There is a new fashion in restaurants in Paris that I cannot get enough of: it’s called a café gourmand. We all know that having a dessert after a big steak could be viewed as slightly indulgent, so to get around any guilt that a huge slice of cake might entail, the Parisians have come up with the idea of a “café gourmand” (literally a greedy coffee).

A café gourmand normally consists of an ordinary “café express” plus 2 or 3 tiny little pots of different sweets — often a macaroon, a little crème brulée and maybe something with chocolate in it. Perfect to share with friends or with a “gourmand” little one. Ask your waiter what the café gourmand of the day is — in a lot of cafés the little pots of goodness change on a daily basis, alternatively you can just let yourself be surprised.

If you don’t happen to be in Paris, you can also have a virtual browse on the online shop.

Nowadays when I am in a supermarket I am actively circumventing the bonbon aisle, because if I don’t I will be stuck there for hours explaining that I really don’t think it is a great idea to buy a cartload of sweets every time we shop. But, there is a place that I do like to take them to every once in a while. It is a little sweet shop called “Le Bonbon au Palais” in the 5th arrondissement. The owner has travelled the whole of France to find the best bonbons from every region. The collection is pretty impressive.

The goodies are displayed in big glass vases and the shop is decorated like a 1950’s school room. It is so French, so old-school and so pretty that I get carried away every time we go and buy loads more than I planned!

CONTACT DETAILS:

Le Bonbon au Palais
19 rue Monge
75005 Paris
Tel: 01 78 56 15 72

-Emilie

She has managed to group together some of the best and innovative brands in France and all will have a little stand at the fair, some with collections designed exclusively for the event. You will also be able to pick up some yummy cupcakes and some bonbons from my favourite sweet shop Le Bonbon au Palais.

I am really looking forward to discovering lots of new companies,  many of whom I have never heard of.

See you there!

The shop has only just opened and the stock is only slowly trickling in but it already promises to be a must-stop shop, if you are indeed in the market for funky kids clothes whilst visiting Paris. I have to admit I always am…

It is called the “village en bois” — the wooden village — and is built on a side of a hill so you have to climb up a fair few steps (hence the before mentioned energy burning). On the way down the children are rewarded by a massively long slide that goes all the way down again.

The whole play structure is divided into three parts, depending on the age of the children. There is a whole philosophy behind this structure — city children don’t often have the chance to push themselves physically and learn how far they can go. This structure is designed for children to push themselves a little bit further than they would normally do and learn to be more confident. When you are done exploring the play area (it isn’t huge) I highly recommend climbing to the top of the hill, as you will be rewarded with one of the best views all over Paris…

To tour the Argonaute, visitors are given an audio guide that is available in several languages and really easy to listen to. The Argonaute is based right beside the Villette Science Museum and very close to the Villette play areas, so you can combine all three and make the visit into a day trip.

Finding that is easier said than done, as most Parisian parks are made out of gravel, and grass is generally off-limits to walk or sit on.

So I decided to get off the beaten track of the centre of Paris and head over to the Butte de Chaumont, a park in the 19th arrondissement.  It is lovely!  It was built about 150 years ago on what used to be the city’s gallows and wasteland.  Today it looks like a Gothic dreamscape — complete with waterfalls, a temple and a grotto.

It is great for kids: there is a manage (a merry-go-round which French kids, especially my kid, are obsessed about), little ponies to ride on (from 18 months onwards with parental supervision), a horse and cart that goes around the par, a playground, and of course the ubiquitous crepes and ice cream stand.  I even saw a puppet show theater, though we did not have enough time to check it out.

We had a wonderful day out.  I just hope the sunshine continues, which unfortunately is something that cannot be arranged by the Parisian Park Authorities…

-Emilie

It’s a shop, a tea room, a space for ateliers and courses — a concept dreamed up by two friends… These girls decided to change careers and dedicate themselves to something both were passionate about: an organic, healthy lifestyle and all things kid related. Together they started le Petit Bazar about 18 months ago and it has been a great success story so far. Most of the clothes on sale are organic and/or fair trade and also very lovely. There is a great selection of toys on offer and also some vintage kids furniture. To top it all off, you can sit down for a cup of tea and let your little one roam the premises.

It is such a fab  idea to unite a kids concept shop with a tea room and a space from which you can run ateliers. I do hope they open some more Petit Bazars all over Paris!

Le Petit Bazar
128 ave Emile Zola
75015 Paris
Open Mondays 13.15-18.15 and Tuesdays to Saturdays 10.00-18.30

Just around the corner from me is a little collection of about 8-10 little brocantes shops which, surprisingly, not that many people know about… and they are fabulous. I think about 90 per cent of all the furniture I have bought in recent years comes from there. Each shop is owned by someone different, with its own distinctive style and they have beautiful French names: La Garçonnière, La Maison, La Chose, Alasinglinglin, Belle Lurette…

Some shops specialise in ’70s furniture, others have everything from 18th century to contemporary pieces. Some  specialise in mirrors and wall hangings, other have big wooden tables from old French farm houses. It is also a great place to pick up vintage crystal champagne coupes or old fashioned porcelain. If you love vintage furniture you are almost certain to find a gem in these places.

Brocantes de Popincourt
Rue du Marché Popincourt, rue Neuve Popincourt and  rue Ternaux
Closed on Mondays
Métro Oberkampf  or Parmentier

11th arronddissement

Anne Willi, the adult and children’s clothes designer, has her flagship on rue Keller. I especially love her kid’s collection. Her designs are not classically French — they have a very northern European feel to them, and every item is intelligently designed and crafted.

Another little shop I love is the design shop Lou Lou Addict. It is one of these shops were the owner has fantastic taste and has chosen each piece on display for good reason. (Even if you cannot make it over to rue Keller check out the Lou Lou Addict online shop.)

Dorothy’s Gallery is a great little art gallery which at the moment has a very topical exhibition on: an exhibition all about Obama in Paris!

And another one of my fav’s is Klok — a maternity and baby shop. They have wonderfully high-end maternity wear, and cute baby and toddler clothes. They are not exactly cheap but the maternity clothes are especially very well designed. They stock furniture like the Leander cradle and bed and beautiful baby bags and accessories.

- Emilie

I have also fallen for their new shop which sells sheets of delicately printed paper and fabric (all in their unique, colorful style). I want to buy all of it and just have it in case I may need it sometime in the far away future…..

The Petit Pan shops are in the centre of Paris, but their products are stocked all over the world and you can also browse their online boutique!

Rebecca (who used to write for us from Washington and who has, luckily for me, moved back to Paris) and I went to the opening and had a blast. The Prosecco was flowing, there was a huge counter full of hams and cheeses and little sandwiches. It was a great way of discovering the shop and the new Bonton summer collection.

Oh, did I mention that they also have one of those old-fashioned photo booths with a bucket full of dressing up hats in front of it? We also took advantage of that, though we were the only grown-ups queueing up for it in a huge line of kids…

- Emilie

BONTON
5 boulevard Filles Du Calvaire
75003 Paris
Open: Monday – Saturday 10:00 – 19:00

If not, here are some pointers for the other modes of transportation:

Buses: The buses in Paris are getting better and better and it is really easy to used them if you are travelling with a buggy. You can access the bus routes online or even download an application onto an Iphone.

Velib‘: The Velib’ scheme was only started a couple of years ago, but it is now difficult to imagine the city without these bicycles. Most Parisians have an annual pass, but it is easy to rent a bike for a day or a even just a few hours with a credit card. The instructions for the credit card rental are a bit tricky, but don’t despair, it is worth trying to figure it out. There are some great applications for iphones which will direct you to the nearest Velib’ station and let you know if if there are any spare bikes. Read more here.

Metro: The metro system in Paris is easy to use and takes you everywhere. There is only one type of ticket for journeys within Paris, so you don’t have to worry about traveling outside a zone. Do be warned, the metro is absolutely not buggy friendly. There are stairs everywhere and small entrance gates that are difficult to navigate with a buggy.

Taxi: Paris does not have the best taxi system in the world. It is hard to flag one down on the street and the easiest way to get one is by finding a taxi queue which can be found along most bigger boulevards. Taxis don’t have car seats available. The thing to note is that you are allowed to jump to the front of the queue if you have a small child with you.

They can be found along the canal St Martin, an area which, for a long time now, has been attracting lots of little shops and restaurants. If the rumours are to be believed the Antoine et Lili shops were actually the first independent shops to open up in this area, turning the area into a trendy little spot.

Anyway, if you are in Paris and like kitsch and bright colours, Antoine et Lili is a must. The kid’s store especially is a bright, bright space with great toys, presents and clothes from the world over. It is definitely not minimalist, but colourful and loud! I also love the homewares shop were you can find great Mexican waxcloths and fabulous melamine plates for the whole family.

Antoine et Lili
95 Quai de Valmy
Paris 75010
Tel:+33 1 40 37 58 15

- Emilie