friend of a friend's guide to paris

everywhere we ate, shopped, and stayed on our 11-day trip

Ever since Tim and I both started remote jobs last year, we’ve wanted to plan an extended trip to Paris. Because if you can work anywhere, it might as well be Paris. We finally made it happen in late April-early May when we spent 11 glorious spring days in our favorite city, interrupted by a four-night trip to Morocco that I’ll have to save for another newsletter.

This trip, my fifth and his sixth, wasn’t about hitting the tourist spots. Instead, we walked around a lot, popping into shops, stopping to rest along the Seine or the Canal Saint Martin, enjoying long lunches before our work days started around 3pm Paris time. We made one dinner reservation at Vivant 2, which has amazing food and is also the most fun restaurant I’ve ever been to, but otherwise we left our meals up to chance. Essentially, we lived a slightly more indulgent version of our life in New York. It was the best!

I’ve recapped our trip below, and it’s full of places that I’ve been recommended by friends, stumbled upon myself, or found from trusted sources. But perhaps the best advice I can give you is to not over-plan a trip to Paris. You’re only going to get something out of a museum if you give yourself time to enjoy it. You can see the Eiffel Tower better from far away. And the best café or brasserie is often the one closest to you. Warning: this is a long one and will likely get clipped if you’re reading it by email.

The tomato purse at Vivant 2.

Days 1-2

We arrived in Paris around 10am on a Saturday. We stayed at Hotel Balzac, which is now my favorite hotel I’ve stayed at in Paris. It manages to feel both very chic and cozy at the same time. Our room was stunning with a view of the Eiffel Tower. The location is a bit touristy, but that also means easy subway access to other parts of the city.

Our room at Hotel Balzac.

I’d only been to Paris when it was very hot in the middle of summer or when it was quite cold in the late-fall/winter, but the weather was perfect our entire trip. It was fun to see Paris really ALIVE. The trees were green, the flowers were blooming, and the locals were spilling out of pocket-sized wine bars and sprawled out along the Seine and the Canal Saint Martin.

Some highlights from days 1-2: Tuna crudo with strawberries and peas at Les Enfants du Marché, a baguette/cheese/champagne situation on our hotel balcony, the poppies at Jardin des Plantes, massive asparagus at Le Mary Celeste, a ginger lemonade from Limon on Île Saint-Louis.

(L) Morning walk. (R) Poppies at Jarin des Plantes.

Days 3-4

Once we were back from our Moroccan interlude, Tim had set up a few nights at Le Bristol, which was verrry luxe. I spent one afternoon taking a walk through Bois de Boulogne on the west side of the city, and we spent Sunday morning at the flea market Les Puces de Vanves. I liked it better than the more famous Saint Ouen for affordable, easy-to-pack souvenirs. It’s only open on Saturday and Sunday, and you want to get there by 11am to have time to wander through all the tables before they start packing up around 12:30. We somehow came out empty handed, but there were many treasures to be had! Pro tip: Don’t skip the food truck. A very kind, chatty woman makes unbelievable fries and hot dogs with all sorts of homemade toppings.

Some highlights from days 3-4: low-key dinner at Au Petit Fer à Cheval (the one place I’ve been to on every single Paris trip), a fancier dinner at Racines, ice cream at Berthillon, getting matching jelly sandals at Landline, sandwiches from Plan D and a bottle of wine by the canal.

(L) Watch faces at Les Puces de Vanves. (R) Plan D sandwiches by the Canal Saint Martin.

Days 5-11

We were both working for this part of the trip, so we booked an Airbnb in the 11th arrondissement that had one bedroom and a little workspace. The location could not have been better. We like the 11th because it’s removed from the main tourist hubs, has great restaurants and cute shops, and feels like a place we would actually live. Our apartment was around the corner from two of our favorite spots, Septime La Cave and Clamato, and it was a 10 minute walk from Puce d’Aligre—a great food/flea market.

A couple days that I didn’t have a lot of calls, I worked at Le Pure Café for a few hours.

Working East Coast hours, we had our whole day free until about 3pm when we would head back to the apartment and work until about 11pm. I loved this schedule. We got pastries for breakfast every day at Boulangerie Utopie or Tapisserie (right downstairs!) before we headed out to explore different neighborhoods, hit some favorite vintage shops (see today’s shop talk), or just lounge and read by the canal.

It was nice that our main meal out every day was lunch because hotter restaurants—like Le Bistrot Paul Bert—tend to be both cheaper and have more walk-in availability during lunch. On our way home, we’d pick up a baguette, cheese, olives, fruit, and other snacky things for our dinner.

(L) Oysters at Poget & De Witte. (R) Lunch at Bistrot Paul Bert.

I also got to spend a day with my friend, Sophia, who moved to Paris earlier this year. Watch her YouTube channel to see how she made the dream happen! We did what we do in New York, which is walk and talk. But, because we were in Paris, we also had wine before noon and got her favorite croissant in the city from Boulangerie-Pâtisserie Terroirs d’Av.

Tim and spent our last night splitting a bottle of champagne by the Seine and swearing we’d learn French when we got home.

Some highlights from days 5-11: olive oil ice cream and natural wine at Folderol, bento boxes at Mokochaya, oysters at Poget & De Witt, people watching at La Perle, finding my new favorite long shorts at Adöm, wandering around a cemetery, a solo lunch at Café Content.

Favorites I missed:

I usually make it a point to go to at least one museum while I’m there, but I waited too long to book tickets. My top picks are Centre Pompidou, Museé Picasso, and Museé d’Orsay. Back on food, Fruttini has the most stunning and delicious sorbets. Tekés is a great vegetarian option. Les Papilles was recommended to me by my friend Nicole who heard about it from her old boss. It’s a really special experience and a great value for what it is. And Hôtel Adèle and Jules is another hotel I’ve enjoyed.

Paris shop talk is the best shop talk. These are my must-stops for vintage, new, home, clothes, etc.

• Landline: This is where we got our matching jelly sandals, and I picked up a tomato knife for my dad.

• Thanx God I’m a VIP: Huge selection of well-curated vintage clothes at fair prices.

• Le Bon Marché: Classic French department store. If you’re there in November/December, you must stop by for the Christmas decorations.

• Marin Montagut: Paris’ answer to John Derian.

• Adöm: Big selection of vintage denim. I got a pair of khaki Bermuda shorts and a denim shirt for 25 euros each.

• Babel Concept Store: A fun spot for vintage treasures near the Canal Saint Martin.

• Centre Commercial: Full of Substack-approved brands like Baserange, Cawley Studio, and Studio Nicholson.

• Puces de Saint Ouen: This is the largest and most famous flea market in Paris. It’s very fun to explore, but it’s a lot of bigger pieces and higher prices.

• Puces de Vanves: Smaller than Saint Ouen, but still huge! This is where you’ll find more affordable art, easy-to-pack souvenirs, and vendors willing to barter.

• Skat Vintage: There are a lot of similar (and expensive) vintage stores in this area of the Marais. This is one of the best IMO.

• Loulou de Saison: A new-ish Paris-based brand with a good collection of chic, French-girl silhouettes in nice fabrics. I bought this red jersey dress.

• Belle Lurette: I was very impressed by the prices and selection at this tucked-away vintage home store on the edge of the Marais. If I lived in Paris, this would be my first stop for furnishing an apartment.

• Merci: Already on every list of places to shop in Paris.

• Monoprix: France’s equivalent to Target. I got a 100% cotton nightgown.

When I was 26, I took a solo trip to Paris and read The Dud Avocado. I recommend that experience to anyone, but this is a charming, fun novel no matter how old you are or where you’re reading it. It’s about a 21-year-old American girl living in Paris in the 1950s trying to become an actress and having lots of love affairs. And it’s under 300 pages, so the perfect length for a vacation.

Introducing real talk, a place for me to talk about one thing I did IRL that week—because Substack is great, but it’s also screen time. Last Wednesday, I went to a launch party for Savienne, a new luxury travel operator, at the James Beard House. The only pic I got was in their all-mirror bathroom (above). It was approximately 10,000 degrees in New York—AKA perfect weather for my vintage Dior caftan. The sparnotes version of what Savienne does is that they tap into their network of cool people to organize stays at privates estates around the world that you couldn’t book even if you wanted to. I finally got to see what all the fuss was about with Semma because chef Chintan Pandya made all the food for the party (he’ll also be joining some of the trips as a featured chef), and founder Stephen Werther seemed like exactly the kind of guy you’d want on a group trip.