A Weekend in Paris

One of the best things about living in Groningen is that the beautiful cities in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe are just a train ride away.

Last weekend, my husband and I took advantage of our proximity to France and spent a long weekend in Paris.  Paris is less than 6 hours by train from Groningen, and it is possible to plan the itinerary with just one connection in Rotterdam.  So, getting there is extremely simple and affordable.

Our trip to Paris was focused on three main activities: discovering as many of its vegetarian restaurants as possible, walking, and museums.

Even in the bitter cold - temperatures hovered around freezing during our entire Friday through Monday trip - we found Paris to be a very walkable city.  The Seine, Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower served as landmarks for finding our way around the main sights.  We supplemented our walking with Paris's subway system.  Upon arrival at the Gare du Nord, we picked up 3-day Paris Visite Metro Cards for about €22 each.  These unlimited ride cards were very handy, and the subway system extremely easy to use.

The Seine

Although French cuisine normally is not associated with vegetarian food, Paris has a plethora of vegetarian and vegan-friendly restaurants, some with French dishes and others representing cuisines from Asia and the Middle East.   Our favorites from the trip were Saveurs Végét'Halles in the 2nd arrondissement, Tien Hiang in the 11th arrondissement, and Loving Hut in the 11th arrondissement.  We also visited the vegetarian-friendly Maoz, Veggie, and Le Pain Quotidien for lunch breaks from sightseeing and museum-visiting. Our most exciting food-related experience was definitely visiting Vegan Folie's, an all-vegan organic bakery on the Rue Mouffetard specializing in cakes and cupcakes.  This is where we picked up an absolutely amazing slice of chocolate-peanut "cheese"cake.

Le Pain Quotidien

Savory vegan crepe at Loving Hut Paris

Dinner at Saveurs Végét'Halles

Vegan Folie's: vegan cakes and cupcakes in Paris

We chose to visit two museums on this trip to Paris: the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée du Louvre, spending the better part of Saturday in the Orsay and most of Sunday in the Louvre.  We definitely could not view the entire collection of either museum in just a weekend, but we tried to see a few of the highlights of each.  In the Orsay, we made sure to spend some time with its collection of impressionist works by Monet, Manet, Renoir, Cézanne, and Dégas, as well as its post-impressionist collection of Van Gogh, Seurat, and Signac.  At the Louvre, we focused our visit on its Greek and Roman sculptures, Italian Renaissance paintings, and 18th and 19th century French paintings, saving almost an entire wing of that museum for a future visit.

Musée du Louvre

The Mona Lisa Crowd at the Louvre

We had a lovely time in Paris. We left with a great impression of the city, hoping to return as soon as we've saved up enough money.

Here are some more photos from the trip:

Jardin des Tuileries

Walking in the Jardin des Tuileries

View of Paris, with Eiffel Tower in the distance

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in the Jardin des Tuileries

The Centre Pompidou

Notre Dame Cathedral, as seen from the Seine

 Close-up of Notre Dame Cathedral

Tour Eiffel, at night

Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile