Paris: Tips & Tricks

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I recently went on a last minute trip to Paris. I found it relatively hard to find relevant information on the Kosher scene and tips in general. Here are my insights, I hope you enjoy them.

Food

• Apparently the French are not big on breakfast. The standard is an Espresso shot and a Croissant. If you’re like me and cannot eat sweets until a few hours after waking, you have a few options:
  1. Many bakeries have ready sandwiches, if you like their combos, you’re in luck. They will not make new sandwiches to order though. 
  2. Get a plain baguette with butter. That’s the best they could offer me in most places. 
  3. Embrace the culture and go for that chocolate croissant for breakfast. 
• Most restaurants open for lunch (12 – 3) and then again for dinner at 7:30.
• All dairy restaurants (as far as I know) are Cholov Yisroel. 
• Many meat restaurants are NOT Glatt Meat. Generally, anything certified by Chabad is Glatt, and for everything else, ask first. Many are and might not even advertise it; some change over time. If you’re makpid, always double check. some might offer Glatt dishes. Check with your LOR if you can eat those or consider it all non-glatt if utensils are shared. 
• Coffee by default is espresso. Make sure to specify American or Latte to get your expected results. 
• Restaurants are waaaaay cheaper than in the US. 
• If you like privacy in restaurants, Paris is not for you. In every restaurant we went to, the tables almost touched and you bumped into your neighbor. 

Restaurants

The website https://www.123cacher.com/paris.htm is extremely helpful when trying to figure out the hours or certification of a restaurant or for finding a kosher restaurant nearby.

Following are the restaurants we visited and our experience there. This list is not exhaustive and the opinions are just ours. Feel free to visit and form your own. 

• Le XXV
  • 3/5
  • Bakery
  • Pleasant decor
  • Food was nothing special. We tried a croissant, a baguette and a fancy pastry. All were just okay. 
  • Service was helpful, but not super friendly. To be fair, it may have just been a bit of a language barrier. 
  • Disclaimer: we came here straight from the airport. We were hungry, tired and exhausted and may just have let our emotions influence too much.  
    

• Safrane
  • 4/5
  • Indian Cuisine
  • Nice decor
  • Delicious food – if you like Indian, aka: fried and lots of starch
  • Friendly service – our waiter was great and helpful. We had to beg for food recommendations a bit, but in the end he delivered. 
  • I absolutely loved the food and ate everything. My husband didn’t enjoy it as much.

• Le Reserve
  • 5/5
  • Bakery
  • Food was excellent. We took a baguette, croissant and pistachio eclair to go and everything was delicious.
  • I even saved the eclair for the next day and it was still good. 

• K-Market 17
  • 4/5
  • Small grocery with all kosher staples. Lots of imported food from US and Israel as well.

• Bassar
  • 4/5
  • Steakhouse
  • Decor was nice, I think. Don’t really remember what it looked like… (check google photos)
  • Food was good, but very basic. We tried the fois gras and didn’t see why people talk about it. There are many veal dishes – one of which I loved. I think the Gnocchi or something. The carpaccio was amazing too. 
  • Our waiter was very friendly, but not great at food recommendations. 
  • Overall a nice experience, we didn’t find it very exciting, but I believe they do consider they’re cuisine somewhat American which would explain that. 

• Korcarz
  • 5/5
  • Bakery
  • The place is open since 1916 Everything is old and nostalgic. For the good and bad. 
  • The food was good. We took crackers, a croissant and rugalach to go. They were good. 
  • Service was great. Friendly and helpful with a good English. 
  • They seemed to have an actual sit down breakfast service offering actual (non pastry) breakfasts. The first I saw in Paris. Didn’t have time that day, but would’ve loved to try. 

• Yomha Shabbat
  • 4/5
  • Shabbos store
  • Small store with everything you would need for Shabbos including: challah, wine, salads, fish, mains, sides and more.
  • Great service. Helped us with everything (Google translate wasn’t as helpful) and even gave us an extra freebie on the way out.
  • Note: We bought a hot plate from an electronics store, and basic paper goods from a supermarket.

• Tib’s
  • 3/5
  • Dairy family restaurant
  • No decor. But as a family restaurant, none was really needed. There are tons of mirrors though, which disoriented me a little. 
  • Food was okay. Pizza was a bit disappointing, caprese apparently isn’t really our thing, but the onion soup was delicious! Their dessert menu is huge. I got a chocolate cake ice cream thing which was good but had way too much whip. 

• La Belle Epoque – Deauville
  • 6/5
  • Dairy Restaurant
  • Decor was nice. Nothing major. 
  • Food was amazing. We had stopped in expecting a maybe-open, small pizza shop. Instead we got one of the best meals we’ve ever had. Everything from the bread and fries to the fish and four cheese pasta was amazing. We finished off with a scrumptious crepe which I said didn’t fit anymore but managed to find its way into my mouth anyway. 
  • The waiter was very nice but didn’t speak a word of English. With my terrible French and lots of hand motions we got everything we could’ve asked for. 
  • This was a nice little surprise as we had skipped supper the night before so it was extra special. 
  • This restaurant is in Deauville – a beautiful beach town about 2 hours from Paris which we visited on the way home from Normandy.

Neighborhoods

• There are two main Jewish neighborhoods in Paris (as far as I could tell):
  1. Le Marais: This is the Old Jewish Quarter. There are a few old, nostalgic restaurants and shuls. Restaurants include: L’as du Fallafel, Korcasz… It’s a charming neighborhood, with narrow streets, boutique shops and Paris charm. 
  2. 17th Arrondissement: This is the Midtown of Paris. The Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees and ?? are in or near this area. Many of the younger generation are moving to this area, so you have more up-and-coming restaurants and bakeries. Chabad is also located here and is the only place offering meals on Shabbos. 
  3. There might be a third area, but we never made it anywhere else. There are restaurants in many more areas besides these. If it’s important that breakfast/dinner are near to where you’re staying, check that beforehand.

Transportation

• Trains: the Metro system in Paris is relatively easy to navigate and works (and looks and smells) a lot like New York City. Google maps is also pretty good at giving instructions for it.
  • Tickets are easy to buy in the train station. There are options for within the city only or the full district including the airport and Versailles. You can also purchase a ten pack which might be worth it if traveling a lot locally. 
  • Trains fill up fast during rush hour. If you’re too polite, you might need to wait a few trains until you get to board.
• Driving in Paris: Don’t.
  • Just don’t even try driving within Paris. Drivers in the city drive like maniacs. And right of way is a vague suggestion. I was amazed that I did not witness one accident. Unless you’re going out of the city, don’t even think about it. 
  • Besides for the aggressive driving, traffic is terrible too. We spent one full afternoon in a taxi (we were carrying heavy bags and our apartment was far from the train station so we had no choice). 
  • Finding gas is fun. Gas stations are usually two pumps on the curb and a shop behind it where you can pay. Sometimes stations are hidden in the basement of buildings as well. 
  • Parking is also a nightmare depending on the area. 
  • Google maps is terrible at directions within the city. It has many smaller streets as pedestrian only even though they aren’t. It kept suggesting we walk with the car until the street it liked (not clear). 
• Driving outside of Paris: The minute you hit the highway, everything changes. The roads are well maintained and drivers all stick to the right side of the highway leaving the passing lane empty. Speed limits are just right and we didn’t see any cops. There are many toll roads. Make sure you take the lane without the ?? sign, so you can pay with cc. 
• Uber isn’t great, but not terrible either. Sometimes you wait a while. Sometimes it’s pretty expensive. But it all varies. 

Airport

• Security and immigration can be long. There is a priority lane for anyone flying business (or that may just be united business). Saved us a lot of time. 
• The airport itself is nice and the staff is friendly. Everything ran on schedule and we arrived home a little earlier than expected. 

Safety

I’ve gotten this question since my trip, so I’ll include it here although I don’t feel like an authority on this at all. I’ll just share my experience, but please do your own research.

My husband wore a baseball cap and his peyos behind his ears. We did not feel unsafe at any point except once upon landing – when we happened to land together with a plane from an Arab country and found ourselves surrounded by burkas suddenly. Besides for that, we mostly felt safe, but did not go announcing our Jewishness – especially outside of Paris.

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avidtraveller

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