Paris with our kids, it is all about the food….
Monday, September 17th, 2007I have been itching to go to Paris since our last trip in 2002, when I was pregnant with my daughter. Everything about the city makes me happy – the culture, the ambiance, the buildings, the water, the food, the chocolate, the markets, everything. And now that our kids are old enough, and our tenth anniversary is coming up, my husband and I have decided to take our family of four to Paris for spring break in 2008.
We plan to arrive by Eurostar train from London, and spend 5 nights in an apartment in the 7th near Saint Germain des Prés. A friend recommended the apartment, as she had stayed there in 2005 on her families trip to Paris. It looks great, sleeps 5, and is apparently within walking distance of wonderful food shops.
Next on the list is to figure out what to do while we are there. I was talking with a friend who lives outside of Paris and when he asked my plans, I explained that nothing had really been sorted out, except that every day I plan to eat a chocolate croissant. He sent me a couple suggestions:
Laduree has beautiful Millefeuille and Saint Honore cakes. These are the kind that I would definitely want to squirrel away from my kids and eat alone! Lenotre seems to be in several different culinary arenas – bakeries and confectioneries, gourmet stores, prepared foods, champagne and wine, etc. The website is all in French, but they include pictures which helps a lot. Yumm, salivating already!
I also read this great blog post by Clotilde Dusoulier from Chocolate & Zucchini, who wrote about L’Etoile d’Or. Her account made me breathless with anticipation. Can you imagine a shop keeper in France inviting you to come back any time and stay as long as you want? I only hope that is true when I show up with my 5 and 7 year olds!
In any case, since my focus will be so much on the food, I will be gathering other suggestions for places to go. Among several things I would like my kids to know about France is the wonderful things to come out of boulangerie and patisseries, the cheeses of all kinds (goat, milk, sheep, hard, soft, the list goes on), how to make a picnic out of small-market finds and the true cup of hot chocolate. Hope they are up for this challenge!
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