#hope it’s cheaper than the macaron ice cream

[miss-floral-thief]

Oh they have cheesecake here now

[scu-broncos-in-france]

Food & Travel Suggestions

Written by Rachel Chung, July 2022

As my journey in Paris comes to an end, I wanted to take some time to share a few suggestions on where to get food as well as places to visit. This is obviously not an exhaustive list, but just a few recommendations to guide you if you do end up studying abroad in Paris in the future.

Grocery Shopping

When it comes to grocery shopping, I highly recommend Monoprix. Among American students, Monoprix has been labeled as the “bougie” version of Target. Besides having a wide range of foods and beverages, it also has sections for clothing, household items, toiletries, and even stationery items such as pencils, pens, and notebooks. If you would like a cheaper option, Franprix would be a good pick. However, Franprix is only a grocery store and does not sell other products like Monoprix does. Nonetheless, both of these stores are quite popular and can be found in practically every neighborhood. Some other grocery stores you may find include Carrefour, Rapid Market, and Lidl. 

Restaurants

With regards to restaurants, you will find a wide range of cuisine offerings. You will of course discover lots of traditional French food, but surprisingly, there’s also a lot of food from other cultures. Besides French cafés and dessert shops, there are a lot of halal, sushi, and poke restaurants within Paris. Boba shops are also increasingly becoming popular. 

If you want to enjoy some homemade paninis, pastries or bread, I would recommend going to a local boulangerie or bakery. Their food is extremely fresh, and they will even heat up the sandwiches and paninis for you! 

Clothing

As for clothing, there are tons of places throughout Paris where you can shop! Galeries Lafayette is a huge French department store chain. It is essentially an enormous mall with many shops inside. Galeries Lafayette also has a food court with a wide range of offerings including macarons, desserts, ice cream, lasagna, pizza, seafood, and more. A quick little “secret”! If you visit the Galeries Lafayette in Haussmann and take the elevator to the 8th floor, you can enjoy a panoramic rooftop view of the entire city. You’ll be able to see the Opéra Garnier, Eiffel Tower, Sacré Cœur, and Notre Dame. I also highly recommend going to the Les Halles shopping district. It is less pricier than Galeries Lafayette, and you will find countless stores both inside the mall and outside along the surrounding streets. 

Paris Summer Sales

If you are in Paris around the last week of June to the first two weeks of July, you will be able to enjoy the Paris summer sales. During this period of time, practically all clothing stores offer sales. You’ll be able to find clothes marked down usually anywhere between 305 to 60%.

Places to Visit

Lastly, here are a few suggestions on touristic places to visit. If you want to stay within the bustling city, there is the Eiffel Tower, Musée du Louvre, Cathédrale Notre-Dame, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, Jardin du Luxembourg, Montparnasse, and Montmartre. With a less than 1-2 hour train ride, you can easily take a day trip to Giverny and visit Monet’s garden or to the Château de Versailles. 

If you don’t mind taking a longer train ride and want to experience life in the countryside, I highly recommend visiting Strasbourg, Nice, Cannes, Mont Saint-Michel, and the Loire Valley. 

Thank You ~

Well, that’s a wrap! Thank you for following along with me on my journey studying abroad in Paris this summer. It was really fun to get to share my own experiences, and I hope that my tips and suggestions will be helpful for you in your own future study abroad endeavors!