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Our Secret Food Tour of Paris

Cliodhna Europe, France, Uncategorized

Paris Food Tour

Taking a Secret Food Tour of Paris

Paris is perhaps best known for its iconic sights, sophisticated fashion and unmissable art. On my third trip to Paris I decided it was too cold for the Eiffel Tower. I had no money for shopping. A day at the Louvre, while fabulous I’m sure, just wasn’t capturing my interest. I took to the internet to ask some fellow travel bloggers for their recommendations. Their response was unanimous. Two words: food tour. I quickly set about finding the best food tour of Paris, a task that proved more difficult due to the sheer number of food tours available.

Luckily, my sister had the same idea and surprised me with a ticket for the Secret Food Tour of Paris. The guides at Secret Food Tours will take you on a culinary journey through the streets of Montmartre. Each guide will change the tour slightly to suit their preferences. You will spend three hours gathering food in Montmartre with your guide, with plenty of samples along the way!

Paris Food Tour

Our Food Tour Experience

Our tour was led by Eric, a true foodie from the Provence region. Eric assured us that by the end of the tour we would be frustrated, angry with him even, as we tried to finish the endless supply of food he would provide. Our small group of 6 gladly committed to the challenge. As we wandered through the streets of Montmartre, taking in the sights and sounds of market day, Eric explained a little bit about the history of Montmartre as a market centre on the outskirts of Paris. Before we knew it, we arrived at our first stop, a cheese shop with an impressive array displayed outside.

Paris Food Tour

 

I think I horrified everyone by admitting I don’t like cheese. My fears of going hungry were quickly dispelled as we made our way from charcuterie to patisserie to boulangerie, stopping for samples and stocking up for later. Eric was very accommodating of my aversion to cheese and pate. He also presented alternatives for the woman on our tour who couldn’t eat sugar (although she did have to miss out on some beautiful desserts!)

Food Tour of Paris

My favourite stop on the tour was Chocolat Illèné. This tiny chocolatier is home to a creative Korean duo who produce everything from pistachio chocolates to matcha macarons. Almost everything in the shop was edible. I also ate the best macaron of my trip here so they get extra points for that!

Paris Food Tour

Lastly, we arrived at the secret wine cellar. While I was feeling full from all the samples, I was still ready to tackle Eric’s haul. Eric proceeded to pull out endless samples of meat and cheese accompanied by a plentiful supply of delicious wine. By the time we reached our secret dish- traditional chocolate eclairs- I realised that Eric had been correct. I was angry with him! One woman even turned down the eclairs, asking “how can you expect us to eat anymore?!” Hence, we reluctantly admitted that the Secret Food Tour had beaten us. We finished off the wine before emerging from the cellar in a blissful state of contentment.

I thought I could never get enough Parisian food but I couldn’t have eaten another bite. We made it to 9pm that night before we dragged ourselves outside once more to sample the delights of Parisian cuisine.

Still wondering what to do in Paris? Two words: food tour.

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Secret Food Tour of Paris

 

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55 thoughts on “Our Secret Food Tour of Paris”

  1. melbtravel

    Oh I love this idea. I go to Paris a lot but I have never heard of such a tour. I am definitely going to try this out next time I am there. Great food pictures by the way they made me hungry.

  2. Only By Land

    They have great and tasty food in Paris, it makes perfect sense to take a food tour. You are missing out as you don’t like cheese! And the woman was missing out more than you who didn’t eat sugar! The chocolate part of the tour would be my favourite, but without the nuts! It’s great you eat so much that you’re completely full afterwards.

    1. Cliodhna Post author

      I definitely felt bad for her missing out on the crepes, chocolates and macarons. She seemed to still enjoy it though. I wasn’t expecting to be so full from it. Definitely worth it!

  3. neha

    Didn’t know about this food tour. It seems they have very tasty food. I would definitely love to take the trip when I go to Paris. I heard paris is famous for its chocolates and bakeries

  4. Bhushavali

    When I was in Paris, right in front of Notre Dame Catherdal, was this Street food fest that was happening and I had such an awesome lunch!!! Cash is the only issue. I had to hunt for a ATM Machine before I could plan to eat!

  5. Cory Varga

    I can’t imagine anything better right now, than a secret tour in Paris. We went to Paris for a weekend just to eat lots of cheese. (we love cheese haha)
    French food is great!

    1. Cliodhna Post author

      You would love this tour! Every second course of the tasting was cheese. I didn’t eat any but my sister said it was the best she’d ever had!

  6. Swati

    I am surely gonna do this tour.. and ya I must also admit I don’t like Cheese. I would love to visit Chocolat Illèné as I love chocolates. Nice way to explore the city especially in winters.

  8. Ling Ge

    *Gasp* You don’t like cheese!? Just kidding. This is a nice activity I’ll have to check out. There are just so many places to eat that it’s sometimes hard to choose a place. Cool to get a tour of some more hidden places and trying something different.

    1. Cliodhna Post author

      I know! I’m sorry! 😛 I felt completely overwhelmed by the choice of restaurants before I took the tour. Our guide explained how to recognise a good quality shop which made our next couple of days a lot easier.

  9. Sarah

    Food tours are always on top of my itineraries! It’s just quite tough to do it with my husband because he can be picky and doesn’t like cheese, too! haha 🙂 I’d try this one when I visit Paris again!

    1. Cliodhna Post author

      Hmm yeah I think it would be a difficult place to try food if you’re vegan. Worth contacting a few companies though as I’m sure there must be some demand for it in one of the most popular cities in the world!

    1. Cliodhna Post author

      I’m so glad you liked it too! Anything that leaves me full and happy is a winner in my book 😛

    1. Cliodhna Post author

      Agreed 😀 Everytime I reply to a comment on this post I start craving crepes again 😛

  14. Melissa

    I have never been to Paris but it is a place that my mum has always wanted to visit so I am planning a future trip. The food looks amazing! I love cheese! Cant imagine anyone not loving it or at least liking it. This is a tour I must do.

    1. Cliodhna Post author

      Haha I think I’ll have to add a disclaimer to this apologising for my hatred of cheese. This would be a lovely activity to do with your mum. I was sending photos to my mum back home at every stop.

  15. Anthony Jury

    Cheese is the bomb, Gotta love cheese.
    Anyway nothing beats a great food tour where ever you go in the world and I am sure Paris would be one of the best. Hopefully I can get their soon and perhaps try some cheese.

    1. Cliodhna Post author

      I definitely need to start taking more food tours. I always imagined they’d be very “touristy” with poor quality, mass produced food. I now realise I have been missing out! Hope you get to do this one, it was the highlight of my trip.

  20. Tanvi Rastogi

    That is such a great idea. Paris is a perfect city to go on a food tour. I can’t believe I never thought of it before.

    I am not a big cheese eater either but I love me all baked goods. Chocolat Illèné sounds perfect. Will mark it for next trip to Paris.

    1. Cliodhna Post author

      Be sure to get the ladies in Chocolat Illèné to explain the selection to you. They have some really unusual tastes there.

  22. Kelly

    I didn’t even think about doing a food tour in Paris, but it sounds like a great idea. And I am so glad you found something to eat even though you don’t like cheese. Cheese is literally all I ate while I was there. Like that and baguettes, oh and the macarons. So good. When I go to Paris again, I will have to try this tour.

    1. Cliodhna Post author

      Haha I managed to survive on crepes and macarons so I didn’t do too badly 😉 I forgot to mention the baguettes. So much bread on this tour, it was amazing!

  23. Getty

    Looks delicious! How can you not like cheese though? I go to Europe for the cheese, halal, and wine exclusively lol and I need to do more touristy thing a when in Paris! How much was the tour? ??

    1. Cliodhna Post author

      Haha I was not expecting the overwhelming response to this post to be “how can you not like cheese?!” My guide had the same reaction. I don’t think he was too impressed with me 😛 The tour was €89. I got it as a gift from my sister and it’s way more expensive than anything we’d normally do but we both agreed afterwards that it was completely worth it. We didn’t eat again for the day apart from a small meal that night.

    1. Cliodhna Post author

      Thanks for reading and pinning 🙂 I find Paris a very overwhelming place in general. So much so that this was the first trip I really enjoyed. The food definitely played a big part in that but I also took more time to wander the streets and stop for coffee and pretend to be French 😛

  25. Haylee

    This looks like my kind of tour, and I’m feeling hungry just looking at these pictures! I’m planning a trip through Europe toward the end of this year, and I cannot wait to satisfy my sweet tooth in Paris. I could probably handle some cheese too!

    1. Cliodhna Post author

      The sweet treats were just amazing. I think I was on a sugar high for about a week afterwards 😛

  29. Agnes

    What a delicious tour! Unlike you, I love cheese and would probably fill myself up already at the beginning of the tour. It must be very hard to control yourself and not eat too much with such delicious food in front of you, haha.