In Paris, working on one’s tan is a bit more physically demanding (but more nourishing as well) that it is on a beach in Formentera. Here’s a roundup of our favorite spots for tracking the springtime sun at any hour. For when you’ve just got to get a tan….
At 8:30am: breakfast at La Fontaine de Belleville. Thomas Lehoux, the boss of Brûlerie de Belleville, has invested in this outdated café-bar in the upper 10th and given it a clever makeover. With its new Gatti chairs, the terrace is the honey that this cute little square needed to catch the local bees and work on your tan (full sun) over coffee (filtered, iced, with cream, noisette…) with butter-jam tartines and muesli with fruit. Breakfast €1.50 to €9.
From noon to 2:30pm: lunch at Le Bon Saint Pourçain. Head over around 12:30pm to grab one of the twelve seats on the tiny terrace. Rue Servandoni being narrow, the sun makes an appearance as quickly as Daft Punk lunches. The dishes from Mathieu Techer, on the other hand, light up the entire meal: green and white asparagus with radishes and raw cream; hake with olives and a bread sauce; free-range chicken in a vin jaune sauce; meringues with fresh strawberries and strawberry sorbet… Washed down with a Saumur-Champigny Hanami from Bobinet (glasses €8-15). À la carte €41-61.
From 3:30pm to 5:30pm: teatime at the Salon de thé Sébastien Gaudard. Under the arches, sweetness and lightness is put on display: a very hazelnutty paris-brest pastry, puits-d’amour and caramel cream puffs with airy centers, a soft tropézienne with rich vanilla-infused cream…. Hydration comes in the form of a rooibos tea or a flute of Krug Champagne. But FYI! Of the thirty seats on the terrace at this neo-bourgeois pastry shop, only eight are bathed in sunlight (tables n° 61, 62, 63 and 64). The others benefit from the shade of the arches and a view of the Tuileries. Around €7.20 a pastry, €4.50 for coffee.
From 6pm to 7:30pm: grab a drink at Cazes! Tucked away facing the Montmartre cemetery, Cazes distributes its natural wine (Prosecco rustico from Nino Franco), spritz and good dishes to the occupants of its sidewalk-terrace! Invigorating artichokes spiced with ras el-hanout, févettes with feta, well-made goat cheese, saucisson from Chavassieux and bread from Thierry Breton…. Small plates and glasses of wine from €5 to €12.
From 7:30pm to 9pm: dine at Dilia. Our favorite? In any case, the ten seats on the terrace approach the divine, with their royal view of Notre-Dame-de-la-Croix…. And the cuisine has been touched by grace as well: fabuloso pasta with anchovies; whelks in a hollandaise sauce with asparagus; steak with olives and endives; chocolate cake with an orange cream. As for the wines: Beaujolais-Villages blanc from Lapalu or a velvety red Tuscan Morellino-di-Scansaro Passera. Dinner menus €44 and €60, plates at the bar from €7 to €15.
Raphaële Marchal
Photo © Coline Virly