Foods You Must Try in Paris: A Vegetarian’s Guide

 

When you're in Paris, it’s not just about the iconic landmarks and romantic walks; it’s also about indulging in some of the best food the city has to offer. As a vegetarian, you might think your options are limited in this meat-loving city, but fear not! Paris is brimming with delicious vegetarian and vegan delights. Here’s your ultimate guide to enjoying a week of fantastic food in Paris, divided by breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Day 1: Arrival in Paris

Breakfast

• Dish: Fresh Croissants and Pain au Chocolat
• Where: Du Pain et des Idées (34 Rue Yves Toudic)
• Description: Start your Parisian adventure with these buttery, flaky pastries. Grab a seat and pair them with a café au lait. Bliss!

Lunch

• Dish: Ratatouille
• Where: Le Potager du Marais (24 Rue Rambuteau)
• Description: This classic Provençal dish of stewed vegetables is a hearty and healthy choice.

Dinner

• Dish: Vegetarian Crêpes
• Where: Breizh Café (109 Rue Vieille du Temple)
• Description: Choose from a variety of savoury crêpes, filled with cheese, mushrooms, spinach, and more. Don’t forget to try the cider!

Day 2: Exploring the City

Breakfast

• Dish: Tartine
• Where: Café de Flore (172 Boulevard Saint-Germain)
• Description: A simple yet satisfying breakfast of fresh baguette with butter and jam. Pair it with a hot chocolate or coffee.

Lunch

• Dish: Falafel Sandwich
• Where: L’As du Fallafel (34 Rue des Rosiers)
• Description: The Marais district is famous for its falafel, and L’As du Fallafel serves the best. It's a busy spot, but worth the wait. Vegan option available.

Dinner

• Dish: Stuffed Bell Peppers
• Where: Le Grenier de Notre-Dame (18 Rue de la Bûcherie)
• Description: These delicious bell peppers are stuffed with rice, vegetables, and herbs. A cozy spot with a lovely view of Notre Dame.

Day 3: Art and Culture

Breakfast

• Dish: Acai Bowl
• Where: Wild & The Moon (55 Rue Charlot)
• Description: Kickstart your day with a nutritious and Instagram-worthy acai bowl. Vegan-friendly!

Lunch

• Dish: Quiche Lorraine (Vegetarian)
• Where: Le Fumoir (6 Rue de l’Amiral de Coligny)
• Description: This place offers a fantastic vegetarian version of the classic quiche. Perfect for a midday break.

Dinner

• Dish: Mushroom Risotto
• Where: Le Jardin des Pâtes (4 Rue Lacépède)
• Description: A delightful dish of creamy risotto with mushrooms, perfect for a cozy dinner after a long day of museum hopping.

Day 4: Market Day

Breakfast

• Dish: Vegan Pancakes
• Where: Hôtel Amour (8 Rue de Navarin)
• Description: Enjoy fluffy vegan pancakes topped with fresh fruit. A trendy spot to start your day.

Lunch

• Dish: Vegetarian Sushi
• Where: Rice & Fish (16 Rue Greneta)
• Description: Fresh, inventive, and delicious vegetarian sushi rolls. Great for a light and refreshing lunch.

Dinner

• Dish: Vegan Burger
• Where: Hank Burger (55 Rue des Archives)
• Description: Sink your teeth into a delicious vegan burger with all the trimmings. This place knows how to make vegan fast food exciting!

Day 5: The Classics

Breakfast

• Dish: Fresh Fruit and Yogurt Parfait
• Where: Le Pain Quotidien (Multiple Locations)
• Description: A refreshing and healthy start to your day with layers of fresh fruit, granola, and yogurt.

Lunch

• Dish: French Onion Soup (Vegetarian)
• Where: Le Potager du Marais (24 Rue Rambuteau)
• Description: This hearty soup is traditionally made with beef broth, but this restaurant offers a vegetarian version that's just as rich and satisfying.

Dinner

• Dish: Veggie Pizza
• Where: Pink Flamingo (67 Rue Bichat)
• Description: Enjoy a variety of creative and delicious vegetarian pizzas. Perfect for a relaxed evening.

Day 6: Sweet Tooth Day

Breakfast

• Dish: Vegan Pastries
• Where: VG Pâtisserie (123 Boulevard Voltaire)
• Description: Indulge in some of the best vegan pastries Paris has to offer. A must-visit for any sweet tooth.

Lunch

• Dish: Caprese Sandwich
• Where: Holybelly (5 Rue Lucien Sampaix)
• Description: Fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil on a crusty baguette. Simple and delicious.

Dinner

• Dish: Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni
• Where: Il Gelato del Marchese (3 Rue des Quatre Vents)
• Description: This Italian eatery serves a fantastic vegetarian cannelloni that's perfect for dinner.

Day 7: Farewell Paris

Breakfast

• Dish: Chia Seed Pudding
• Where: Season (1 Rue Dupuis)
• Description: Start your final day in Paris with a healthy and delicious chia seed pudding. Vegan-friendly.

Lunch

• Dish: Vegetarian Couscous
• Where: Chez Omar (47 Rue de Bretagne)
• Description: A flavourful and hearty dish that will fill you up before your journey home.

Dinner

• Dish: Eggplant Parmesan
• Where: East Mamma (133 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine)
• Description: End your trip on a high note with this delicious Italian classic. A delightful and satisfying way to bid adieu to Paris.

Summary Table

Day	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
1	Fresh Croissants and Pain au Chocolat	Ratatouille	Vegetarian Crêpes
2	Tartine	Falafel Sandwich	Stuffed Bell Peppers
3	Acai Bowl	Quiche Lorraine (Vegetarian)	Mushroom Risotto
4	Vegan Pancakes	Vegetarian Sushi	Vegan Burger
5	Fresh Fruit and Yogurt Parfait	French Onion Soup (Vegetarian)	Veggie Pizza
6	Vegan Pastries	Caprese Sandwich	Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni
7	Chia Seed Pudding	Vegetarian Couscous	Eggplant Parmesan

And that's your guide to a full week of vegetarian culinary delights in Paris. Whether you’re a strict vegetarian or just looking to try something different, these dishes and spots are sure to make your Parisian adventure even more memorable. Bon appétit!

Budapest Bliss: A Day in the Cool Lane

[This post was created using ChatGPT. I added the pictures where it indicated.] 

Hey fellow explorers! Grab a virtual seat as I spill the tea on my day in Budapest – no fancy words, just the real deal. So, the morning kicks off with a walk down Andrassy Avenue. Think of it like Budapest's catwalk – tall buildings, tree-lined streets, and the Opera House stealing the spotlight.

Quick snap of the Avenue – you know, the whole chic scene.

Next up, we hit Heroes' Square. It's like Hungary's shoutout to its past, with this massive monument and statues throwing serious historical vibes.

Pic alert – grab one of that big monument and the statues, they're Hungary's VIPs.

Now, when hunger kicked in, I stumbled upon this cozy café near Heroes' Square. Had to dive into some real Hungarian grub – goulash and chimney cake. Let me tell you, it's like Hungary’s flavor explosion.

Snap a pic of the plate – goulash, chimney cake – that’s Budapest’s culinary game.

As the sun did its disappearing act, I headed to the Fashion Street Christmas Market. It’s like stepping into a holiday fairy tale. Lights twinkling, stalls decked out – pure festive magic.

Click away at the market buzz – stalls, lights, and all the holiday feels.

When night dropped, Budapest turned into this glam wonderland. Chain Bridge, Buda Castle – everything lit up like a movie scene.

Get that nighttime shot – Budapest all aglow, pure magic.

So, whether strutting Andrassy Avenue, soaking up history at Heroes' Square, or catching the holiday buzz at the Christmas Market, Budapest is a vibe. As I kicked back for the night, I felt that travel itch stronger than ever. Budapest, you’re a heart-stealer! Until the next adventure...

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Budapest Exploration Log:

Location	Distance from Previous Stop	Transport
Andrassy Avenue	-	-
Heroes' Square	Approx. 1.5 km	Walk or take a local bus
Café near Heroes' Square	Short walk from Heroes' Square	On foot
Fashion Street Christmas Market	Approx. 3 km	Metro Line 1 (M1) or Bus 105

Note: Adjust the walking distances based on your specific starting points. The recommended transportation options are general suggestions and may vary based on your preferences and real-time conditions.

Travel means beauty

 Whether you like it or not the two most common motivations that can overcome the shortage of money problem in any endeavour are religion and war. While I don't subscribe to either, I do accept and admire the beauty of something they may have created. This building in the picture is the Church of John the Theologian in Ohrid North Macedonia. It takes about ten minutes of easy hiking over small lanes (no rocks) to get to this and the view is amazing. I think you will agree with me on that much. 

How was my trip to North Macedonia? It was pretty epic, thank you! 

If you want a more detailed answer, then please listen to my podcast Campfire Corner

Malta trip #6 – Day 2: The Gift of Sunrise

 

I slept well but also woke up easily at 0530 by the alarm. The sunrise was scheduled for about 0715 but you always need to be there a little before to capture the colours in the sky. I peeked out of the balcony but everywhere was dark so I waited and used that new keyboard to do some more writing. Not wanting to miss the boat like I had done in Bangkok (that story some other time) I gathered my equipment and got ready to go about 0630 while it was still a little dark. Here is the beauty of this apartment, I didn’t have to go anywhere out to greet the sunrise. I simply walked out of the apartment, went down to the pool area and just there beyond the pool was the big Mediterranean sea promising all kinds of golden hour glory. The weather was nice but I had put on a jacket because, you know, morning hour.

 

Roberta joined me there shortly. Before leaving I had said good morning to her through her bedroom door and she had said she would come down later. We loved that sunrise! For one thing, there was the ocean, then there were ferries adding another beautiful subject and motion if you wanted to capture a video. There was an island, my guess is the Comino island, and well, it was just amazing in every way. Down below we could even see waves crashing on rocks. I used my Panasonic GH5 mirrorless camera for the photos and my smartphone Samsung Note 20 Ultra for the videos because the phone has a better form factor and more advanced optical image stabilisation for videos.

 

 

You can see some examples of the photos we took and I am showing remarkable self-restraint not to upload the hundreds of photos I took because they are all gorgeous. It was easy photography because everywhere you pointed, there was beauty. If you could nail the exposure in your camera, you could take a great photo. That’s why the first and last hours of the day are called golden hour because the soft light makes everything look pretty. It would not be unfair to say that both of us revelled in that like kids in a candy store.

 

After we were finally done with the sunrise, we took our time getting ready and then went to a grocery store. It wasn’t far. It was near the extra bus stop where we had got off the bus last night. We easily walked there. And this time I was really like a kid in a candy store because their aisle of sugary treats was epic! I was so excited I took a picture. That picture shows only half of what was there on offer.

 

For the next one hour while Roberta went about carefully selecting what she wanted to get for herself and her family, I went about grabbing stuff off the shelves, then putting it back because it would be too much then grabbing something else...and so on. I think I spent about €30 there in that one visit, most of it was chocolates. But at the end of it, I feel that I had been smart because the two bags I had walked out with were not heavy. I could have easily carried them back to our apartment whic
h I ultimately did.

 

But first we stopped for coffee. The coffee shop was in a weird corner away from the main market, in front of this great building. Don’t ask me what it is, but it looked like a church. In Malta there are cranes everywhere because there is always work going on everywhere. One weird thing about coffee, or about me, is that I love Latte Macchiato which is a layered coffee – espresso, milk, foam – served in a tall, tapered glass. Don’t buy it in Costa, it’s not the same. You can’t anyway because you can only get it in Europe not in the UK. No, this doesn’t have anything to do with Brexit.

 

However, this coffeehouse did have it and they did it right. We sat on the patio, enjoyed the view and discussed our plans while we sipped the great coffee. This morning’s original plan was to go on a Segway tour of Gozo which I was very interested in because I have never ridden a Segway but it had been cancelled because the roads were closed. Roberta called the host and arranged it for the next day. That made me happy. It takes very little to make me happy. And there was lots of it in Malta.

 

When we were walking back from there to go back to our apartment, we were stopped by a woman at a bus stop. She was a chatty Cathy, actually her name was Barbara and she told us many interesting things about the islands. But then she said something that introduced a discordant note between I and Roberta. This is long, I better save it for the next chapter.