One of the best things about London is how close it is to everywhere else. We decided to head over to Paris for a weekend break – as my first trip to France, there was so much to pack into one weekend.
I booked us a little flat in Montmartre, with a cute little Parisian elevator and huge windows that opened onto the street.
We walked up the steep hill to the Sacré-Cœur and looked out over Paris.
We wove our way down through the gardens to the bottom of the hill, and head deeper into Montmartre. At the bottom of the hill was a merry-go-round (the one from the film Amelie), so we bought ourselves some tickets and got our own private ride.
My friend Husni had been driving around Italy for the past week, so he came through Paris to meet us for lunch.
We wandered around, unsure which of the many delicious-smelling places to pick, when we stumbled upon a familiar looking facade.
It was the cafe from Amelie! Identical to the movie (but now with added Amelie film posters).
We of course had to eat crème brûlée there, which I cracked satisfyingly with the back of my spoon.
We walked past all the food markets, fromageries and patisseries – you can even buy fresh seafood on the sidewalk.
There were berries everywhere – so many different types!
Aftwerwards, we head down to the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and wandered along the River Seine.
We walked over the famous love-lock bridge, so heavy with the thousands of tokens of affection that parts of the railings have broken!
We stumbled upon a familiar storefront – I immediately recognised it from the front of a cookbook… I hadn’t realised it was a real place! I am the goofball looking ecstatically excited in front of the window…
A La Mere De Famille is a confectioners established in Paris in 1761. We ordered a pile of chocolates in our limited French and then wandered the covered passageways that wove between the main streets, looking at antique books and biscuit stores while wolfing down raspberry ganache, coffee truffles and sea salt caramel.
Dinner was back in Montmartre. We wandered the cobbled alleyways, and picked a little restaurant tucked away in a side street. We started with snails in garlic and a baked camembert, mains of beef bourguignon and coq au vin, and crepes suzette for dessert.
Back to our little flat with a bottle of lovely French wine, ready to recharge for another day tomorrow.