3 Days in Paris
The perfect €28 lunch formula, that new hotel every girl on Substack is talking about, and the dreamiest library if you're in need of some laptop time.
On Friday, at 10:45 AM we were already at Gare du Nord.
I am certain that many of you already know this, but Paris is only a three-hour train ride away from Amsterdam. So if you book really early (like six months early), €160 will get you two return tickets (yes, two), making this trip easily turned into an annual tradition.
I checked us in at Hôtel Massé, and it’s every bit as lovely as the Vogue review says. Buttery sheets, chocolates alongside the coffee machine, and interior that feels like the last word in elegance.
I walked towards the south bank past Bistro Richelieu where I used to meet with my sister during her lunch breaks when she lived in Paris few years ago. Then I continued past the Louvre, over the Seine, and the river banks were flooded. And it was the kind of day when the sky is so white that it makes you want to put on sunnies even though sun’s not there.
I picked up a gift for someone at Officine Universale Buly’s office. You can just order online and pick up your order in their office, which is very cool I think. So you get to be nosy, and look at where people work and you don’t have to queue with all the TikTok kids. Also, they are so so kind and they write your name in calligraphy (!!!). Going to use this as my bookmark forever. I step out of their office, around Gabriel-Pierné square. Streets are filled with furniture galleries, and there are cherry blossoms, and elderly men in trench coats all around.
I call my mum on the way to BnF at Richelieu (Bibliothèque nationale de France). My boyfriend was there, and I had my heart set on doing some laptop work at their Salle Ovale. I find a seat, email my boyfriend (yes email! via my laptop!) to come find me, cause my phone is dead. My phone is always dead. Type A, but her phone is always dead.
So now, I am sitting in the Salle Ovale. It’s Friday afternoon, I’m finishing my work for the week and I see my boyfriend across the room, under green banker lamps working alongside 200 other people. And everyone is quietly working or reading. And no one is on a zoom call. So lovely.
We went back to the hotel. Espresso and shower. I change into my blue fur lined coat. It’s a Friday night in Paris and we heading to Bar Noveau. The waitress is from Portugal, and I stutter when she asks me where I’m from. I have a stutter and my worst word to pronounce is Croatia, which is so annoying, and has gotten me in so many silly situations because there is no synonym for Croatia. But whatever.
We have 10 PM dinner reservations at Vivant 2 cause I booked 1 month in advance not 2 months in advance (lol). And I will immediately tell you that I had the most amazing meal, time, experience there, and that you should immediately, definitely book. It reminds me of Cervo’s in NYC. The kind of spot that plays amazing music and gets you in a vibe that you want to go out, and waiters are funny and personable, and you must sit at the bar. If you can’t sit at the bar, don’t go. Change your booking for the time when you can sit at the bar. Also get a late slot, cause it’s really vibey and you want to stay there until late.
We order the pork twice (we really liked it so much). They top up the candles to create more wax. The waiter jokes with us. I have oysters with walnuts. And somehow magically, I was not hungover the next day.
Woke up to a Saturday morning, and went straight to Boulangerie Terroirs d’Avenir. I came here before, and it’s fantastic, local, and cheap (for NL pastry standards). I think three pastries were like €6. And you can get coffee from accross the street, so basically, it’s the ideal breakkie. I got a brioche with dark choc. I think it’s called pitchounette??? Unsure, but it’s the best pastry especially if you like breadier pastries, and not too buttery (they have the most buttery pastries on Earth as well). And look, don’t judge me, and my bready pastries. I’m Balkan, I like bread.
The whole street, Rue du Nil, is a dream for any cook. There are fish monglers selling sea urchins, and organic veg vendors with crates of venetian radicchio, and there was a man with a bouquet of dill in front of me, and I was never this jealous. Nothing like a jelousy when you want to buy produce, but you don’t have a kitchen. Occurres often in South Europe.
Then I made my boyfriend take pictures of me. Which went surprisingly, sensationally well. Brief was: get one good photo. And look!
Then we had lunch at Recoin. And it was a knockout. Great service, and a great 3-course lunch formula for €28. It’s just does that exemplary French cuisine with a modern seasonal twist. Truly wonderful.
I would in general say that you should always do your research and book stuff in advance. Cause I get very annoyed at the whole lunch-time frenzy when you’re hungry, and it’s raining, and you’re going from a place to place asking if they have a table. And of course they do not have a table for my Sataurday lunch in the 11th. I can’t do that. Too stressful. Failed too many times, and I need some kind of loose structure on my holidays.
Then I almost bought a painting by Georges Braque but I decided better no, cause I am simply not yet in that phase of my life and money, atm, needs to be spent on travel.
We walked around the 6th, and around Luxembourg Gardens next to the tennis courts and I always thought that part is nicer than the north part next to the fountains. It feels more homey, more local. And you can scan the QR code and book the tennis courts!!! Next time though.
Got the metro back to the hotel. Two kids were sitting opposite of us smiling every time I looked at them, she was like 4, he was 2. Then I lost my metro card, and got on a wrong metro. Aaaaah!
But all good, we’re back to business, smiling at more kids on our way to Tarantula. And I have to say: what’s good for Dua is good enough for me (she was there last week, may I say after I had already booked). We got the best seat in the house (again... book, reserve). Had mezcal margaritas and beef salads, and it was perfect but it got a little bit loud. Which is usually code for a certain transatlantic presence. ;)
Went for drinks and music to Frequence, just accross the road. It’s very cool and they move all tables around 11, and dancing begins. I think Bambino is similar and maybe even owned by same people. And look, I would love to be the girl who now says and then we went to Bambino, and to Billie’s (that girl from EllieForTheGirls is my crush), but sadly, the tiredness kicked in and I just could not. We got out, and the line was maybe 20m long and I was in bed by midnight.
Sunday morning. Rolled out of bed, packed, took an elevator pic, checked out, and strolled again to Terroirs d’Avenir for a coffee and pitchounette which I realized is a kids snack. Well. It’s very good. Then I almost bought some violet globe artichokes to take home back to NL. But my boyfriend drew the line there.
We also went to Bourse de Commerce (again… book, reserve!) and their exhibition made me think of that book “I Who Have Never Known Men”.
We walked to 11th, to Brutos, to have the best chicken of my life with Emil and Sophia, and it was so nice. Walked back to the hotel beaming. Got caught in a rain. Picked up Vietnamese for the train, had a banana cake in the lobby. Told the receptionist how much we loved Massé. And at 11pm I was in bed, in Amsterdam.
Hope you liked it, honeys.
I do have to say that this is just what I picked for this weekend, but I could have had 10 more versions of this weekend, with different restaurants and activities. In Paris, you’re spoilt for choice. Maybe I should get an early bird ticket for November. Just checked the Eurostar website, and you can get two for €140! Hmm.
sublime! the itinerary as well as the pictures and details.
the things i’d give for a weekend in paris with you!