Vegan Adventures in Paris (Partie Un)

After an absolutely epic trip to France and Switzerland, I’m at a loss of how to blog about it. How does one organize a series of posts that go back and forth across countries, from Paris to Lucerne, Switzerland and back to Paris then on to Normandy then back to Paris again? I thought about chronologically, but then I thought these posts would be more useful for future travelers if they’re organized by country and by region. 

So, I’m going to break them into parts. Three Paris, one Normandy, and one Switzerland. And mix them up with some of my regular food posts, so no one gets bored. 

Let’s do this. 

**Day One**

I suppose this is why our tickets were so cheap, but we were routed through San Fran on our way to Paris (yes, totally wrong direction from Denver), but whatever. We got SUCH a good deal on these tickets, it was totally worth it. We had an hour to kill at SFO after we made it to the International terminal, so we sat at a restaurant near our gate for some wine and snacks. 

We had delicious black-eyed pea hummus and sweet potato fries, which were probably the only vegan options on the menu. Which was fine, because they were good!

We also each had a glass of wine. I went for the house Chardonnay but my fancy mom ordered a glass without a price, and it ended up being $20 which was pretty funny. I feel like you really can’t stress about money when you’re traveling, because it’ll ruin your trip. Plus I knew it would be evened out by allllll the free wine we were about to consume on the flight 😉

It was a long flight, close to 10 hours. I drank, napped, watched a movie, napped some more. And ate. United did come through with a good vegan meal and a snack later on. Here’s the meal- it was an Indian curry with rice and beans, a simple salad and roll, and a chocolate chip cookie. 

Before we knew it, the captain was announcing our initial descent into Paris! The countryside just looked French!

Here’s my first tip: If you’re going to Paris, stay in the 4th Arrondissement. It is what you’re picturing in your head when you imagine Paris. Narrow, winding streets. Locals on scooters. Locals walking their little French Bulldogs. Cafes and restaurants and shops everywhere you look. Cobblestone and brick. We stayed at the Hotel Grand Malher and it was perfect for us. The rooms are small and you’re going to want to take the stairs to avoid the tiny elevator, but that’s just how Europe is. It was right near the Saint Paul Metro stop, which was perfect for us as well. 

This was what we saw when we first popped up out of the metro, rubbing our eyes like the mole in The Wind and the Willows:

Perfect, oui?

We quickly checked into our hotel, freshened up, and headed back out to enjoy the sunshine. Everyone knows the trick to beating jetlag is to stay awake that first day, and we were determined to do just that! Also to drink some French wine. 

We set out on foot to explore the 4th Arr. and stopped at one of the first cafes we came to for a glass of wine. All of the cafes are organized with the chairs facing the street, which makes for fantastic people watching.

We spent the whole afternoon wandering the the streets, not caring how lost we got because we had no destination in mind anyway. One of my favorite places that we just happened upon was the Place des Vosges, the oldest planned square in Paris. It was built by Henri IV in 1612, and is just beautiful. 

The Parisians were just sprawled in the grass enjoying the sun or the shade, reading, talking, relaxing. I think we fit right in:

We stopped at another adorable cafe set on the most adorable intersection for another glass of wine. The amazing thing about Paris is everywhere you look, you’re surrounded by the most beautiful architecture!

Finally it was time for dinner. We walked to Le Potager du Marais but they were closed. Thank goodness for Happy Cow who informed us we were also pretty close to Hank Vegan Burger, and that’s where we went!

I had the L’Allume burger with a smoked BBQ sauce and sweet peppers and veg, along with Potato Wedges, smothered in cheese sauce because why not!?

Full tummies + all that wine + 8 hour time difference had us ready for sleep after that, so we headed back to our cute little hotel…

**Day Two**

Up early and ready to experience more of Paris! After a quick stop at the Starbucks near our hotel (literally the only place open this early- nothing/nobody in Paris seems to get going before 9) we hop on the metro and begin our trip out to Versailles. But before I share those gorgeous pics, here’s my second Paris tip: If you’re planning to squeeze a lot of museums and metro travel into your trip (or part of), definitely look into the Paris Passlib’! It’s a combo of the Museum Pass and an unlimited metro pass. It’s not cheap, and wouldn’t have been worth it for our whole visit BUT was very worth it for the two days we had it. 

Okay, so Versailles! Opulent, ridiculous, beautiful. Yes, it’s a train ride there, but admission is included with your museum pass PLUS there’s a beautiful town to explore afterwards as well. 

Literally everywhere you looked was gold and crystal and marble. These pictures don’t do it a fraction of justice.

We were pretty fancy too though 😉

After a few hours of walking around with our mouths open, we decided to check out the town (village?) of Versailles and find some lunch. We ended up at Pur Etc, a tiny little place where all the dishes were pre-made in mason jars. If the dish you ordered is warm, they pop it in the oven. Mom went for a vegetarian lasagna that shall not be pictured here, but I had the Buddha Bowl, aka the bol de legumes frais et cereales, a salad of peas, kale, carrots, chickpeas, corn, radish and quinoa with seeds and a balsamic vinaigrette. Delicious!

We hopped back on the train (thanks Passlib’!) and headed to the Arc de Triomphe. 

This is one of those landmarks you see in movies and on tv your whole life, so it’s pretty incredible to be standing right up close to it! We got in with our museum pass (skipped the line even!) and climbed the 11 billion stairs to the top…

The view from the top was breathtaking, and that’s really not an exaggeration. It felt like you could see forever. It was a bit windy, though…

Back down all those stairs (as an aside, by the end of the day my fitbit was claiming we did 80 flights of stairs and close to 20,000 steps) and it was time for more wine. 

We had a good chunk of the afternoon left, so we decided to hit up the Picasso Museum, since it was really close to our hotel. Again, can I please tell you how beautiful the 4th Arr is!?

Although the Picasso museum hadn’t originally been on our list, I’m glad we went. It was free and there was no line, thanks to our museum pass.

Also they were displaying Guernica, one of his most famous works and generally regarded as ‘one of the most moving and powerful anti-war paintings in history’. Wikipedia says so, therefore it is true, haha!  But seriously, it was amazing to be that close to such a famous painting. 

And that’s where I’m going to leave you… for now…