My husband Robert and I just returned from a fabulous two week vacation in France and Spain, celebrating our seventh wedding anniversary. What an incredible trip! Our trip began with two nights in Paris, then we ventured to the Landes area (or “department”) in the Southwest area of France to visit my college friend Beth Thrasher-Broidy and her husband Marc at their home outside of Castelner for 5 nights, one of which we spent together with them in Bordeaux. From there we went to San Sebastian, Spain for 2 nights, then to Biarritz for 3 nights. I am going to be posting a series of blogs focusing on the wonderful food we experienced, along with a few restaurant recommendations. For this post I’m focusing on Paris, providing four restaurant recommendations.

Two fun places for lunch in Paris

1. Carette on the Place des Vosges. Our flight from the US landed in Paris early – around 8 am – and our room wasn’t ready at the hotel, so we set off for a long walk that included a stop at Carette for lunch, on the beautiful Place des Vosges in the Marais section of Paris. The Place des Vosges has always been one of my favorite places in Paris. Built by King Henry IV in the early 1600s, it is a symmetrical square comprised of what was originally 36 houses, 9 on each side. What made it unique at the time of its construction was that the house fronts were all built following the same design which had never been done before:

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We headed to the restaurant on the square that was my mother’s favorite in Paris, mainly because she liked their salads and other lighter fare. Here she is enjoying lunch on the square, during her last trip to Paris with my Dad, which I think was in the early 2000s:

(Clearly something caught her attention – something I don’t think she approved of based on the expression on her face!)

There is still a restaurant in the same location, but it is not the same one – although they still have the same pretty pink tablecloths! The well known French patisserie and tea salon Carette opened a second restaurant in the same space in 2009. We decided to have lunch there, in mom’s honor.

Robert enjoying a glass of Rose wine at Carette

While Carette is known for its pastries, my favorite dish was my salad, due mainly to its presentation (although it was also delicious!). The lettuce was bundled inside thin slices of prosciutto, and surrounded by slices of mozzarella cheese and fresh tomatoes, garnished with black olives and chopped chives:

I am definitely going to try this presentation at home!

If you go to Carette, take some time to walk around the square and enjoy its beauty. You can also pop into the Victor Hugo Museum which is there.

2. Le Café Renard in the Jardin des Tuileries. Another beautiful site – okay, most of Paris is a beautiful site, but these are my favorites! – is the Jardin des Tuileries, which is located between the Place de la Concorde and the Louvre Museum. We decided to take a bike tour of Paris one morning, and our lunch stop on the tour was at the café in the gardens, Le Cafe Renard. Not the best food in Paris, but I did have a good crepe, and it’s a wonderful location to sit, eat, sip on a glass of wine and watch the Parisians strolling through the park.

Robert (in the black baseball hat) reviews the menu in the cafe

?Wonderful ice cream at Berthillon on ÎIe Saint-Louis

Back to the first day – after we finished eating at Carette and strolling around the Marais, we headed over to another lovely area (with probably the most expensive real estate in Paris) – ÎIe Saint-Louis – for ice cream at Berthillon. Truly the best ice cream in Paris, and some of the best in the world. I especially love the dark chocolate. The flavors are very intense, with a super creamy and rich consistency. While you can buy Berthillon ice cream at other retailers around Paris, I think it’s the best at one of the flagship shops on the ÎIe.

Memorable, delicious dinner at Les Papilles in the 6th Arrondissement

Following the recommendation of our fabulous travel agent (and my best friend since grade school) Katey Hartwell, we had dinner one night at the restaurant Les Papilles in the 6th Arrondissement, near the Pantheon. Primarily a small wine shop and grocery store featuring locally sourced products, Les Papilles also serves lunch and dinner.

There aren’t very many tables – maybe 8 or 10 inside. And don’t expect your typical restaurant experience for dinner. To start, there is no menu, and no choice. When you arrive, the very nice and gracious host/owner (who speaks English) will tell you what they are serving that evening. We had four courses including a cheese course, which I think is typical. You select the wine you want to drink with your dinner from the various bottles on the store shelves, and you pay the store price for the wine plus a 7 Euro corkage fee – which means you can enjoy some fabulous French wine at a great price! The owner is happy to provide wine pairing recommendations. Here is the French white burgundy wine he recommended for our dinner that we loved:

Unfortunately my photos of our food didn’t come out (battery died!), but it doesn’t really matter because if you go, chances are very good you will be served something different than what we had, since the menu changes daily!

My next post will include some fabulous dishes we enjoyed in the Landes area at our friends beautiful home outside of Castelner. Stay tuned!