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Matt Skinner's inside guide to Paris

The prospect of a few days in Paris, even if it is for work purposes, is about as exciting to me as my job gets. I’m talking proper butterflies in the stomach – a feeling that few destinations can summon. Like most of you, I suspect, I love Paris for a multitude of reasons, including the culture, the people, the history, the art, the architecture and the shopping. But beyond all that, I love this city for its appreciation of good food and wine – thoughts of where I’ll eat, of what I’ll drink, and of how I’ll tick all the boxes on my list in the few days that I have occupy my mind. Too many options and never enough time – cue piano accordion playing Edith Piaf – that’s what I love about Paris.

Traditionally speaking, Paris is not the place you visit for a cheap holiday, but then that shouldn’t be why you come here. You should come here to live and to get lost in the moment – to walk all day, to eat the freshest bread, to make a big deal about going out for lunch and dinner, to sit in a park and watch people, to not feel guilty about an afternoon beer in the sun, and to forget – just for a few days – about your mortgage and credit card debt. You come to Paris to indulge. And so with my priorities in order, I pack my peak cap, my passport and – much to my wife’s horror – my best mate, and off we trudge for three full days of “honest work”.

Our French odyssey begins at London’s smart new St Pancras International, where having missed our train to Paris and while waiting for the next, we get into the spirit of the trip with a bottle of Champagne and a dozen oysters at the impressive St Pancras Grand (Upper Concourse, St Pancras International NW12QP). This little slice of Paris on the wrong side of the tunnel not only offers a jaw-dropping selection of bubbles, it’s a great place to exercise your French. We quickly discover that mine is awful and before we know it, we’re running to make train number two.

A couple of hours later we emerge at Gare du Nord and head for our hotel. Once a graffiti-strewn concrete car park, Mama Shelter (109 Rue de Bagnolet, 75020) is the latest offering from the Trigano dynasty, who brought us Club Med in the ’80s. Located in a re-gentrifying pocket of the 20th arrondissement, which may be a little far away from the action for some (it’s a stone’s throw from Cimetière du Pére Lachaise – posthumous home to Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison), the atmosphere is designer-urban-cool-meets-global-traveller, minus the usual price tag. I know it sounds like a ridiculous description, but in Paris, where accommodation is as expensive as it is clichéd, Mama Shelter is a breath of fresh air.

Starting at €79 (A$140) a night, all 172 rooms have been smartly styled by Philippe Starck, and while the rooms vary in size, every one features Egyptian cotton sheets, one of the comfiest beds you’ll ever collapse in, and a 24" iMac for all your entertainment needs. WiFi is free throughout the building, and the hotel shop, which carries all the usual suspects, specialises in Taschen books and a great selection of DVDs – ooh la la! If there’s one complaint, however, it’s that there’s no room service. But to stay in Paris at this price, in these surrounds, beggars almost certainly can’t be choosers.

A day in Paris revolves around what you’re going to eat for lunch, and so with that decided over a piece of baguette and a coffee we head for the Metro. Taxis are easy to come by in the French capital, but the Metro is one of the cheapest, cleanest and easiest ways to get around. Those with a keen eye for design will marvel at its retro cool.

Get off at Metro Rambuteau and stretch your legs around Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers’ amazing Centre Georges Pompidou (Place Georges Pompidou, 75004), which despite its inside-out appearance still looks incredible 32 years on. From here, it’s an easy walk to the Marais, by which time you should have worked up an appetite for lunch.

The Marais is full of great little bistros, and we choose the tiny-but-packed-to-the- rafters Camille (24 Rue Francs Bourgeois, 75003). The menu at Camille reads like a compilation of classic bistro greatest hits. Highlights include a perfectly seasoned steak tartare, sausage lyonnaise, textbook confit de canard and a 500ml carafe of unnamed but delicious Côtes du Rhône from the drink-now 2008 vintage. It’s noisy, hospitable and everything you imagine a local Parisian bistro to be. Although it is tempting to spend the entire afternoon here, we pry ourselves from our seats and get back to work.

We cross the river to the expensive and tourist-heavy Left Bank to pay our respects to one of the world’s best bakers and, later, to queue for macaroons. Poilâne (8 Rue du Cherche-Midi, 75006) is a Paris institution – an artisan bakery that specialises in stone-ground, wood-fired sourdough. Toasted or grilled, the bread is fantastic, although both the pain au chocolate and the shortbread (which they are known to give out as samples) run a close second. 

Stroll a few blocks and join the line of Parisians waiting at Pierre Hermé (72 Rue Bonaparte, 75006) for the most sought-after macaroons in Paris. They look like little works of art, and flavour combinations – 35 in all – range from the weird (fig and foie gras) to the wonderful (pistachio and passionfruit) and cover all bases in between. From €2 (A$3.50) a pop, they may also be the most expensive mouthful of sugar and cream you will ever eat, but the wait will definitely be worth it.

The afternoon has been set aside for wine bars, and while I only have three on my list to check out, Paris has plenty of them. On the Left Bank, Les Papilles (30 Rue Gay Lussac, 75005) is a long, narrow slip of a place that looks more like a wine shop than a wine bar, but if you miss out on eating here, you risk missing some of the best homestyle cooking in Paris. Lining the walls is an impressive selection of regional wines, many from small-scale French producers. Add €7 (A$12.50) to the shelf price if you plan to drink your bottle in.

Racines (8 Passage des Panoramas, 75002) is another hidden gem, this time on the Right Bank, specialising in organic wine and food. Its tucked-away location in a small arcade hasn’t done anything to stem the flow of wine lovers that pack this place from open to close. The menu here is written daily and consists of three mains, three starters and a vast selection of wine, including unsulphured, unfiltered vin naturel.

Around the corner is the much-loved Juveniles (47 Rue de Richelieu, 75001), where Brit ex-pat Tim Johnson has been serving up the good times since 1987. As wine bars go, Juveniles is the original article. The atmosphere is rustic, warm and friendly, the food is great, and the wine offerings exceptional. And yet despite Johnson being a fierce and vocal devotee of screwcaps and British cheese – both of which Juveniles serve with pride – Parisians continue to flock to his establishment night after night.

At this point, those who’ve taken their best mates to Paris would be well advised to make a quick trip around the corner to Colette (213 Rue Saint-Honoré, 75001) to stock up on goods for those left at home. From fashion to food, Colette is a one-stop shop full of the desirable – clothes, music, beauty, entertainment, culture. No matter what your budget, if you’re looking for a gift, this is where you’ll find it. 

Of course, the other option for a bit of retail therapy is the classic Galeries Lafayette (40 Boulevard Haussmann, 75009), where a wander into the store’s sub-terrain will reveal one of the capital’s best wine stores. Expect to find a well-stocked range, where highpoints include a selection of all things wine related. Alongside books, openers, decanters and glassware, you’ll find a knockout selection of Burgundy and Bordeaux, with particular focus on organics and biodynamics.

Lavinia (3-5 Boulevard de la Madeleine, 75001) is one of Paris’s largest independent wine merchants and carries a massive range of both local and imported wines. This is where you come for small-scale, hard-to-get, off-the-beaten-track producers, and while Lavinia may be a little pricier than your average bottle shop, the knowledge and service here are as good as you will find.

The hardest decision of the day is where to have dinner. The best mate has his heart set on Julien (16 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, 75010), a shrine to Art Nouveau that dishes up classic brasserie food such as steak-frites, whole grilled Dover sole with lemon, and an amazing seafood platter. And while the food here is indeed fantastic, and the setting incredible, I have other ideas. 

Chez L’Ami Louis (32 Rue du Vert-Bois, 75003) has long been a favourite haunt of the food and wine world. Getting a booking at this tiny restaurant can be difficult, but it is worth a try. The room is homely and seats no more than about 35, while the menu is short and to the point: oysters, escargot, fois gras and whole roast chicken, all simply presented and perfectly cooked.

I go straight for my desert-island dish – Côte de Boeuf for two (although it could comfortably feed four – the servings here are enormous). It arrives black on the outside, and red/purple within and has that flavour that only meat that’s been char-grilled over the hottest coals can have. There is a little pot of Dijon mustard and a massive bowl of salty, matchstick-thin fries on the side. The wine list is a collection of France’s greatest names, and although, admittedly, the bill takes my breath away, the experience once again leaves me with butterflies.

PHOTOGRAPHY PARIS TOURIST OFFICE/AMELIE DUPONT

This article appeared in the June/July 2009 issue of Gourmet Traveller WINE.