Baby Bottles, Secret Doors, and a Little Taste of Home

Haley and Me along the Seine

I apologize for the delay in posts; I was busy showing around a visitor this weekend! Hopefully this extra long post will make up for it! One of my little sisters in my sorority Haley came all the way from Baltimore to visit me this weekend!! There are no words to express the amazing feeling of having a taste of home when you're 5,662 miles away. It was exactly what I needed (including the literal taste of the Carmas snickerdoodle cookies she brought with her. Thanks Ashley!).

Initially I was a bit nervous because I, myself, am still figuring out my way around the city, and I wanted to her have the best 4 days imaginable. Instead, this  mutual novelty allowed us to discover new places and pockets of the city together. After impressing me with her lack of jet lag, we began our weekend of eating and shopping with delicious tartines at Cuisine de Bar. This delicious cafe is conveniently located next to the famous Poilane bakery, which allows them to serve up their tartines on fresh, outstanding bread.

We then continued to do some shopping, sight-seeing and lots of walking. Later, we checked out a notorious bar: Zero de Conduite. Before coming to Paris, we had heard a lot about 2 establishments that serve drinks in baby bottles. Our curiosity spiked, as I'm sure yours is right now, so we had to try it out.

The bar itself was pretty small and dark with only about 8 tables. All of the drinks were named after cartoon characters, and in order to order your beverage of choice, you had to draw the character on a mini white board. Fortunately one of our friends is an art major! The drinks were delicious (think: gin with passion fruit juice and strawberry or vodka with mint, lemonade and soda water) and accompanied by a round of cartoon trivia (of which we were too slow to answer, unfortunately).

The next day we continued the shopping and eating which included more tartines, a cute pair of boots and a cozy scarf. That night, we tried the second baby bottle restaurant, mainly because it is also famous for their delicious fondue. Refuge des Fondues provided a unique, yet classic French experience of wine and fondue, perfect for Haley's speedy trip. The food, the ambiance, and the waiters were delicious, fun and entertaining. We definitely enjoyed the wine and cheese, and like many before us, left our mark (see photo above).

Saturday began with a fresh pain au chocolat and was filled with lots of shopping and a little bit of fashion-related culture. Patterned pants, statement necklaces, comfy sweaters and trendy tees awaited! But, before filling up shopping bags, we checked out the history of some very famous bags at the Mussee des Arts Decoratifs.

This museum, situated right next to the Louvre, hosted an exhibit honoring Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton. It displayed designs from both designers and painted a stunning picture of the history of this iconic brand. Everything from the lighting to the music to the mannequins contributed to the unforgettable nature of the exhibit. I am so glad we fit it in because this was the last weekend of the exhibit.

After the exhibit, we enjoyed the gorgeous day and relaxed on the lawn outside with a view of the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and the picturesque sky (see if you can spot them all in my panoramic picture above).

For her last night we checked out a Mexican restaurant with a secret door. I know what you're thinking, Mexican food in Paris... really?! I was skeptical myself, but we really wanted to check out the secret door situation. We arrived to a small restaurant in the Marais with one table and a bar with 8 stools. We were pleasantly surprised to hear the cooks, who slipped past each other in the cozy cooking space, speaking spanish, and hoped it was a good sign, There was barely enough space for us to enjoy our chips and guacamole (which definitely met my California standards) while we waited for seats to open up.

The restaurant itself was reminiscent of a little hole in the wall that could have been found in L.A. or Brooklyn. After a quarter of the seats (2) opened up at the bar, we enjoyed fantastic tacos and tostadas that surpassed my expectations. Once we finished our food, we snuck through the secret door (pictured) to find a super hip bar. The atmosphere could not have been more different from the restaurant. It was as though we stepped into a hip little cave lit by candles and decorated with modern variations of mexican paraphernalia (even the bathroom was cool! See photo below).

Middle Photo: Secret Door!!

After some fantastic people watching, we went to Briezh cafe for highly recommended crepes and hard cider. When my mom was here, we probably had a crepe everyday. While I could taste slight variations (such as sweetness of the batter, butter or no butter with sugar, etc...), they were all delicious. How could they not be?

Therefore, I was rather skeptical as to just how amazing these crepes were going to be. I am very happy to say that I was proven wrong. The crepes were unbelievable. I ordered a crepe with vanilla ice cream, salted caramel, and banana, and Haley ordered a crepe with vanilla ice cream, salted caramel and apples. They both had the perfect amount of ice cream that allowed you to have a small bite to accompany each bit of crepe and didn't leave a puddle of sweet milk at the end. The salted caramel, also in perfect proportion, complemented the fruit perfectly. It was the perfect end to a fabulous weekend.

This morning, before sending her to the airport and going against my every desire to hold her hostage with me for the semester, we stopped at the farmers market near my apartment to pick up fresh goodies for a picnic brunch in Luxembourg gardens.  While it was hard to say goodbye, I am so grateful that she came and that we had this wonderful and unforgettable opportunity to explore Paris ensemble!!