Cafe de la Mairie

Cafe de la Mairie is one of those famous cafés in Paris, so my tip is to go there in the morning. Then there'll be doves flying around the Saint Sulpice church (The Da Vinci Code, people?) and people hurrying to work, looking at their watches or lazily getting there. In the morning, it's damn near magical, but in the afternoon one can only imagine how touristy it could become. However, Cafe de la Mairie is as charming inside as out, and their cafe creme is incredible so what are you really waiting for?

8 Place Saint Sulpice

Paris, France

Musée de la Vie Romantique

Musée de la Vie Romantique in paris has a lot of things going for it. First of all it's placed in Paris, (one of) the most romantic place(s) on earth, but despite of being free, the museum is also charming, informative and, yes, very romantic. Please, go here on a day where summer's in the air, so you can enjoy a cup of tea plus a slice of cake in their garden, covered under trees right next to the small museum. You can't spend a day here (hell, you can hardly spend more than an hour), but the moments you do spend strolling around inside and sipping your tea beneath trees outside, those are moments well-spent. Trust me on this.

16 Rue Chaptal
Paris, France

Les P’tites Indécises

I was actually headed somewhere else when I ran into Les P'tites Indécises which looked so cozy from the outside that stepping in just was a matter of time. It didn't get less so once inside. This is just one of those places where everyone gets along. I saw families with children, families without, friends meeting for a catch-up, people working and tourists studying maps. Their selection isn't grand, but it all tastes amazing, so who really cares?

PS. Their bread is fucking GREAT!

2 Rue des Trois Bornes
Paris, France

L’Ébouillanté

L’Ébouillanté is lucky to be placed right smack! in the centre of the Marais quarter in Paris. That might also be why the employees have a bit of an attitude. No, actually it's only one of the dudes working there who seems a little on the unfriendly side. Excuses all around to the other much friendlier employees. Anyway, they have a glaced tea to die for and in the summer this is one blessed spot to sit and be all kinds of beautiful in. Stroll around afterwards (this is an order coming straight from Big City Rodeo) and maybe even head to île St. Louis where I'm told they have something called Bertillion ice cream that's quite an experience. But I wouldn't know. What I would know, however, is that starting at L’Ébouillanté would be a good decision.

6 Rue des Barres
Paris, France

Les Petits Mitrons

Now that you've been to cafe le Nazir and life seems like one big cherry bubblegum, why not make it last and turn around the corner to Rue Lepic, where you will find Les Petits Mitrons, a little pie bakery in Montmartre. The surface is a charmer, the insides are even better because inside, inside, they have some pretty good pies y'all. And when I say pretty good, I mean pretty good.

26 Rue Lepic
Paris, France

Cafe le Nazir

In Montmartre there are many charming and downright dazzling things. One of them is Cafe le Nazir where you can get the most delicious piece of cheesecake and a tea to match. In the evening it turns bo-bo central when the gorgeous people of the borough comes to flirt and drink a glass of wine. Somehow things just seems better when you're here. But the real beauty of Cafe le Nazir is the fact that any day of the week you may see an old man in the back reading a newspaper just as well as you might be two bourgeouise lovers hanging over a glass of white wine. And look over there, where the tourist family are busy looking at a map! Everyone of here folks, and if you happen to be in Paris now or ever, then so should you.

56 Rue des Abbesses
Paris, France

Antoine & Lili

What's the cutest shop in the world? I don't know. But Antoine & Lili i Paris surely tries to win the prize with their girly-colored clothes and kitschy kitchen ware. They have a shop for kids, too, in their branch by the canal Saint-Martin, which is the superior one. Sure, they have a shop on the islands, too, but this is the one that's so cute that it could register on your gag reflex.

95, Quai de Valmy
Paris, France

Hôtel du Nord

The handsome waiter in Hôtel du Nord is extremely flirtatious, the food is extremely delicious and the placement by Canal Sain't-Martin is extremely blissful and romantic, so what else could you ask for? And actually, that's all one needs to be said about it. Oh, and that film (called Hôtel du Nord, duh) from '38 was filmed here too, if anyone cares. You won't after you eat the food anyway. Seriously, it's gorgeous.

102, Quai de Jemmapes
Paris, France

Des Deux Moulins

Sure, it's one of the most touristy places in Paris because of the movie that was practically based there, but Des Deux Moulins in Montmatre is still a pretty good place to have a cup of coffee and read the morning newspaper. They aren't exactly ashamed of Amélie, having a big poster of her in the back of the café, and somehow that's unfortunate. Wouldn't it be much nicer if it was just a place like every other, and then all of a sudden, boom!, you'd realize that this is the very place where that friendly young Amélie used to work? The answer is yes.

Des Deux Moulins
15 Rue Lepic
Paris, France

Le Bon Marché

I would love to be so rich that I could spend endlessly on Stella McCartney-dresses and Miu Miu-shoes. That's absolute fact. Another fact is that I can't without revising my budget some, so when I strolled around Paris' most exclusive collection of shops, Bon Marché, I looked just as much at the people as the dresses. However, somehow when I look at the prices on all the the dresses and whatnot, I get somewhat cheap. Because, honestly, couldn't we get just as good a dress in Topshop and, honestly, aren't most of the designs either boring or downright ugly? Guess you can get away with it when you're Gaultier. That doesn't mean Bon Marché isn't fascinating though. Because it really, really is.

Bon Marché
24, Rue de Sévres
Paris, France

Cafe Charbon

Rue Oberkampf is one of those streets that every decent big city has: the street where the cafe turn into bars and the bars stand side by side. At night people come out from their holes and turn the street into a haven of booze and debauchery (as if that's not the same thing). One of these cafe/bars is Cafe Charbon which is a place to read the newspaper over a nice glass of white wine in the day time, but turns into an elegant dive at night. The only evidence of this in the daytime is the bathroom, where the lock is rather alternative and the graffiti changes by the week.

Cafe Charbon
109, Rue Oberkampf
Paris, France

Musée Gustave Moreau

If there's one thing I love, it's to walk inside museums where someone once used to live. Musée Gustave Moreau is one of these museums. On the first floor you have the former residence and of the third and fourth floor is the galleries that Gustave Moreau, the obvious former owner, kept for his own amusement. None of it has been touched and is still standing like it did a hundred years ago. There's something so romantic and so seductive about the notion of time standing still in the middle of the most romantic city on earth.

14, Rue de la Rouchefoucald
Paris, France

Cimetière du Père Lachaise

In order to get to Cimetière du Père Lachaise, there's a good chance you're going to have to pass a lot of Asian prostitutes. If you take Boulevard de Belleville, that pretty much seems inevitable. Now you know. Or maybe I'm wrong, and they weren't really prostitutes, but just some Asian girls who didn't care much for clothes and were really friendly with the passing gentlemen. It could be. However, once you pass this part of Parisian life, you're at one of the most beautiful cemetaries in Paris - most say the most beautiful one. According to me, this beats even the graveyards of New Orleans, and I love those. As any other tourist-groupie, I caught glimpses of Jim Morrison's, Oliver Wilde's and Edith Piaf's graves but that's not the only reason to come here. It's quite astonishing.

Cimetière du Père Lachaise
Main entrance at Boulevard de Ménilmontant
Paris, France

Sult

Some while ago I was at the restaurant Sult with some friends. I was slightly concerned because not ever having eaten here(except for their incredible weekend-brunches... more about that later), but going to the cinema it's connected to constantly (Cinemateket, which will someday have a pretty entry on this blog), I was starting to have certain expectations. And when I say certain, I mean the food here had better be pretty good. And it was! Or maybe it was just because I was in such a good mood, talking about films with fellow-geeks (sorry for spoiling "Michael", guys) that got me so positive, but this is def a good place in my book. Also, wine selection is good.

Now, I should probably also note that they have the most delicious brunch in the entire world in the weekend. Seriously, it is the best. Actually it's so good that the last time I came here, I was genuinely wooried that I had to go to the hospital afterwards for over-eating. Yeah, I like to laugh about over-eaters, too, but let me tell you, I was feeling terrible that afternoon. Was it worth it though? Oh yeah.

Sult
Gothersgade 55
Copenhagen, Denmark

Victor's

In Malmö there's a place called Lilla Torg which could be mistaken for one big tourist trap. Well, it might be, but Victor's - one of the many places to have lunch - is not one. They have three items on their menu to choose from and they are all amazing. Ok, so the service could be better, but with this many constumers and so few waiters, it's really not that weird that they can't obey our every wish.

Victor's
Lilla Torg 1
Malmö, Sweden