Day Trippin’ to Paris
Please excuse my silence this week, I’ve changed hosts and had the blog re-designed* so neither you nor I have to endure that blasted header design of mushrooms plus hideous curly font for one more second (apparently some of you might not see a change yet depending on connection and location, in case you think I might be going mad). I may have been silent here but I’ve been busy elsewhere and I even squeezed in a day trip to Paris, courtesy of Eurostar who are currently promoting the idea of day tripping to either Paris, Lille or Brussels (£59 return until the end of October).**
After a painful 4am wake up call, my mate and I excitedly boarded the 6.55am Eurostar and two and a bit hours later, hopped off at La Gare du Nord, slightly bleary eyed and in need of coffee and a map. This being a day trip and all, we squared full up to the challenge of fitting in as much as possible and so one caffeine injection and a couple of wrong turns later, headed off in the direction of the Eiffel Tower – we would nip up and see what all the fuss is about while working up an appetite for lunch in the process.
I already knew I wasn’t a huge fan of heights but seriously, I had no idea I would suffer the full on nauseating confusion of vertigo. At first I thought it might be my lack of fitness making me feel sick as a dog as we hiked up to the first viewing platform but as my knees started to tremble and dizziness went from nagging to overwhelming I guessed something might be awry. We panted and huffed it to the second floor where they wanted more money to go right to the top – a downright cheek. I can’t say I was disappointed when we decided they could stick their view. We got the lift back to sweet, sweet ground level and decided to hunt down some lunch at Le Repaire de Cartouche.
At the end of lunch, the bistro was still bustling. The space is small in a cosy way with lunching diners crammed in upstairs and a formal dining space visible down a narrow wooden staircase. The crowd was reassuringly lacking in tourists. We seemed to attract some attention from the locals inside what with our pathetic broken French and our cameras (the close quarters made any attempt at discretion completely pointless) but we ploughed on and ordered a bottle of rosé and whatever we could decipher from the (14 euro) lunch menu and our stilted interaction with the waiter.
I chose the terrine de campagne which arrived in a good hefty slab atop a well dressed herb salad. The terrine had a satisfying coarse texture, a good porky hit, generous seasoning and a melty layer of fat on top. I spread it on the toast in obscenely huge wadges with forkfuls of the salad which, being heavy on the tarragon, complimented the meat perfectly.
Hardcore carnivore that I am, I ordered steak haché and green beans to follow. The flavour of the beef was good, although not amazing but my main grumble was that it was over-cooked. The waiter hadn’t asked how I wanted it but to be honest, I can’t blame him, our French is awful. We did notice however that the same dish at the next table was gloriously pink and we speculated whether they had assumed the poor English girls might be scared by the sight of raw meat, bless ‘em. This may well be an unfair assumption on our part. The fact that the whole thing was doused in an immodest amount of butter helped take my mind off the problem somewhat.
Overall, the meal was simple, rustic, delicious and cheap. Le Repaire de Cartouche got our stamp of approval and we headed out with smiley faces to walk off the pork fat and booze fug. A look at the Pompidou, a cheeky Leffe and a stroll down the banks of the Seine to the Louvre later and we were running fast out of time. We managed to squeeze in a glimpse of the Champs Elysees too before a short (and brilliantly efficient and easy to navigate) Metro ride towards our next food destination, a wine bar called Racines, recommended by Time Out.
Alas, the trip was a wild goose chase as the bar has closed down. Somewhat despondent and incredibly fatigued we skulked over to a nearby bar to be day light robbed of 8 euros each for a pint. Sometimes the ‘go with the flow’ approach kicks you in the backside. Heading back towards the station a sudden wave of desperation to cram in another meal took hold and we ducked into a nearby pharmacy to ask some local gals if they knew anywhere nearby. They pointed us in the direction of a bistro round the corner of which, amazingly, we never checked the name. As Lizzie says in her write up, “it’s opposite a pharmacy around the corner from a wedding dress shop by Le Gare du Nord,” if that helps.
I started with a salad of boquerones. I adore anchovies and these were silky soft and delicately herby. The salad itself, although threatening to teeter the wrong side of generously dressed, was fragrant with herbs and the beans had soaked up all the salty juices. A welcome light starter after so much meat and beer.
My main course, the mullet with remoulade, was equally delicious; the remoulade light, not at all gloopy with a subtle yet confident kick of wholegrain mustard. A crispy skinned, flaky fillet of mullet on top and I was a happy lady, albeit a happy lady with indigestion as we wolfed down the lot plus beers in 30 minutes and darted for the last train home.
I think you’ll agree we crammed a huge amount in and although truly knackered at the end of it, I am now a full convert to the idea of day tripping to Europe, particularly with this Leisure Select Class deal – champagne on the journey home is incredibly effective at soothing weary feet. If you want to do a city ‘properly’, you undoubtedly need to stay there, but for a kick ass change of scenery? Do it. You get out what you put in basically. I’ve done Lille, I’ve done Paris and next I’m going to get me a big steaming bowl of mussels in Brussels.
You can see all my photos from the day here and my photos from Lille here.
*A huge thank you to Emme Stone for the site design and to my mate @handlewithcare for making it all work and putting up with me being thick about tech stuff (he also has a food blog by the way).
** I’ve had an e-mail from Sarah at We are Social letting me know that it is in fact £59 return until the end of October but in standard class, not leisure select.
Category: Travel | Tags: Le Repaire De Cartouche, Paris, Paris Bistro, Paris Food 26 comments »
September 6th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Oh lovely! Sounds like you had a gorgeous day.
September 6th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
The new design is lovely!
September 6th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Looks like you had a fab day – am tres jealous!! And the new site looks lovely xx
September 6th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
I only spent 1.5 days in Paris before heading off on a holiday through Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Definitely not enough and someday I’ll get back. Yours are extraordinary photos (and meals) – looks spectacular! Enjoying the new header, too.
Cheers,
*Heather*
September 6th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Love the new look!
Paris rocks, it’s a beautiful and fascinating city. I just think of Hemingway’s Moveable Feasts whenever Paris comes to mind and it makes me want to grab my computer and a few books and live like a Parisian.
I’m trying to plan a beer adventure in Brussels soon and the Eurostar is brilliant for day tripping, and cheap enough too.
September 6th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Huzzah, I can finally see the new design! Amaze. Am particularly loving the grey Pilchard-esque cat driving the bus.
Bah, I searched online for some potential Paris dates in the coming weeks and, correct me if I’m wrong but all the £59 prices are one way only and not return…
September 7th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
I love the new design! It’s so clean and simple but really stands out. You’re turning into a real jetsetter now! You girls certainly ate like kings there. I can’t wait to go back to Lille, but I’d like to go to Brussels too. The Lille trip really inspired me to go travelling more often. I have a new plan for my blog…
September 7th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Wow, the new layout is great – and your new picture at the top is fantastic. Great job!
September 7th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Love the new look, very fun, happy and creative.
The trip sounds perfect, how I envy your proximity to be able to go off to these wonderful places. Ah well, I’ll resign myself to Napa and the like. I’ll be breaking out a bottle about now to console myself, but please keep sharing these wonderful food adventures.
September 8th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Loving the new design! Paris was loads of fun; if completely and utterly knackering (as I’m sure you noticed as I sleep dribbled on your shoulder on the way home…!)
September 8th, 2009 at 11:09 am
LOVE the banner.
September 8th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Loving the new site design! So adorable!
Paris in a day sounds like a challenge but hey, looks like you guys pulled it off!
September 8th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
What a great day out, and the new site design is wonderful! Love that red bus!
September 8th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Thanks all! Glad you are liking the new design too. I just hope it stays up for good this time! Thanks also to Charmaine for correcting me on the Eurostar ticket price – I’ve edited the post.
September 8th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
I really love your banner! I need a graphic designer….
September 8th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Wow it’s been SO long since I’ve been to Paris. Looks great.
Love the new design too!
September 8th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
Sounds like an amazing trip! If I was in Europe, I would totally take advantage of day-tripping!
I experienced the same vertigo and pukiness when we climbed to the top of the Duomo in Firenze. If you have never been, I don’t recommend the climb! LOL! It made me feel OLD.
September 9th, 2009 at 9:40 am
New design is supersmashing! Did you design those wonderful graphics yourself? I’m ever so envious, they’re fantastic!
September 9th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Swish design, everything is super clean and I’m a fan of mimimalist designs, well done Helen, oh and glad to see you had fun in Paris. Was the last one taken from Eiffel tower?
September 9th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Kavey – No, I didn’t. I wish! The lovely @elephantcloud did the design for me. I love that flying pig!
Kang – Thank you, me too. The last picture was indeed taken from the Eiffel Tower. It took me a while to get to the edge to take the picture but I managed it eventually…
September 9th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Swish design, everything is super clean and I'm a fan of mimimalist designs, well done Helen, oh and glad to see you had fun in Paris. Was the last one taken from Eiffel tower?…
September 11th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Super new design, Emme has done a great job – oh to have the old routemaster buses back.
Looks like you had fun in Paris, you girls can eat can’t you! I’d give mussels in Brussels a miss if I were you though, go to Bruge instead.
September 11th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Nice design Helen. Love the pic at the top. Must overhaul my blog too…but don’t possess the technie knowledge or the time.Wonder if someone will do it for me in exchange for dinners?
September 11th, 2009 at 10:51 am
I’m only just now able to see your site (it appeared to be down the past few days), and it seems I’m late to the party. Congrats on your new site design – I’m feeling the peer pressure now to gussy mine up.
Paris is always lovely, and the reason I’m now going to mention that I’ve been there three times to date this year (via Eurostar, bien sur) is because not once have I ever successfully booked the 59-pound promotion, no matter how far in advance I book. It seems the Friday-Sunday itinerary is always pricey, so perhaps I should look into the daytrip prices. In any event, it’s a great marketing campaign by Eurostar.
September 11th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
I love your new blog design! I do remember those mushrooms in the previous header:) Weren’t’ that bad at all, I should say:)
September 16th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Thanks all!
MsMarmiteLover – I reckon you could be onto a winner there.
Arner – Yes, it was.