For a change, I would like to talk about the places where I snack.

I usually don’t snack, but it is so difficult not to in Paris, where there are so many delicious restaurants, bars, cafés, pâtisseries, shops…

So let me list a few that I really enjoy.

There is of course Ladurée, which most of you are probably already familiar with. I love their bar off the Champs-Élysée. You cannot book a table there; it is basically a bar where you can order drinks, apéritifs and snacks from their limited, light but delicious menu. I used to go there with my girlfriends as I find the food very feminine: mainly salads, seafood, fish, and of course, desserts.

For me, the highlight is definitely the dessert. I usually have a plate of four mini macaroons, and my favourite flavours are caramel au beurre salé (salted butter caramel), réglisse (liquorice), chocolat noir (dark chocolate) and their latest creation, épices (spices).

I love pata negra, and Jabugo Iberico is the place to go for aged black pig ham. You get to taste different ages of ham before ordering your favourite. I personally like it not too fat. It tastes great on grilled bread with tomatoes and garlic, all washed down with a nice red wine.

L’Ecluse, a wine bar chain, is another place I like to spend a few hours. It offers a large selection of red wine by the glass, and while the food menu is quite limited and conventional, they do have some of the best foie gras in Paris, and their chocolate cake is to die for. My advice is to go there for these two items, and then get on a diet straight afterwards.

I have a passion for truffles, whether black or white, winter or summer. At La Maison de la Truffe, there is a large variety of dishes where the star element is, of course, the truffles. For me, the item not to be missed is the Brie with Black Melanosporum Truffle. This cheese is simply divine. I once bought some to bring home, only to run into trouble at airport security. It is apparently forbidden to hand-carry anything ‘soft’, so I was left to either find a way to check in the cheese, or just throw it away.

So just imagine, with a mere half hour before embarkation, I was running around trying to buy a small bag for the cheese, begging the airline hostess to get me a box, and finally checking it in just in the nick of time. Good thing I was in France, where they have compassion for food-lovers. If that had happened in the US, I would probably have had to go through a full body search plus an extensive check on my family tree.

Photo credits: lanvertdudecor.com