Paris

So, earlier this week I spent a couple of days in Paris. Mostly I went for an exhibition at the Pompidou Centre, but there was the small temptation of the food of course! I basically went on google and typed in places to eat in Paris and Time Out came up with budget eats.

When I arrived on Tuesday it was lunchtime so I headed straight to La Pointe du Grouin, which is on Rue de Belzunce just opposite and behind the Gare du Nord. It is run by chef Thierry Breton, with his too more expensive restaurants either side and serves some of the more adventurous cuts of meat. You also have to swap your Euros for Grouins, and pay in Grouins but beware the machine to get the grouins only works in multiples of ten and I ended up with a few leftover, I guess I'll just have to go back, shame! I ordered the Charcuterie plate and well, I know it has salami and rillettes on it and some kind of terrine but other than that I'm not sure. It came with bread and was easily enough for two people and was absolutely delicious.

I followed it with a Far Breton, which is a kind of prune flan and again was fab. The meal with 2 juices cost me €20 and would easily feed two.

I then went to the Musee D'Orsay, which, even with a ticket bought beforehand online I had to queue for 30 mins to get in and had a wander round there. Then I had a walk around the left bank and up to A L'Olivier on Rue de Rivoli where I bought some delicious fig vinegar.

For dinner I headed to Boco on Rue des Methurins, this is a mini chain of restaurants where five michelin three-star chefs – including Anne-Sophie Pic, Régis Marcon, and Emmanuel Renaut – were recruited to create recipes for a range of eat-in or takeaway starters, mains and desserts using organic produce, which come in recyclable glass jars. I loved the idea of this, I hate eating out on my own and always feel a bit of an idiot and because this felt a bit more like well Pret-a-Manger than a restaurant I instantly felt more comfortable. So basically you pick your glass jars, take them to the counter and have them reheated.

I went for Risotto de Coquillettes au Reblochon et Courgettes au Romarin by Emmanuel Renaut, which was basically Reblechon (a French cheese) macaroni cheese with courgettes and rosemary. This wasn't a great success, some of the courgettes were still hard and I found the rosemary a slightly annoying texture, but the flavour overall was good.

I followed it with Soyeux de Chocolat Blanc avec Fraises Epices - Frederic Bau, roughly meaning white chocolate mousse with spiced strawberries and a bit of sponge on top. This was to die for, really truly delicious. The flavours were fantastic and the texture was awesome. I would go back for the dessert alone. The whole meal including a lemonade cost me €15.

On Wednesday I went to the Pompidou Centre to the Le Courbusier exhibition, the whole reason I planned the trip and I was not disappointed. The exhibition was fantastic and no queue, plus the view from the top of the Pompidou is amazing! I had a quick lunch close to the Pompidou Centre, which was nothing to write home about, Provencal Quiche with Salad. I had planned to go to La Biche Au Bois but in the end it was too far, one to save for next time!

In the afternoon I ended up at Galeries Lafayette to take advantage of their cheese counter, which has an awesome selection. On my way to the cheese counter however I was in need of refreshment and I stopped off at Angelina, the tea room in the main store. Ironically a nectar d'abricot and a cake was more expensive than my lunch! But it was delicious. I chose a cake called Flore, which well looked like a flower and was mousse with meringue and I think strawberries.

For the train on the way home I stopped at one of the patisserie concessions in Galeries Lafayette: Patisserie Sadaharu AOKI, I had a green tea and chocolate slice with a Macaron on top and it was delicious. A definite recommendation, I think the cake was €5.50 but well worth it.

And that was my trip to Paris. I ended up with a free one way trip as compensation as my journey was delayed on the way out, so I will definitely be going back!