Eating in Paris

From a close friend who spent her fall abroad in Paris, a list of favorite places to eat-

DINNER RESTAURANTS :
For classic, bistro-y French food :
1) L’Ardoisse : near the Opera Garnier ; nice restaurant w/ simple atmosphere but very authentic & EXCELLENT French food.
2) Restaurant le Christine : in St. Germain, cute, small, a little funky, & great, creative cuisine.
3) Le Rotisserie d’en Face: across the street from le Christine
4) Relais du Comptoir : also in St. Germain, *must get reservations. I’ve never been, but it’s super popular, & looks like a warm, bustling place. Food is apparently great.
5) Le Grand Colbert : by Bourse ; in the movie « Something’s Gotta Give, » high ceilings, brass fixtures, very french looking, need a reservation. Haven’t been; atmosphere may be better than food.
6) Robert & Louise: a charming, tiny steak place in the heart of the Marais, supposedly cozy & great
7) Bofinger: By the Opera Bastille, apparently a very classic French Bistro, w/ all the brass & red banquettes, classic bistro food, pretty classy; owned by a bigger company so may have a slight commercial air to it? I wanted to go here, though.
8) A la Petite Chaise: apparently the oldest restaurant in Paris,
9) L’Orangerie: on ile St. Louis (so, would be pretty to walk & see lights of Notre Dame on Ile de la Cite); went here w/ my grandparents; mix of modern & traditional atmosphere, chic, modern French food.

Ethnic Food:
10) **404: My favorite restaurant in Paris! In the Marais; very hip with an amazing far-east ambience & friendly staff. Great mojitos, cous cous, & tagines (Moroccan stews- get the Lamb & Prune!). Either an 8 pm or 10:30 PM seating… do the 10:30 if you want a better crowd. (Andy Wahloo is an apparently very cool, small bar right next door)

Hipper, more contemporary:
11) Des Gars dans la Cuisine: on Rue Vielle de Temple in the Marais (same st. as Robert & Louise, w/ great bars all around). Went w/ my fam- small, modern, & hip but cozy, w/ inventive, yummy food.
12) Georges: On top of the Pompidou Center, apparently $$, super trendy, & really cool, w/ a great view of the city. Anna went w/ her family & loved it.
13) Café Charbon: went here w/ a big group- in Oberkampf, bright, brassy, big, loud, & crowded; I had a great meal.

FOR LUNCH:
1) La Duree: as you know, famous macaroons. Good for $$ lunch or tea, at either the Champs Eylsee or St. Germain branch (smaller, but equally lovely)
2) Angelina: on Rue de Rivoli. Go here before/after the Louvre for the world’ best hot chocolate (SO rich, but amazing). Food is too $$$.
3) Cosi: great casual sandwich/ salad place in St. Germain, w/ amazing bread (not the coffee chain!)
4) Café Flore or Les Deux Magots: across from eachother in Place St. Germain. They’re Parisian institutions where Hemingway, etc. used to always go. Pretty average food, but worth saying you’ve been.
5) Chez Marianne: Right off of Rue de Rossiers (the cobblestoned jewish street) in the Marais. Great if you want falafel & ethnic food but want a nicer atmosphere.
6) L’As de Falaffel: World famous- if you want the REAL Parisian Falaffel experience!!
7) Nectarine: for brunch in Place de Vosgues, a beautiful brick square in the Marais.

Destination: Prague

PRAHA ON MY MIND. That’s one saying I identified with, being born in Atlanta where our state license plate reads “Georgia on my mind”. It was there, in that Golden Lane touristy shop on a freezing day the last weekend of October, that I smiled to myself.

Prague was the last stop on our fall break vacation—first Budapest, then Vienna, now the Czech Republic’s capital. I had been once before with my family, but that was back when I was 13 and all I could remember was seeing Owen Wilson in a bathrobe and slippers at our hotel’s brunch.

Before returning back this time, however, it was clear to my friends and I that Prague was a tourist destination in eastern Europe not to be missed. We had, in fact, planned our trip around it. Everyone that I talked to—in France and back at home in the US—seemed to rave about the city. Was it the tourist attractions? The food? Or the fact that it was perhaps very accommodating to Americans? Only time would tell…

We first checked in at our hostel, the Czech Inn (get it?), the nicest we had stayed at during our 2 week trip. What an awesome morning brunch they served. If you happen to stay there, we ate dinner at a great local spot the first night—Nakozacce.

Things to do during your trip
-Definitely start off with the Free Walking Tour of the city: the morning one starts at 11am and lasts 3 hours but that includes a 20 minute bathroom stop where you can also grab food if you forgot to eat breakfast. Great tourguide and perfect way to get a real feel for the city. Did I mention it is completely free?

-Sites include: the Old Town Square & Astrological Clock, Charles Bridge, House of Black Madonna & Museum of Cubism, Church of Our Lady before Tyn, Prague Castle & St. Vitus’ Cathedral, Old Jewish Quarter, Old New Synaogue & the Golem, Spanish Synagogue, Czech Philharmonic, St. Nicolas’ Church, Kinsky Palace, Wenceslas Square, Art Nouveau Municipal House, Power Tower, Statue of Jan Hus, WWII Prague Uprising

-Walk across famous Charles Bridge: our walking tour guide Colin had previously mentioned that it when it was made, the builders threw cheese, eggs, and wine in it! Just an interesting sidenote

-Visit the Jewish Quarter and Museum
-The museum is full of artwork done by Jewish children in the ghetto before they were taken by the Nazis or escaped
-See the Old/New Synagogue
-Beautiful old cemetery from the first half of the 15th century, holds over 12,000 bodies

-Go to the John Lennon Wall, right off of the Charles Bridge

-Spend a half-day exploring Prague Castle: on our way there we stopped at the Church of St. Nicholas in Mala Strana (The Little Quarter) which had awesome Baroque interior
-The area includes a guard walk, St. Vitus’s Cathedral, St. George’s Basilica, Old Royal Palace, the crown jewels, and Golden Lane which is full of touristy shops

Eating
-Bohemian Bagel: MUST GO
-U Bulinu
-Klub Architektu: awesome restaurant that was literally an underground cave, menu was huge and so many local specialties it was hard to decide what to eat
-Cantina: craving Mexican? Go here (it’s right off of the John Lennon Wall)

Going out
-DEFINITELY do a pub/bar crawl. We stuck with all the other Americans our age in choosing “Prague’s Hottest Bar Crawl” but in a foreign city that I didn’t know much about, I wouldn’t have done it any other way. The crawl met at astrological clock at 9pm and between then and 2am, it took us to four different places—a truly amazing way to see the city and what the nightlife was like. Spots included Molly Malone’s (pub), Nebe (cocktail and music bar with underground lounge), Chapeau Rouge (all underground), Club Roxy (techno dance party)
-Zlaty Strom: this is where we celebrated Halloween. Had many different rooms, even some dancers

Destination: Budapest

We visited Hungary’s capital on the first few days of our two-week fall break, les vacances de Toussaint. Flew out of Geneva and arrived in Budapest later that afternoon, with no idea what to expect other than the fact that Eastern Europe would be different. And change it was—Budapest was a lot larger than I imagined, had culture and industry and the rich and poor mixed right together, was surrounded by locals who spoke a complex tongue with a harsh accent, and the food was definitely unusual. It was also my first experience in a hostel, and to make stories even better, we soon learned where the place, Casa da Musica, got its name…. it doubled as a dance studio.

Things to do
-Visit the Hungarian National Museum: it holds the largest collection of Hungarian relics (from the Rakoczi War of Independence to 1990) and the downstairs is the Lapidarium (with Roman, Medieval, and early modern stone collections). Overall, the museum plays hosts to much armor, crowns, pendants, furniture, musical instruments, and art

-Go to a concert in St. Stephen’s Basilica: you’ll see tickets being sold on the stairs near the entrance. We did a one-hour classical performance called “Ave Maria Air Alleluja”. Come here for a concert, take in all the architecture and beauty inside the church, then eat out for dinner in the surrounding area

-Spend a half-day wandering through the Castle District. Make sure to stop at Matthias Church and the Fisherman’s Bastion during your trip (which has great views that overlook Buda, if my memory serves me correctly). Watch out for a throng of tourists

-Go to the baths or a spa. But be warned—a few friends and I decided to visit the famous Gellert Hotel and Spa and there was definitely a miscommunication when we asked and paid for a traditional foot massage (1600HFT). Our afternoon consisted of us (essentially) putting our feet in a bin of hot water. There was no massage involved. The attendant also called Hannah’s feet a catastrophe during her “pedicure”

-Walk across the famous Chain Bridge—the country’s first bridge monument, has lights at night and quite an impressive view of the Castle District in the background

-Look at all the tourist vendors (seen on any of the main streets) to get an idea for the products the country specializes in—porcelain, embroidery, etc.

-Go to the Ecseri flea market outside Budapest for a morning of antique and vintage shopping

Eat
-Definitely branch out and try the traditional delicacies like goulash in its many forms (soup, stew, beef). Hungary also known for stuffed pancakes called palacsinta. The hot spice paprika is usually served on dishes
-Coffee Heaven, with the logo “good food, good mood”, quickly became our local Starbucks

Night-life
-Irish Cat Pub was close to the area of town with the Hungarian National Museum—relaxing pub to grab a few beers. This is where Ann started her coaster-collecting trend
-Simpla was really cool—half indoors and the other half outdoors, with a good crowd of 20-year-olds and fun music, even had empty bathtubs and tall, funky lights as decorations
-Morrison’s Music Pub was awesome—we walked from Simpla which felt like it took about an hour but it was well worth it and cover charge (everything in Budapest is cheaper than central Europe, by the way). Had cool underground tunnels with a different type of music in each room