Montmartre, overview on Paris

Big day today.

We started with a walk around Montmatre to see the artists in Place du Tertre, a square popular with artists and cafes for years. A man was playing the accordion while we wandered looking at the landscapes, portraits of all types, still life, traditional and modern styles - all on display. Whilst it was a bit touristy it was still nice to walk around and see what was being made and sold. The artists really wanted to draw portraits of India and Ariah because they are so beautiful but in our fleeting trip we didn’t have the time.

The real first item in the agenda though was a good tour…and boy was it good. Our guide, Sam, was great (an American student and foodie who moved to Paris 8 years ago to study and just never left) and able to mix the history of Paris and France in with the most delicious pastries, cakes, chocolate, and other goodies we’ve had.
Favourites included
- madelines,
- choux a la crème,
- macarons,
- éclairs,
- la baba rhum chantilly (rum and cream drenched crown cakes),
- raspberry mille-feuilles,
- some sort of delicious pistachio cream filled cake,
- raspberry tart, and
- very rich organic hot chocolate mochas.

(As a shortlist 😜)

Some of the great stops include:
- La Patisserie Stohrer is Paris’ oldest bakery dating back to Marie Antoinette days.
- Fou de patisserie had selection from all the best patisseries in Paris all in one place.
- Choux choux was a cute patisserie specialising in cream filled puffs of deliciousness
- Plaq was a a boutique chocolate factory with rich interesting chocolates made from goats milk and the best cacao beans from the world.

By the end of the tour we had enough food swag to have a lovely, if entirely unhealthy, picnic lunch right in from of some big steel tower.

Then we had to high tail it though as Kylie and I had to get to a cocktail making class in a trendy Parisian bar we bought for her for Christmas last year… (thanks India and Ariah for being such responsible kids ❤️)

…or so we thought…

…to be continued…….Read more