Crepes in Paris: Crêperie Suzette

Date: 10 June 2013
Location: Malais, Paris
Remarks: Crêperie Suzette in Malais

Being in Paris for the first time, there are lots of must-do and must-try.  Crepes is one of the must-try. A local friend of mine in Paris highly recommends Crêperie Suzette in Malais. According to what she's said, Crêperie Suzette has the best crepes in Paris and its homemade tomato sauce and chocolate paste is phenomenal.

It is expensive as compared to the other creperie in Paris, but it is real good. I tried a salty one, with cheese, ham, tomato and egg. It costed around 8-9 euro, which you may find similar ones in other crepie at around 5-7 euro. But the one I had in Crêperie Suzette tasted amazingly good. It was a real balanced one, garnished with some salad greens. It is savory-filled with crispy edges and warm and slightly moist fillings. The place was phenomenal and it was one of my favourite in Paris.

P.S. I was there in late afternoon so I don't really need to wait/ queue. I am not very sure if you need queue for a long time if you are going there during lunch/ dinner time.

Crêperie Suzette
Address: 24 rue des Franc-Bourgeois, 75004 Paris
Telephone number: 01 42 72 46 16
Remarks: You can get there from metro station Saint-Paul or Chemin Vert

Monmartre, Paris

Date: 7 June 2013
Location: Paris, France
Remarks: Monmartre in the morning

Basilique du Sacré Cœur. I love the place.

Monmartre is one of my favourite places in Paris. It was highly touristy, but I like it. It was fun and very energetic. I was following the walking route of lonely planet which took around 2-3 hours. It started from metro station Blanche, walked pass the very famous Moulin Rouge, went up the hill, walked passed the signature blue door of Van Gogh's House (which was indeed nothing special, since you could not get in), to Place du Tertre and Basilique du Sacré Cœur.

I like the neighbourhood on the way up to Basilique du Sacré Cœur. It was quite with the white little houses on the way, which contrast to the busy Place du Tertre, which is just a few street away from Sacré Cœur. Many street artists setting up their easels in Place du Tertre, making portraits for tourists. The square is crowded with the artists and tourists, with cafe and restaurants surrounding it and shops selling typical souvenirs in the streets nearby. The place ishighly touristy busy and hazzled, but fun. It was very interesting to watch the artists, some are talented while some are not, painting portraits for tourists.

Basilique du Sacré Cœur is another landmark with around 5 minutes walk fro Place du Tertre.Sacré Cœur is a Roman Catholic church, and you could have a very beautiful panoramic view of Paris in the square in front of Sacré Cœur. Sacré Cœur, all in white, is a very beautiful piece of architecture and you can enter the sanctuary of the church which is free to guests. One could also paid to step up the 234 spiralling steps to the basilique’s dome for an even more spectacular panoramas of Paris.

A walk in Monmartre is a must-do in Paris and would definitely worth your time.

10 days in Paris

Date: 4 June 2013 -15 June 2013
Location: Paris, France
Remarks: 10 days in Paris

Having impulsively booked a my flight to Paris, I was in Paris for 10 days!! It was June, and the weather was perfect (for the first week). It was warm, with blue sky, ample of sunshine and wind breeze.

There has been preconceptions that Paris being romantic but dangerous, with pickpocketing all over the places, and the French being unhelpful and reluctant in speaking English. Well, that was not what I have experienced over there, but I did have a few interesting observations:

Yes, You would find couples kissing all around the place - on the bus, in the metro, on the streets, in the parks... basically you would see it everywhere.

There were music everywhere, with street buskers everywhere. You could find them on the streets for sure, especially in the tourist spots, but also on the metro and the train. Having taking metro everyday during my stay in Paris, I met them everyday. They just jumped on the train/metro, performed one to two songs, and then walked around the car for a buck for two from the passengers, then get into another car, performed the same songs, did the same thing again and again. 

And yes, some of the French may not speak English but most of them do. They may not speak very good English, but it was communicable, and that is all we need right? Most of them would try them best in helping you when you approached them, with smiles on their faces. It was good enough for me already.

Parisians really love sunbathing in the park. There were a lot of parks in Paris, and there were lawns in each and every park. I was in a park in the afternoon of a weekday. It was another sunny day with the perfect weather. The park was amazingly packed with people!! You could see the Parisians sitting on the chairs/ on the lawns in the park, alone or with friends, enjoying the sun. Especially on the lawns, it was so packed that you could indeed hardly move. I guess for a 1 square meter there were up to 8-10 people. Amazing!!

With regard to the safety issue, it was not as scary as it was in the rumors. You know, the news about the robbery and pickpocketing in Paris are overwhelming. But at least, for my days in Paris, I found it fine. It was just like another city: stay low key, be careful of your personal belongings, zip your bags and don't leave your bags unattended.