The first time I went to Paris, it was the middle of winter. I was visiting Michael during his study abroad program, and I was a new traveler and broke because I was in college.

Michael’s older sister Allison signed the two of them up for the 2015 Paris Marathon. Michael was excited for his first marathon to be in Paris, and Allison wanted another marathon in her books. She guided Michael and encouraged him throughout the entire training process.

When the trip was in the initial planning stages, I was quick to volunteer myself to go on this ten day trip. I wanted to cheer on the runners, and I am always looking for my next trip. The final group ended up being Michael, Allison, myself, Mike (my father-in-law, and Jacob (my older brother). I was excited to have my families blended. The great thing about our group—we’d all been to Paris before—so this trip we could go to relax and enjoy the environment and food without the pressure of checking off all the touristy things.

We decided we wanted our trip to surround the tremendous food and wine of the city, so everyone reached out to their friends that either lived in Paris or had spent ample time there. If you’re not a foodie, you might want to stop reading now because this will be all about our restaurant tours.

Mike Sr. made friends with some french ladies on the plane and enjoyed attempting Google translate with them. We arrived in Charles de Gaulle airport smoothly and headed off to the apartment in the Opera district. I don’t think I remember much from my five years of French classes, but it’s all a pleasant surprise to see how quickly the vocabulary comes back.

The apartment was incredible. There were ceiling to floor windows overlooking a great intersection. The entire building was old and intricate, everything made in the highest quality. The building has been there so long, I bet it has some incredible stories.

Our first food stop was just down the street from our apartment: Le Bistrot des Colonnes. Most of us got some light salads to hold us over until dinner.

I love how everyone is out and about, taking time to enjoy each other and their food. The cafes have putting just sitting, sipping on drinks and facing the street (instead of around the table). They take the time to “be still” and appreciate the world around them.

We took a few short walks, but the runners wanted to save their legs. They headed across town to check in for their race and go get some marathon shirts for the memories. Prior to dinner we stopped off in Cafe Comptoir Restaurant (underneath our apartment) for some pre-dinner drinks.

Our first dinner was at Comptoir de la Gastronomie, a place know for their foie gras. I’m not going to go into super detail on every meal, but it’d be so easy for me to do a post on each of the dinners we had (they were that great). At this restaurant, the group had escargot, french onion soup, sea bass risotto, duck, foie gras ravioli, beef ribs (Jacob’s favorite dish of the trip), salade gourmand, chocolate lava cake with milk, and creme brûlée. It was a small cozy restaurant, with high end food, incredible environment, and great service. We took a nice stroll back to the apartment, admiring the details of the old buildings, and walking off all the calories we just had.

charcuterie

The next morning was a lazy morning as we were all trying to get our sleep scheduled adjusted. The night prior we had noticed a trendy restaurant a few blocks away that was packed with a long wait. We decided to check it out for lunch, and the entire group was so happy that we did. ANoste did not disappoint. It was incredible. They served us tapas style: duck spring rolls, calamari in a large boot, charcuterie, giant prawns with apple, duck on coals, and some french fries. We walked around the opera district for awhile, window shopping. Michael bought some new shoes, and I tried on Apple watches. The group decided to search out the top cheese shops and meat shops, so we ask around for the local’s favorite fromagerie and charcuterie. We headed towards Fromagerie Quatrehomme, La Masion du Fromage and Vérot Charcutier.  Michael was in heaven at the cheese shop, and he picked out medley of cheese for our apartment. We were in the Montparnasse area, so we checked out Le Bon Marché, an incredible supermarket. We got some pate and other goodies at Vérot and then sat down to enjoy some tea and cafe au last to allow the runners to get off their feet. On the way back, Michael and Allison decided to take the train route to their race, so they’d be prepared bright and early the next morning.

Dinner was at L’Apibo. Asparagus was in season, so we had a lot of dishes with fresh asparagus. We decided to do the full five course tasting menu, where the chef chose each of our dishes. I always enjoy that because you never know what to expect. See surrounding pictures for the dishes.

Michael and Allison headed to the race early. Jacob, Mike Sr., and I enjoyed some coffee and croissants, and we mapped our plan for how and where we wanted to be stationed to see our runners go by. We saw them once at mile marker three, and they stopped and took time for a picture with us. It’s really an impressive sight to see all the runners go by, all countries, all shapes and sizes, all with the same goal. What a great race route as well—through some of the most iconic buildings and landmarks in the world. We saw them two more times, and we enjoyed holding a giant banner, and finding names on jerseys and cheering specifically for that person. Some people loved it, and some people were so confused. While they were burning calories, we stopped off for some ice cream at L’Ile Flottante, Berthillon. We met them at the finish line, and cheered as they both successfully completed the Paris Marathon. Michael said it was so hard, and Allison encouraged him and kept him going the whole way. I’m proud of Michael for completing his first marathon. It took a lot of training during the middle of his busiest season at work. We rested back at the apartment for awhile, enjoying some of the cheese and meat we got the previous day. For dinner, Michael decided to stay in while the rest of us went out for some pasta. I love Paris. It was awesome to think that we were only three days into our eleven day trip.