L’Éclair de génie

This guide is a collection of Les Frenchies' favorite tried and true sweet spots. It includes some of the best bakeries for macarons, chocolate shops, and ice creams around Paris.

Enjoy some “tres jolie” days walking around the Parisian streets and boost up your energy level 🔋 with some coffee just after/before a “little” shopping spree. This list includes many of the city’s cafes (Paris is now a specialty coffee - and pastry - capital) and all the good spots to shop something that will surely indulge all of your needs/senses (main focus on French brands). 💡Be sure to check the vintage selling gems spreaded all over Paris!!! 💰 By the way, massive sales happen twice a year in France: in July and January. Called “les soldes” in French, the sales normally last around four weeks and the discounts increase as the weeks pass. Even if you don’t catch the sales, designer shops give you the opportunity of buying small accesories (keychains for example), leather goods (belts, gloves, card holders, passport covers, etc) or scarves/caps/ties - even umbrellas, which make for exceptional souvenirs. Perhaps you can even get the chance of seeing the “art of making” a product in the workshop/workroom of the artisans. Plus, visiting the shopping venues could turn into an amazing experience as many of them are soooo Instagrammable! Highlights: 🥐 Croissant - is a buttery, flaky, viennoiserie pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian kipferl but using the French yeast-leavened laminated dough. Croissants are named for their historical crescent shape. The modern croissant seems to have been created by the French chef Sylvain Claudius Goy. 🥖 Baguette - is a long, thin type of bread of French origin that is commonly made from basic lean dough (the dough, though not the shape, is defined by French law). It is distinguishable by its length and crisp crust. 🧀 Fromage de France - there are more than 1,000 kinds of cheese in France! Being in Paris is being in the Ville des Fromages, the City of Cheese. Some of the most known: Camembert, Brie de Meaux, Roquefort, Reblochon, Munster, Pont l'Évêque, Époisses de Bourgogne, Comté. Tip: go for a “cheese and wine” tasting. 🐌 Escargot - any of several species of edible land snails, a delicacy of French cuisine. Although the snails eaten as escargots are terrestrial, they are technically mollusks and therefore classified as seafood. 🍷 French wine - France is one of the largest wine producers in the world. Red wines from grape varieties like Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel. Rosé wines like the Provençal rosé and the sweet White Zinfandels. White wines like a Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, or a Moscato. Sparkling wines from Champagne and Vouvray.

Explore this map, I made as the ultimate France guide, to get inspired and discover the places that will become the highlight of your next trip. Many of the places in this map will have helpful booking links and/or links to social media posts with more inside information. I will be adding to this guide and my knowledge grows, please be encouraged to reach out with your own favorite spots to be included. I see all my Guide Maps as perpetual works in progress and will do my best to add to and update them as my knowledge expands. Use my Klook promo: ACKUGARTE for 10% off for new users and 3% off for returning users.