What to do in Paris on a Sunday

If you love shopping and ever decide go to Paris for a short while be sure to avoid being there on a Sunday as practically everything is closed! Yes! Even Lafayette, Colette, Chanel and any other big shops that you associate with Paris! (Except for the huge Louis Vuitton shop on the Champs Elysees) So what can you do? Having only one day with my mum in Paris, I was determined to find some fun activities for us to do - even if there was going to be no shopping involved!

So this is what we ended up doing ...

Have a nice long brunch 

We went to Angelina, which I talked about in my last post. Eat a few courses, slowly enjoying your warm beverage and all the pastries and other delicious things you can. Just take your time! (Look at all the food we had! Think about how long we took! Yup! Relax!)


Take a stroll in a park

I was really lucky to have been blessed with a few days of sun and warmth. (Literally the first time I'd seen the sun in over a month due to typical London weather and monsoon style rain in Hong Kong every day). I was so not used to being warm that I wore totally inappropriate winter clothing and ended up melting in my woollen dress. So we visited the Jardin de Tuileries as it was close by. It was full of tourists and Parisians wearing minimal clothing, sunbathing on the green chairs - just enjoying life! Another amazing park to visit is obviously the Jardin du Luxembourg.

Visit a museum

The Louvre is free on the first Sunday of every month. Obviously this means even longer lines. We decided not to go to the Louvre anyway for fear of queuing, even though it wasn't the first Sunday of the month (but it's the Louvre, what do you expect)

Instead we visited the Musee d'Orangerie with their massive Monet paintings and other wide range of impressionist paintings. It's small, and only has two floors (one of which is just occupied with 8 of those massive Monet paintings) so it's a refreshing little museum.

We also visited the Musee d'Orsay as there is a good deal if you buy tickets to the two museums, costing 16€. Like most museums in Paris, it is free for EU residents aged 18-24, just show your passport/ID.The Musee d'Orsay is absolutely huge and has billions of rooms filled with paintings (it has the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings in the whole world), sculptures, photography and even antique furniture from all over the world.  It has many floors and I personally thought it was a too big (after one art museum, then the next), we spent a good 4-5 hours walking around museums that day, and I was hot and uncomfortable and tired. So wear comfy shoes and check the weather forecast (and BELIEVE it!) 

Mum has had enough of all the Art and has chained herself to this weird sofa thing...

After getting kicked out of the museum as it closed at 6:30, I decided that it was time for mussels, even though I was still so full from my brunch.

Have Mussels at Leon de Bruxelles

The iconic mussel place that I always go to in France. It might be a chain, and it might be in London now too, but they just have the most delicious mussels and although the service is a bit shit most of the time, the food is just the best.
And what's even better? ALL YOU CAN EAT MUSSELS + FRIES EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT! (For only like 22€!)

Oh yes! Sadly I was a little too full from brunch to attempt that challenge.

Of course there is so much more you can do on a Sunday in Paris that I haven't included here, such as visiting a market in the morning, like the flea market or some food markets (which is something I wanted to do but didn't get around to doing it the end!) or just the standard, tourist style sightseeing (Tour Eiffel, Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coeur etc.)

Paris : Brunch at Angelina's

Angelina is a beautiful cafe/restaurant  on Rue de Rrivoli right opposite the Jardin de Tuleries, often featured on TV and magazines with a shop selling tea time goods and a patisserie filled with with goodies.

We decided to go for the brunch set which consisted of :

Tea, coffee or their renowned hot chocolate.

I highly recommend the hot chocolate as it is what Angelina is famous. It is like no other hot chocolate I've ever drunken. It's dense, creamy and oh so chocolatey without being so sweet it gives you diabetes.

Orange, grapefruit or lemon juice. 

My mum decided to be gutsy and go for the lemon juice, and lemme tell you this, its definitely not for the faint hearted. It is literally just a squeezed lemon....

Bread and jam/honey

A selection of pastries : raisin pastry, pain au chocolat and a croissant.

Eggs, and you could choose between scrambled, boiled, fried or omelette. I got the omelette. For 3€ extra you can add ham and cheese and that's what I did (but only cheese since I don't eat meat).

An entree : Foie gras pâté with toast and fig chutney or Norwegian smoked salmon with creme fraiche and blinis (which is what I got)

Fruit salad  (which I forgot to take a picture of...but it is just some chopped fruits in a bowl....instead...here is a photo of me and my mum.)

2 macarons (which are rather mediocre as they didn't melt in your mouth Pierre Herme style...)

All for 39€! Definitely cheaper than individually ordering different things (just the hot chocolate is 7.50€, or the omelette is usually like 15€!)

We also got tried the truffle ravioli (24€) as it sounded so tempting and good but I was a little disappointed as the fillings of the ravioli were very cheesy but not very truffley :(

Overall it was a lovely Sunday brunch experience, and I think that the brunch set is really worth it as me and my mum actually shared it (as well as the ravioli) and by the end we were absolutely stuffed! There is also a very lovely ambiance and decor (so very French!) but it tends to be rather touristy (but if you're a tourist too, why the hell not!)

xx Vagabond Girl