5 Days in Paris for Food Lovers

Pick up breakfast at Du Pain et des Idées on Rue Yves Toudic — a genuinely beautiful old bakery with painted ceilings and the kind of croissant that makes you reconsider every croissant you've had before. The pain des amis and chocolate-pistachio escargot are the moves. About $8–12/person.

Drop your bags and orient yourself with a walk through the Marais. Stop into the Musée Cognacq-Jay — a small 18th-century collection of paintings and decorative objects in a private hôtel particulier that most visitors skip entirely. It tells you a lot about how the wealthy ate, hosted, and lived during the period that made French food culture what it is. Free entry, budget a couple of hours.

Dinner at Au Bourguignon du Marais on Rue François Miron. It's a wine-focused bistro doing solid Burgundian food — escargot, œufs en meurette, bœuf bourguignon — with a list of Burgundy bottles that rewards a little exploration. Book ahead. Around $45–60/person with wine.

Musée d'Orsay opens at 9:30am. Go then, before the lines stack up. The permanent collection is one of the strongest arguments for why context matters — seeing Manet and Monet in the building they belong in, with the old railway clock overhead, hits differently than any reproduction. Budget $18–20 entry and two to three hours.

Lunch at Les Parisiens on Rue du Pré aux Clercs — a short walk from the Orsay into the 7th arrondissement. It's a calm, neighborhood-facing lunch spot doing refined French cooking without the fuss. Then wander over to the Musée Rodin — the sculpture garden alone is worth it, and the house gives you the full picture of where Rodin worked and what drove him. About $18 entry.

Aperitivo-style drinks at Little Red Door in the Haut-Marais — a cocktail bar that takes its seasonal menu seriously without the attitude. Then dinner at Le Colimaçon on Rue Vieille du Temple, a cozy old-school bistro with stone walls and a menu that doesn't overstay its welcome. Around $40–55/person.

Start at La Maison d'Isabelle on Boulevard Saint-Germain — a boulangerie that won the prize for best baguette in Paris and hasn't coasted on it. Get the baguette, get whatever's in the pastry case, eat it on a bench in the Jardin du Luxembourg nearby. Budget about $8.

Start at La Maison d'Isabelle on Boulevard Saint-Germain — a boulangerie that won the prize for best baguette in Paris. Get the baguette, pick up whatever's in the pastry case, and take it across the street to the Jardin du Luxembourg for breakfast on a bench among the green iron chairs. About $8/person.

Head to the Musée de Cluny — the medieval museum built over Roman baths in the 5th arrondissement. The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries are the anchor, but the carved capitals and everyday medieval objects are what linger. It's the kind of place that reframes a lot of what you'll see in French cooking — terrines, spiced wine, the whole herbal tradition. About $12 entry.

Dinner at Brasserie des Prés on the Cour du Commerce Saint-André — a covered passage off the Boulevard Saint-Germain that's been there since the 18th century. The brasserie is the right fit for the setting: classic French without being a museum piece. Finish with a stop at Pierre Hermé on Rue Bonaparte, two minutes away, for a macaron or two to take back. Dinner around $45–55/person.

Take the RER C to Versailles. The Palace of Versailles is worth the half-day — not just the Hall of Mirrors but the kitchens, the outbuildings, and the gardens, which tell you everything about the scale of French court hospitality. Go early (gates at 9am), bring snacks from the morning, and plan to be back in Paris by early afternoon. Entry around $22–25.

Detox from the crowds with a slow walk through the Champ de Mars toward the Eiffel Tower — not to go up necessarily, just to experience it at ground level, which is underrated. Then pick up something from Gast Baker's House - Boulangerie Paris 7 on Rue de la Motte-Picquet for an afternoon snack. Around $6–10.

Tonight's the dinner you built the trip around. Book ahead at Chouchou on Boulevard de Sébastopol — a cooking-forward restaurant with a natural wine list and a menu that moves with the season. It's not a tablecloth place, but the food is serious. Around $55–70/person with wine, and worth every euro.

Walk up to Montmartre early, before the tourist wave arrives. The Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre is worth the climb for the city view, but the real pleasure is the streets around it — Place des Abbesses, the old vineyard, the squares that still feel like a village. Stop at Aux Merveilleux de Fred down near the Pont Louis-Philippe on the way back for one of their meringue-and-cream confections. About $6–8.

The Musée National Picasso-Paris in the Marais — housed in the Hôtel Salé, a 17th-century mansion, with a collection that spans Picasso's whole career and makes clear how deeply he absorbed and reworked French visual tradition. Plan two hours. Entry about $16.

Last dinner at Bouillon Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy — a high-ceilinged, buzzing classic bouillon that's been through a revival and earns it. Snails, steak-frites, île flottante. It's the Parisian brasserie experience at its most honest, and the prices are a pleasant surprise after the week. Around $25–35/person. Walk it off in the neighborhood after.