24 Hours in Paris

Just a couple floating heads at the Arc de Triomphe

Is it enough time? Hell no! But sometimes you’re only in Paris for a quick layover before you head to Bordeaux or Provence so why not make the most of it?!

We recently had 24 hours in Paris solo before our friends and family joined us for a week of wedding events in France. This is what we got up to.


Arrival & Luggage Drop at the Hotel

Balcony view from Hotel Dame des Arts

We arrived in Paris at Gare du Nord in the late afternoon from Amsterdam and desperately needed to drop our bags so we headed over to Hotel Dame des Arts and did just that. Staying on the left bank was new for us this trip since we usually stay near the Marais at Les Bains. And while we’ve loved Airbnbs in Paris (like this great one a block from the fancy hotels on Avenue George V), sometimes you just want the creature comforts of a hotel, you know?


Rooftop Cocktails

The rooftop bar at Hotel Dame des Arts

After checking into our tiny room with an equally tiny balcony, we headed up to the rooftop bar. With the sun about to set over the Eiffel Tower, we downed a couple spritzes and then headed out as a couple of flâneurs (someone who walks around not doing anything in particular but watching people and society).


Snacks & Wine

The tower of butter at Avant Comptoir de la Terre

We stopped into Avant Comptoir de la Terre, which is a tapas-style bar where you can grab a bar stool for a bottle ice cold white burgundy, an enormous chunk of fresh bread (with an even bigger slab of French butter) and tasty shareable snacks like foie gras, a few different tartares and some croquettes.


Exploring

With no destination in mind, it’s time to wander the streets of Paris for a few hours.

 


Cocktails

The moody interior at Prescription Cocktail Club, Paris

We then stopped in for a couple cocktails at Prescription Cocktail Club, a vibey spot in Saint-Germain-des-Prés.


Dinner

On our way to dinner at Kodawari Ramen Tsukiji, we happened to pass the other outpost, Kodawari Ramen Yokochō, and noticed that we could add our names to the digital waitlist at Tsukiji. Since the wait times can get a little crazy (2-3 hours), this was a major score. After walking across the Seine and past the Louvre, we arrived at Kodawari Tsukiji and had an awesome meal of sake, ramen and gyoza.

Believe it or not, this is a restaurant, Kodawari Ramen (Tsukiji), which is designed to mimic the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo
Dinner at Kodawari Ramen in Paris

Late Night

After dinner, we walked back to our hotel in the 6th.

Walking past the Louvre
Bill on the Pont Alexandre III

Breakfast

I’m a whore for room service breakfast, so if it’s available, I’m ordering. An UberEats delivery of smoothies, juices & granola from Wild & the Moon is also a good call.

Breakfast at Les Bain in Paris, October 2022 visit

Lunch

This one’s touristy, but I love it so much I’ll try to come here at least once every time I’m in Paris. Le Relais de l’Entrecote has several locations around Paris and the couple that we’ve been to (Marbeuf and Saint-Benoit) convince me that they’re all very similar and consistent. There’s only one thing on the menu: steak frites, and they do it very well. The only decisions you have to make are 1) what would you like to drink, 2) how you’d like your steak cooked, and 3) if you have room for dessert.

The meal starts with a simple green salad and then it’s time for the main event: sliced steak served with a creamy green peppercorn sauce and thin, crispy fries. Both the steak and the frites are replenished by the waitresses (clad in old-school black & white uniforms) until you say ‘non, merci.’

Whenever I think of steak frites, I go back to my brief stint as a server at a bistro in Montreal. Every week, I’d wait on a foursome of Montreal women who would come for a lunch of steak frites, red wine and full-fat Cokes. They’d chain smoke throughout the entire meal, only briefly pausing to eat for a few minutes. To me, this was the epitome of chic and it’s the only way I can eat steak frites at Le Relais de l’Entrecote. Minus the chain-smoking.

Our first visit to Le Relais de l’Entrecote in 2018 at the St-Germain des Pres location
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