As far back as I can remember, I’ve been a francophile. For example, when I was 18 years old, one of my university applications asked me to describe my ideal roommate, and my answer was: “Her name is Chantal. She’s French.” And while that particular preference went ungranted, I did spend a couple of years at university learning to speak and write half-decent French.
In any event, one of the many things I love about living in London is the proximity of Paris. So, hot on the heels of our trip to Barcelona, Jon and I found ourselves on the Eurostar, pulling into Gare du Nord to celebrate our six-year wedding anniversary.
Having had a great experience at the Grand Hotel Francais the last time we were in Paris, Jon and I decided to return. Zyad, the hotel manager, remembered us, and upon hearing we were in town for our anniversary, he upgraded us to a large top-floor room with a small balcony. At 120 euros a night, the hotel’s standard rooms are a strong value, but our upgraded room was really a steal. If you’re looking for glitzy infrastructure (i.e., lavish lobby and floral arrangements), give it a skip. But if you want to stay in a hotel with friendly staff and stylish rooms in a quiet, pretty neighborhood on the right bank, give GHF a try.
In addition to enjoying two relaxing, tasty meals at much-talked-about Le Baratin and Le Gaigne (which will get their own posts), Jon and I were finally able to visit the no-frills-yet-high-end kitchenware shop, E. Dehillerin. (In the past, we’ve managed to visit the shop only when it’s closed). The place basically has no back inventory room, so everything they sell is jumbled onto rickety shelves, as if you’re shopping in – well, a back inventory room. There are no price tags, which is a bit of a hassle, because it means that if you’re interested in buying something, you have to hand the goods to a sales person who then looks up the price in a catalog that appears to have been printed using a dot-matrix printer (full employment, anyone?). Still, you’d be hard-pressed to find Mauviel copper pots and pans at a better price elsewhere.
In addition to loading up on passionfruit and salted-caramel macarons (with a little Ispahan sorbet thrown in) at Pierre Herme, we noticed that Pierre Herme has some cheeky (though, happily, sturdy) new packaging for his macarons. In case you can’t make it out in the photo above, the macaron boxes now show a series of Paris landmarks, followed by an image of Pierre Herme “and his famous macaron.”
At Zyad’s suggestion, we bought not only the usual outstanding baguettes, croissants and pain au lardon (aka bacon bread) at Maison Eric Kayser, but also mini-financiers in plain, chocolate and pistachio flavors. I loved these little guys. Nutty and sweet, with a moist, chewy center. Growing up, I loved eating chocolate Dunkin Donuts Munchkins, and these financiers brought those to mind (except with these financiers, you can taste real bittersweet chocolate instead of just cloying sugar icing).
The weather being fair and sunny, we velib’d everywhere, including to the Pere Lachaise cemetery, which we’ve never visited before. And it really isn’t as depressing as it sounds. It’s more like a park that happens to have graves in it.
Of course, all that biking and walking around made us hungry again, and one of the best things about Pere Lachaise is that it’s not far from Belleville. And on a Sunday, that means it’s banh mi time (because, frankly, almost every other place you’d want to eat is closed on Sunday).
This time, instead of visiting C&Z’s highly-recommended Saigon Sandwich, whose sandwich skimped a bit too much on the pickled crudite (but which I liked because the guy making the sandwiches took such obvious time and care to craft each sandwich), we tried the bustling, crowded Dong Tam (which uses the same font and coloring as the Dong Huang restaurant down the block, but above the awning it still says “Panda Belleville”).
Three women behind the counter were assembling sandwiches at lightning speed, and I liked that they were piling on the pickled carrots. You can get a speciale (porc and poulet lamine) for 2.80; a poulet (grilled skewers of moist, dark chicken meat) for 2.80, a normal (pork roti and pate de porc) at 2.50 and a vegetarian for 2.20 (not sure what’s in there).
Jon and I ordered two speciale and a poulet and then hopped on the metro to enjoy our banh mi while watching the crowds in the Tuileries.
Pluses of these banh mi: 1. tons of pickled veg – I love that sweet-vinegary crunch. 2. fresh coriander and cucumber. 3. creamy-sweet kewpie mayo. 4. generous, juicy portions of grilled chicken (on the poulet). 5. crunchy baguette. 6. low price.
Downsides of these banh mi: 1. still skimpy on the roast pork (i.e., three microscopically-thin slices in our normale, and the pate is a bit rubbery, like cheap bologna slices; and 2. no chilli peppers.
Still, it made for a perfect lunch in the sunshine, and heaven knows I’ve searched Kingsland Road in vain for banh mi in London. But next time I’m in Paris, I’ll continue looking for the perfect banh mi.
Grand Hotel Francais, 223, boulevard Voltaire, 11th; +33 1 43 71 27 57; closest metro: rue des Boulets (9) or Nation (1, 2, 6, 9, RER A)
Le Baratin, 3, rue Jouye-Rouve, 20th, +33 1 43 49 39 70; closest metro: Pyrenees or Belleville (11); closed Sun and Mon
Restaurant Le Gaigne, 12, Rue Pecquay, 4th; +33 1 44 59 86 72; closest metro: Rambuteau (11); closed Sun lunch and Mon
E. Dehillerin, 18 rue Coquilliere (cross: Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau), 1st; closest metro: Etienne Marcel(4); closed Sun
Pierre Herme, 4 rue Cambon, 1st; +33 1 58 62 43 17; closest metro: Tuileries (1); closed Sun and Mon
Maison Eric Kayser, 309, rue de Faubourg Saint-Antoine, 11th; +1 49 79 01 76; closest metro: Nation (1, 2, 6, 9, RER A); closed Sundays [though the Rue Monge location near Maubert Mutualite is open on Sunday, which is fab]
Dong Tam, 16, rue Louis Bonnet, 11th; closest metro: Belleville (11)
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Kayser’s mini financiers are awesome good!
I LOVE that new macaron packaging! And those financiers – must try!
Bonjour !
I thought you might like to know about http://www.francophilia.com, the social network for francophiles.
You can also follow us on Twitter for daily French culture bites and francophile treats! @francophilia
Merci et à bientôt.
Pamela Poole (LaGoulue)
Founder
There’s a new place in Deptford/Surrey Quays way called Banzi, they do banh mi. I had one last night and it was agreeable – not enough pickled veg but nice, smooth pate and sausage and chilli peppers (my lips were numb at one point :S).
And once again, your Paris posts make me realise how much I missed on my first (and only) visit 3-4 years ago!
When we were in Paris, I stuffed myself (literally) with macarons–Laduree, Lenotre, Gerard Mulot. I literally had to stuff my face with the macarons because they don’t travel well. They get all squishy–so forget that as gifts for people back home!
Sorry that I missed Pierre Herme. There were so many stores, shops, restaurants to hit, we didn’t even get to Pierre Herme…especially that we have a 2-year-old in tow! Maybe next time! And maybe we can visit Belleville as well!
Food Snob – awesome good is right.
Su-Lin – the packaging is indeed funny, but I am starting to wonder how much of the macaron price is now going to all this branding and marketing.
Pamela – the site looks like a lot of fun (read: hours of procrastination). Merci!
Charmaine – I am forever in your debt for sharing that Banzi banh mi tip. Surrey Quays is a bit of a schlepp, but much closer than Paris. I’ll let you know how it works out. And last night, while planning my next Paris trip, I saw that Eurostar is now running a GBP 59 return ticket promotion, so now’s the time to get yourself to Paris. : )
Jen – sounds like you hit lots of great places, though too bad you didn’t make it to any of the Pierre Herme shops. Something to look forward to next time!
[…] just spent a weekend in Paris eating a lot of banh mi, you’d think I would’ve satisfied my craving for this bit of […]
HI
i HOPe that you are well and that you have a beter wether than us in Paris it is raining ,
I saw that you had the finacier I hope thatr you enhoyed
next time just try the LADUREE MACARON ! wounderfoul!!
I am happy that you have enjoyed your room and I will be realy happy to see you again
fill free to contact if you need something from Paris !
take care
si zyad
si zyad – I’ve had Laduree macarons in London, and I remain a Pierre Herme devotee. : ) looking forward to seeing you again the next time we’re in Paris (which I think is in a few weeks, actually). A bientot!
[…] appearance in central London. A few weeks ago, I found banh mi at Banzi in Surrey Quays after a helpful tip was left on this Paris blog post. Banzi’s version wasn’t bad, but Surrey Quays is kind of a pain for me to get to. […]
Another reason for me to go to Paris now! 🙂
[…] Maison Eric Kayser’s mini-financiers are nutty and sweet with a moist, chewy center. Buy a bag because they make the perfect walking-around snack in Paris. Unlike les macarons, financiers aren’t easily crushed, and mini-anything is always extra appealing, no? Bar Mut's carpaccio huevos fritos (Barcelona) […]
[…] a wedding anniversary and two bank holidays, May was a ridiculous month of traveling and eating. A return to Paris, our first trip of the year. A return to Barcelona, where I fell in love with bistronomic […]
[…] For more on Paris, click on this post, “Paris Odds and Ends (May 2009)” […]
[…] Paris Odds and Ends (May 2009) […]
[…] Dong Tam (Panda Belleville) banh mi, 16, rue Louis Bonnet, 11th; closest metro: Belleville (11). (the seeingly ubiquitous) Henry Moore at the Rodin Museum […]
I had a “Sandwich Special VN” tonight at Dong Tam, and I loved it!