Tour de France in Paris (and the cutest Parisian restaurant)

I’m going to be honest: I’m a bit bored of writing about my holiday! I don’t know if it’s writer’s block, post-holiday blues, the fact that I have new and exciting things to write about or all of the above, but I’ve decided to stop dragging this out (I’ve seriously never procrastinated with blog posts so much!) and just condense what was going to be another four posts into this one. I’ll break it down succinctly too, so you don’t have to read a post that’s four times longer than usual. You’re welcome!

two big names of cycling: Merckx & Hinault

Saturday was our last day in the Alps; we drove from Valmeinier to Grenoble in the morning and found the starting line of the day’s stage, the individual time trial. We had a great position right where the riders were coming to warm up, and we even got to see cycling legends Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault as they made their way to the VIP area. We had a train to catch at 4pm, so we had to leave before we got to see any of the big names, but we made sure we got updates from Australia throughout the nail-biting time trial as we were on our way to Paris. Due to a mistake made by the hotel we booked for our two night stay in Paris, we were upgraded to a 4-star hotel with champagne on arrival and a gorgeous room, which made us happy!

we heart free upgrades!

The following day was the final stage of the Tour de France, where the riders complete eight laps of the Champs Élysées. In any photo you see of this stage the cyclists appear against a backdrop of the iconic Arc du Triomphe, but when we actually arrived the barriers were set so far back from the road that we couldn’t even see the Arc. Not a great start to the day, I must admit. The freezing weather didn’t help either, especially as we hadn’t dressed appropriately – I ended up having to find H&M just to buy a jumper to keep me warm, and even that didn’t lift my mood.

my expression for the day. I read a whole book.

Cadel Evans in yellow

It was cool to see Cadel in yellow, but in general I wouldn’t recommend watching the Tour in Paris – it just wasn’t anywhere near as enjoyable as I thought it would be. Perhaps I had just had enough of the Tour de France in general, but I left feeling happy that I’d seen some great stages and also relieved that it was over.

In the evening we ventured to our favourite area in Paris: Montmartre. I had seen this picture on Pinterest a few months ago and decided we absolutely had to eat there:

Le Poulbot, Montmartre

You know the saying “don’t judge a book by it’s cover”? Well, don’t listen to anyone who says that because not only are books generally better when they have an awesome cover (perhaps the topic for another post?), but this restaurant was every bit as amazing as it looks from the outside. The food was hearty, simple and delicious, and it just felt like the dishes were made with love.

yes, I ate snails! Escargot to be exact!

I started with escargot: garlic and parsley saturated snails, which were not rubbery as I’ve heard them described but rather more like the texture of mussels. I even mastered the use of the tong-fork combo that they gave me which was impressive. Brendan had onion soup for his starter and it was divine; I am ashamed to say the only onion soup I’d tried before this was the awful packets of French onion soup; nasty stuff. This was nothing like that, and I’m now determined to find a recipe for this delicious French dish. For our main course, we both ordered boeuf bourguignon, another dish I’d never tried but am now in love with!

boeuf bourguinon perfection!

I can’t even describe how rich, tender and hearty this dish was, but suffice to say I won’t be able to go to Paris without a visit to Le Poulbot for some more!

an after-dinner stroll sight, Sacré Coeur

The following morning we climbed the hill back up to Montmartre to check out the artist’s square and enjoy a casual stroll around the district.

some of the Parisian art on display

We had a train to catch later in the afternoon and still wanted to see some more of Paris, so we hopped on the Metro to the Eiffel Tower, where we ate sandwiches and people-watched under the shadow of one of the most recognizable structures in the world.

stunning from any angle

With one more important stop before we needed to check out of our hotel and catch our train, we crossed the river and walked up the Champs Élysées, which looked much nicer than the day before, and selected some of my favourite treats from Ladurée.

when in Paris...

Unfortunately we scoffed the gorgeous macarons before I could take a photo, but I assure you they were very pretty, and absolutely mouthwateringly scrumptious!

From there it was time to catch the Eurostar back to London and get back into reality…for now, anyway!!

Thanks so much for sharing my epic French journey with me, and sorry for taking so long to finish it! I assure you I’ll get right back to normality soon! xxx