Monet, Cézanne, Pissarro and an incredible display of 18th century furniture donated by Edward Tuck, an American collector.
Address: Avenue Winston Churchill 75008, Paris
Musée d’Orsay: One of my favorite museums. Once a train station (Gare d’Orsay), it was also built for the Universal Exhibition and very recently renovated. The 5th floor is the “Galerie Impressioniste”, the largest impressionist collection- I could spend hours staring at the Monet, Manet and Degas masterpieces! There is an extraordinary view of the Sacré Coeur and the Louvre through a big clock right at the entrance of the Galerie Impressioniste.
Address: 73 Rue de Lille 75007, Paris.
There you have it, all the places you need to enjoy Paris through the senses of a true Parisian. Well, what are you waiting for? Bon voyage!