My Dream Foodie Shortbreak: A Culinary Weekend in Paris #ParisFoodTrip UK

We loaded up the car with suitcases, a super long pregnancy pillow, lots of drinks and comfy shoes. At my feet was a basket of snacks, a guidebook to France with dozens of highlighted pages with their corners turned down: we were going to spend 10 days driving around Northern France and Paris!

And ... we were driving from Manchester to Dover, catching a ferry and then finishing our drive across the Channel. And ... I was six months pregnant.



I'll admit, we were anxious for one last hurrah before the baby came and hadn't properly thought it through:
Paris = foodie capital of the world.
Paris = loads of delicious wine and soft cheeses.
Paris = steak tartare and freshly caught shellfish and snails.
Paris = all the things pregnant women cannot eat.

During our trip, we went into restaurant after restaurant, for dinner. While my husband ordered all the stereotypical fabulous French foods, I stuck with variations on chicken. The chicken was good, yes, but it wasn't what you came to France to eat.

The Jardin des Tuileries is just outside the Louvre. We were resting in the garden and enjoying the sunshine when I looked up and saw this guy with an impressive collection of mini Eiffel Towers.

About the second or third day into our trip, we spotted a McDonalds. Well, I spotted it. I'm pretty sure that I have been secretly fitted with a homing device that leads me flocking to the nearest McDonalds no matter where I am in the world! McDonalds in France is so French. The food is completely different and they have macarons on the menu! I ordered macarons and French fries and settled into the booth, ready to gorge on quintessentially French delights.

We weren't brave enough to cross the multi lane traffic to take a photo beneath the arch.

That first bite of an authentic French macaron in France set off a chain reaction. Nearly every day we were there, I filled up on patisseries, baguettes and especially macarons. Since coming home, I taught myself how to make French macarons after I couldn't shake my craving for them! And I've been dying to go back to Paris and actually try dishes from that laundry list of forbidden foods for pregnant women.

The thought of spending a weekend totally food geeking out in Paris, doing nothing but eating and looking at food and talking about food and photographing food and making food and making foodie friends excites me to no end! You guys don't even want to know the number of Parisian foodie weekend getaways I've bookmarked and pinned to Pinterest boards! Lol!

A beautiful, tucked away village that is truly an island.

So when I got an invitation to enter Gourmandize's Paris Food Trip competition, I couldn't resist entering! I mean, French patisserie (as you guys can see from the dessert recipes on Anyonita Nibbles) is a huge part of my life. Even looking at the other recipes on Anyonita Nibbles, a good majority of them are French or inspired by French food.

Sunflower fields at the end of harvest.

Gourmandize have asked entrants a specific question, "What special dish would you like to cook in Paris and why?" If I went to Paris on a cooking break, I would definitely want to cook macarons! I've got chills just thinking about it: There I am standing next to one of those quintessential old-school French patisserie chefs, some busker outside the restaurant plays a beautifully lonely rendition of La Vie en Rose and I can just glimpse the Eiffel Tower through the kitchen's window. *le sigh*

If you'd like to help me win a weekend of a lifetime on a culinary excursion to Paris, vote for me! I'd really appreciate it!  

These are some of the photos I took on our roadtrip nearly 3 years ago.

Update: I won! Here's my post detailing my preparations for the trip: Paris Bound