CURIOUS and keen to see where so many artists had chosen to live, Montmartre was my first stop. The tour taken was an eye-opener. It began at Église Saint-Jean – not the most visited church in this neighbourhood – but its hybrid design, mixing Gothic with Art Nouveau, and the realism in its stained glass, deserves to be appreciated; a visit there proved more satisfying than Montmarte’s too-touristy Sacré-Cœur Basilica.
The Elysée Montmartre was my base for experiencing the area’s undiminished reputation for evening entertainment, and it was delightful to find there a genuine respect for legacy and an eye for curated furniture.
Ducasse Baccart’s distinctive decor
Although there is a museum in Montmartre devoted to Salvador Dalí, the artist’s stay in the area was brief and more evocative echoes of surrealism, pleasingly accompanied with haute cuisine, are to be found in an historic mansion that is now Ducasse Baccarat.
As the place for bigwig surrealists to gather and rub shoulders with high society, it is where Luis Buñuel’s L’Age d’Or was first screened in 1939. The restaurant and its legendary chef Alain Ducasse pay culinary and aesthetic homage to this age of artistry with exquisite food, like lobster with tapioca and rose petals, and visually fascinating décor. Drinks are poured into Baccarat crystal glasses and what the Japanese do with crockery this restaurant does with cutlery.
I was staying a night nearby, in the super-elegant Padam where I could play-act being Parisian by enjoying a coffee and croissant on the balcony of my room (I forgot to ask but surely the name comes from the Edith Piaf song); the Champs-Élysées and Arc de Triomphe were a few minutes away.
No matter how many times the Louvre has been visited, a return is always compelling and, time being short, I opted for a small group tour that skips the queues. It proved perfect for a recap of the museum’s masterpieces and, having spent the night before at Le Roch, a ten-minute walk brought me to the tour’s meeting point in front of the Louvre’s Pyramid. After two and a half hours, tired feet found relief in the hammam, a part of Le Roch’s junior suites, and my exhausted body sought refuge in the spa.
It used to be a challenge finding vegetarian and vegan food in Paris but now there are restaurants like Faubourg Daimant. Its décor may be plain but the signature menu, designed for sharing, is exquisite; the house speciality – croquettes of smoked tofu, mushrooms and a ravigote sauce – sets the tone for the tasting dishes that follow. The seaweed caviar set me off on a hunt for a jar of vegan caviar, the kind served in Faubourg Daimant with potato ‘boudins’.
Seaweed caviar with potato ‘boudins’ at Faubourg Daimant. Credit Léo Kharfan Aware Studio
The flower shop that meets you on walking into Mesa is lovingly appropriate for this is also a plant-based restaurant with a small but tasteful menu: hot and cold starters like Jerusalem artichokes with a mushroom velouté or beet carpaccio with walnut purée; peppery and filling tacos, white beans with gremolato arriving lavishly in plate-sized shallow bowls and a neat line in cocktails, wines and ‘vegetal milks’ that include a charcoal latte.
The art of taste characterises food in Paris and for a city equally preoccupied with a taste for art the Musée d’Orsay complements the marvels of the Louvre. The setting for the Musée d’Orsay, a former Beaux-Arts railway station, is a stunning location for its cornucopia of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works and even its café, with its view of Sacré-Cœur Basilica behind the clock face, is deserving of a painting in itself.
Drouant, founded in 1880, in the centre of Paris
By staying in hotels geographically apart, my constant movement around the city revealed some wonderful lunch spots. After leaving the very lovely Chouchou, as endearingly French as its name suggests — even the staircase carpet gives a nod to the colours of the country’s marinière shirt – a five-minute walk led me to Drouant and its classique menus. The subdued but not sacred tone of Drouant, as trays and trolleys bring food to your table with aplomb, is old-school in the best sense.
Langoustines, oysters, escargots and oeuf mimosa compete for my palate’s attention in the courses of imagining how stylish an affair it would be to attend the annual ceremony, held here since 1914, for France’s most prestigious of literary awards, the Prix Goncourt.
Chef Bertrand Chauveau and Paul Henri, the talent behind Le Cornichon. ‘We dreamed of creating or a lively place where everyone could come together and talk freely. The old neighbourhood bars of Paris inspired us.’
The founder of the literary prize, Edmond de Goncourt, came to mind the next day when following a recommendation for a new restaurant in the south of the city. Goncourt is one of the many noted figures buried in Montparnasse Cemetery, minutes from Le Cornichon, a new eatery where the food draws in a crowd attracted by its quality, prices and buzzy vibe.
A friendly welcome at Boubalé in the 4th arrondissement
Italian fare at L’altro Frenchie and Mediterranean at Boubalé formed my last two meals in Paris. L’altro Frenchie, on rue du Nil and close to rue Montorgueil, serves crafted pasta and seafood dishes that cannot be faulted. Boubalé’s bright and colourful décor – check the embroidered walls and the washrooms — and its menu with lots of non-meat options invites cheerful eating with companions.
Boarding the train at Gare du Nord for the journey home, luggage space filled with eatables from rue du Nil and rue Montorgueil, was part of the satisfaction that makes Paris such a favourite destination.
by Sean Sheehan
Trains from London to Paris with Eurostar take around 2¼-2 ½ hours. Tours of Montmartrte are available with Experience First; tours of the Louvre in small groups from The Tour Guy. For information and ideas about enjoying Paris, see Paris je t’aime.