Hello!
Oh man, did my body throw a hissy fit when I went to bed last night. It was all kinds of confused and I was starring at the ceiling for a good 3 hours before I fell asleep, waking almost every hour or two. I am sure tonight will go much better; the first day or two is always a big adjustment!
I also was able to find a power converter for my laptop! I called the front desk and they brought up this huge honking converter that would convert a horse into a pony I am pretty sure.
Last night, we set out for dinner.
Sadly, not on this beauty…
Vroom vroom! I think I want one. ;) People in Paris ride in STYLE! Oh la la.
Last night we found a cozy restaurant with a ton of atmosphere (sorry I forgot the name, I blame lack of sleep!) and we settled down for some food.
I love this display of customer’s notes!
Oops Kristi was looking down (at her food?) ;)
I asked the server for something vegan and he laughed. Never good. ;) Luckily he was charming!
We started with bread and balsamic + oil. No wine tonight. After having a bit too much wine on the plane, we decided to be on our best behaviour tonight and stick to water so we can rest up for a fresh start today!
Tonight shall be a wine night don’t you worry.
I was quite disappointed when I was brought yet another salad because I was hangry! Ahhhhh.
However with that being said, my fig and melon salad was one of the best I have ever had.
What the servers/chef lack in creativity they make up for in charm, let me tell you! ;)
The oil based dressing was so rich and luxurious.
After my second salad in Paris on Day 1, I have a new game plan:
My previous game plan for Paris was to ‘wing it’ and let the server + chef surprise me with a vegan dish. I’m all crazy and spontaneous like that.
However, my new game plan is…well, to plan a bit more.
Thanks to all of your suggestions I have some awesome restaurants to check out! I am determined to find more filling and satisfying vegan fare. I know it is out there, I just need to get a sense of the city first. I can’t expect to have all perfect meals on day 1 after all!
My mom had the beef tenderloin which was VERY rare and she didn’t care for it that much and my sister had sea bass fish which she loved, loved, loved.
Decaf espresso for dessert (with chocolate!). This was my first time drinking espresso- well, decaf if that counts? ;)
Ok decaf espresso doesn’t count. ;)
It was very strong and bitter, but I drank it like a champ (aka, with sugar). ;)
and some of the most delicious dark chocolate beans ever:
Many handfuls ensued which might explain why I could not sleep until 1am.
Then we headed out for a walk to find a grocery store to pick up some water and snacks.
Macaroon tower on display!!
I’m not going to lie, I am probably going to have to try a macaroon at some point, vegan or not. I have to know what it tastes like so I can make a vegan one at home, right?
I had a high protein Renew Glo Bar and a banana to satisfy my lingering hunger.
My mom tells me this is the most expensive perfume in the world???? Anyone know how much it is?
This morning my sister and I got up and hit the gym in our hotel. It is a pretty sweet gym!!! Treadmills, ellipticals, weights, bikes, stairmaster, etc.
My sis and I ran about 6-7k on the treadmill. Felt SO good to sweat!
After showering quickly, it was time to head run down to breakfast. Our breakfast is included every morning with the hotel and we were thrilled to see that they offered a HUGE selection. Probably the biggest hotel breakfast I have ever seen!! :)
Needless to say, I stuffed my face and then some. ;)
I had breakfast tea with a mix of my Matcha powder for some zing, zing, zing!
and delicious mango juice!
Whole wheat toast with strawberry jam:
‘Vegan Overnight Oats’ with soy milk!!!!
So so so good.
Their granola was unsweetened so I added some fruit and mango juice to sweeten it up a bit. I also added a ton of nuts!
I was in pure heaven, pure heaven.
My sis wanted to share her meal too! We all enjoyed everything so much and I am so grateful I have this selection to start the day off right.
Perhaps tomorrow I will take pictures of the spread of food offered. I felt a bit like a camera creeper today and was a bit shy! ;)
We are off to hop onto the ‘hop on hop off’ bus to get a sense of the city and where everything is. We are hoping to check out a veg friendly restaurant that comes highly recommended in Paris. I am excited.
Have a great day! :)
Have a wonderful day Angela!
I’d be disappointed in a salad again too, but fig + melon sounds delicious! And what a breakfast feast you had! At least you can start the day off right!
I so want to go back to Europe, your pictures are making me so jealous :) Enjoy!
Ok, that’s it. I’m moving to Paris. Or at least visiting very soon! Everything looks so good, and I love how there are so many scooters there!
And macarons are awesome. I hear they are hard to make, but I’m sure you could!
That is one nice hotel breakfast!
Oooh you’ve gotta try a macaroon! My first night in Paris I stayed with a wealthy family (friend of a friend of a friend) and they threw me and my friend a big dinner party. There were SO MANY macaroons!! We went to buy them some as a thank you present and didn’t realize they were so expensive.
Worth every Euro though :)
I’ve always wanted a scooter! Paris looks awesome! :)
I hope you can find a chickpea dish in Paris to fill you up a bit more!
I hope you get to enjoy some more satisfying vegan food in Paris! I’m sure you will track some down :) That fig and melon salad does look tasty though!
Mmm, this post has me really craving some chocolate covered espresso beans. So good!! Hopefully you can find some more inventive chefs out there because I imagine you’ll tire of salads at every meal pretty quickly. Keep looking-I’m sure they’re out there!!!
And you should definitely try at least one macaroon. They are delicious :D
I think those chocolate espresso beans definitely could have kept you up! I had coffee gelato with those beans in it once when I was in Italy and it wasn’t until I was walking back to the hotel that I thought “Wait, did that have a ton of caffeine?” I didn’t fall asleep until 4am! They were so good though and I don’t even like coffee.
What would I give for a macaroon right now…or a warm baguette…
I hope you get some sleep tonight!
I hope you have an amazing trip….looks like you’re off to a great start! I will be living vicariously through you for the next few days. :)
I went unvegan for 1 thing in Paris: macaroons. Pllleeeeease try one so you can recreate them! I am missing them soso much! Enjoy Paris, it is AMAZING! PS – go to the opera house. It’s gorgeous and not often visited.
As soon as I saw the picture of the floating messages on paper, I recognized that restaurant as one that I visited while in Paris, but I can’t remember the name of it! You must try a macaron, vegan or not, while visiting. They are amazing! I got my first one at Laduree– vanilla flavour. I also loved the pistachio and salted caramel macarons!
Paris is one of my favourite cities Ange, I hope you have the most amazing time :)
I found being vegetarian there hard enough, so can imagine vegan is a challenge to put it mildly! If you get fed up you can always hop on the Eurostar over here to London, we have loads of vegan stuff :D heh heh, maybe next time!
I’d recommend, and I know you would love, Cojean for healthy smoothies, salads and sandwiches on the go – the vegetarian grilled sandwich is amazing, and you can ask for it sans boursin cheese or whatever cheese they’ve added. There is one in the Madeleine and one just up from Gallerie la Fayette (towards the 12th anddroissement).
Whatever you do, don’t go to Le Grain au Folie in the Monmatre area, worst vegie restaurant ever – it was like being transported back to 1967 where vegetarians only ate brown rice and grated carrot. A big fat NON to that one!
I’m really enjoying seeing how you keep up your excellent healthful eating in a city where there is indulgence and temptation on every corner! Hope you continue to enjoy and have loads of fun, and definitely splurge on a macaron :) xx
oh i can’t wait to go to Paris one day! have a blast. I’m sure you will crash tonight!
Have fun in Paris!! I love the place and I’m sure you’ll have a blast. Good luck trying to find vegan options. I think they may be pretty limited.
Hey looks like your having a blast! Sketchie & I miss you at home!
Tonight shall be a wine night don’t you worry. = LOL!!! you go girl!!!
the mango juice
perfume
macaroon tower
dark choc espresso beans!!
all of these pics…
holy moly, you are having the time of your life! And good for you for planning a lil more and not just leaving your food to luck and fate; sometimes we just gotta plan a bit more if our dietary path isn’t as common.
HAVE FUN!!!!!
:)
Looks like your trip is going well Angela!
And yes, you must try the macaroons!! I love macaroons!!!
Ana
Wow. Paris is amazing! Your salad looks really good, but it wouldn’t fill me up either :-) The granola was probably actually muesli, which isn’t usually sweetened. I got so hooked on espresso after I spent some time in Europe! Wish it was more common to drink it on a daily basis here.