{ Waiting for our coffee outside Ten Belles }
It’s time for another Eco City Guide and as always you can download the map at the end of the post. I can’t believe it’s already been two weeks since we had the most amazing weekend in Paris. While it wasn’t my first time visiting the beautiful city, it felt exceptionally special to experience it with my favourite human by my side for the first time.
I think it’s fair to say that Paris is not particularly well known for its eco friendliness or vegan/vegetarian food scene, but nevertheless we did manage to find some wonderful options.
We stayed in a cute, little Airbnb close to Canal Saint Martin, which albeit the bed was a little uncomfortable, was perfect for us. It allowed us to have a slow breakfast in with the best baguettes and croissants from the bakeries in the area. And there we quite a few delicious vegan/vegetarian restaurants in the area for dinner not too far from our bed; a necessity after the long days of walking. We only took the metro once and walked the rest of the time, which is my favourite way to explore a city.
{ Arriving in Paris. I shrieked a little when I saw the top of Sacré Coeur in the distance }
Shop
Centre Commercial
A beautifully curated store with a lot of eco fashion brands such as Kowtow and Veja. It’s located just around the corner from Du Pain et des Idées; the best bakery in Paris and close to Canal Saint Martin.
Ekyog
I’d never heard of this brand before researching things to do in Paris and I’m so glad I found it. Ekyog is a French eco fashion brand founded in 2003 with the desire to create clothes that were respectful to both people and planet. I loved their selection of knitwear and fell in love with a beautiful organic cotton cuprous jumpsuit. The lady working in the store did not speak a lot of english, but she was so sweet and forthcoming that we still managed to bond over their eco-friendly approach to fashion.
Yoga Concept
If you’re a yogi looking for eco-friendly yoga wear this is the store for you. It’s small but still carries a wide range of brands. The also sell accessories such as mats and blocks if you have extra space in your suitcase.
Miss Bio Archive
Miss Bio Archive have stores all over Paris and carries a variety of organic beauty products.
Shakespeare and Company
I can never decide whether this is mainly a tourist attraction or the real deal, but I still love dropping by this old bookstore on the Seine and close to Notre Dame.
{ Ekyog had the most beautiful ceiling }
{ Centre Commercial }
{ When your favourite human carries your eco fashion shopping for you <3 }
Eat
L’as du Falafel
Some of the best falafels in Paris. It’s kitch and the queue is long, but quick and the falafels are amazing. We were so hungry we didn’t want to wait for a table, so we had them to go and found a bench in a small courtyard nearby where we could enjoy them before the rain started. Opposite of L’as du Falafel is another falafel place which I’ve also visited and they are just as good in my opinion, so you can easily go there if you don’t want to wait at L’as.
Love Juice Bar
Tiny place, but we had some really good smoothies as an afternoon ‘pick-us-up’.
Bob’s Kitchen
Bob has a few places around Paris; Bob’s Bakery and Bob’s Juice Bar were also on my list of places to go, but time was just to short, so next time. Bob’s Kitchen serves a variety of delicious and healthy vegan and vegetarian options. We had a salad, an acas bowl and a couple of juices and it was a really nice light lunch.
Tien Hiang
Our Airbnb host recommended us this Chinese vegetarian restaurant and it was hands down the best meals we had in Paris. It was so tasty and flavourful. It was really full, but service was still friendly and quick. It has a fast-food feel to it, so I wouldn’t recommend it for a romantic dinner, but the food was just so good we almost went back twice.
East Side Burgers
We actually decided against this place and instead went to La Bichat for our last dinner, but the salads we had at La Bichat, although organic and vegan, were so incredibly boring I still find it difficult to understand how they managed to mess it up so badly. To make up for things, we decided to have a second dinner and shared a burger and some fries from East Side Burgers. If you’re in the mood for vegan burgers and fries I’d definitely recommend this place. We took our burger to go, but next time I’ll enjoy it in to take full advantage of their vegan mayo.
{ It might not look impressive, but it was so delicious }
{ Best meal of the trip happened at Tien Hiang }
{ Healthy and tasty lunch options at Bob’s Kitchen }
{ I was pretty excited about this vegan burger from East Side Burgers }
Breakfast and Coffee
Du Pain et des Idées
An old bakery also recommended by our Airbnb host. It was a ten minute walk from the apartment and walking there to get freshly baked goods on Friday morning was the perfect start to our stay. The bakery has a beautiful ceiling and the best croissant and baguette we had while we were there. They are only open during the week.
Ten Belles
A cute little coffee shop with some really good coffee.
Hôtel Providence
The weather wasn’t at it’s best while we were in Paris, which meant lots of impromptu coffee stops on all the side walk cafes. One of the best was at Hôtel Providence, which we came by by coincidence, but the coffee was just so good.
La Fontaine de Belleville
For our last morning we decided to find a real Parisian café to have breakfast at. And La Fontaine de Belleville turned out to be the perfect choice. They don’t have any vegan options, but the bread was amazing and the coffee so good that we decided to buy some beans to bring back to London.
Cloud Cakes
I only heard of this place when I got back to London, but it’s suppose to have Paris’ best vegan croissants.
{ Du Pain et des Idées has a delicious selection of freshly bakes goods }
{ Breakfast at La Fontaine de Belleville }
{ Escaping the rain at Hôtel Providence }
Do
Get lost
Paris is so beautiful and every time you turn a corner you’ll find another cute street and another stunning building. We both loved wandering around the city and only caught the metro once to go to the Eiffel Tower and walked all the way back from there. It’s easy to find your way around and every corner has a coffee shop if you need a break.
See all the sights from the outside
Notre Dame, The Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre and Sacré Coeur are worth seeing just from the outside. If you’ve never been to Paris it might be worth it, to go in an see Notre Dame and up the Eiffel Tower, but it’s incredibly busy and touristy, and I always find it to be a nicer and less stressful experience to just see them all from the outside, or even better; from a distance.
Have a picnic along the River Seine or in one of the many parks
We didn’t manage to do this because the weather kept changing; one minute it was rainy and cold, the other sunny and warm. But, buying small bites to eat from a market, a baguette from a local bakery, and then eat it all along the River Seine or in one of the many parks, is the perfect lunch option in Paris in my opinion. This time we settled for a walk along the river, which is also really recommendable.
Le Centre Pompidou
This must be my favourite museum in Paris. It’s quirky and often has some great exhibitions. It also has a lovely view overlooking the city.
You can easily download the map to the Google maps app on your phone by pressing the star after the “TNFN Eco City Guide: Paris”.
