Planning a trip to Paris? While chalking out your itinerary and filling it with tourist hotspots, don’t forget that the city is a food lover’s heaven! From quick bites to fine dining options, there is an abundance of foodie delights to explore in Paris. We’ve put together a list of amazing food-related tours and experiences you can try in France’s capital city.
1- Bake Croissant with a French Chef
Join a professional French Chef to learn how to create your own delicious “French Croissants” and “Pain au chocolat“!
During this fun baking experience organised by Maison Fleuret, you’ll be given an apron and all the baking utensils and ingredients you need. Don’t worry! You don’t need to brush up on your cooking skills before you book this experience. All you need is a willingness to learn and get your hands dirty. In addition to croissants and pains au chocolat, you’ll also be baking a mystery confection!
The lesson is entirely hands-on. You will be 100% in charge of your creations all through the baking process until your sumptuous baked goods are out of the oven.
The Chef will be by your side helping you learn all the tricks and techniques you need to bake authentic French bakery items.
Once everything is out of the oven, the group will gather to taste your creation and chitchat about their respective Parisian adventures. Maison Fleuret only accepts about 8 participants per experience
Cost: From 85 Euros/ Person
2- Learn how to make macarons
Instead of beelining it to La Durée or Pierre Hermé in Paris, why not make your own macarons? Fortunately, here is your chance to learn how to make this iconic French pastry!
French macarons have a long history. It is said that it was Queen Catherine de Medici’s favourite dessert in the 16th century. Since then, many pastry chefs have devoted time to perfecting this delicious melt-in-your mouth pastry.
The experience is hosted by sibling foodies Gaby and Carlos and lasts for 1.5 hours, during which you will learn everything about macarons in a fun, interactive way! Bon appetit!
Cost: From 49 Euros/ Person
3- Go wine and cheese tasting
The host started this experience at ‘Secret wine door’ to give wine and cheese enthusiasts a different food experience from what they’re used to. There is no boring ‘classroom’ approach here. It’s a completely relaxing foodie experience that will introduce you to 5 French wines and 5 cheeses (you can choose charcuterie if you don’t like cheese). True to French stereotypes, there’ll also be plenty of French bread!
If you want to learn about both wine and cheese at one go, this is unequivocally one of the best experiences in Paris for you! Host Erwan will regale you with stories and anecdotes about flavoursome French cheeses and wines from some of the most famous wine regions in the world! All the wines introduced during the experience come from small, independent wineries makers, giving you the opportunity to discover unique bottles that aren’t mass-produced.
Secret Wine Door is quite close to the Eiffel Tower, and is on the same street where the famous film “Inception” was made.
During this experience, you’ll discover cheese and wine pairing tips and how to taste wine like a pro! In fact, you’ll leave feeling like a true connoisseur!
Cost: From 49 Euros/ Person
4- Learn how to make French baguette
Craving some freshly-made French baguette with a cheese and charcuterie board? You’re not alone! Known world over for their crunchy golden crusts, baguettes are synonymous with France just like the Eiffel Tower. Every French bakery makes them. In fact, the French eat around 10 billion baguettes every year! The history of this famous French bread dates back to the 18th century.
During this fun and friendly baguette baking experience, you will learn all about the secrets of the baguette, what types of flours and flour combinations you can use and most importantly, how to make it!
At the end of the experience, you will get together with your group to taste your own baguettes with a selection of the region’s finest products. If you’d like, you can even make a sandwich parisien that can fill you up for the whole day.
Cost: From 49 Euros/ Person
5- Do a day trip to Champagne
Champagne– the iconic celebration drink that accompanies all the happiest milestones of our lives! Did you know that a sparkling white wine can be called Champagne only if it comes from the “Champagne” region of France? Luckily, Champagne (the place) is an easy day trip from Paris. So, why not set some time aside to discover this beautiful region?
The organisers of this day trip will pick you up at your hotel or Airbnb early in the morning. On your way, you’ll swap stories and eat delicious butter croissants from an popular local bakery!
Once in Champagne, you’ll explore some amazing chalk galleries and well-known Champagne houses. And of course, you’ll be doing a Champagne degustation!
The day trip includes a lip-smacking three-course French lunch at a winemaker’s place where he’ll share his passion for wines and love for the land.
Post lunch, you’ll visit a mid-sized Champagne estate to discover their vinification process. The visit ends with. guess what, more champagne! At the end of the day, they’ll drive you back to Paris and drop you off at a central location.
Cost: From 290 Euros/ Person
6- Learn how to make crepes and galettes like a pro
No need to give crepes a special introduction. We all know and love this yummy French dessert! Did you know that these marvellous pancakes originated in the Brittany region of France in the 13th century?
As for galettes, some of you are probably unfamiliar with the term. To put it in simple words, galettes are the savoury siblings of crepes. While the main ingredient of crepe is plain white wheat flour, galettes are made using buckwheat flour. Traditionally, both briton crepes and galettes are served with apple juice or cider.
During this 90 minute crepe-making course, you’ll learn all the secrets of making great crepes right from preparing the batter to choosing your fillings or filling combinations. The host does a great job of explaining the science behind the recipes. At the end of the experience, you’ll sit down with your group to enjoy the crepes you’ve made together.
One of the best things about this experience is that it takes place in the host’s apartment making the class setting more warm, personal and memorable.
Cost: From 55 Euros/ Person
7- Learn how to make éclairs
If you love eclairs and have a passion for baking, sign up for this Chocolate Eclair baking class in Paris! A professional pastry chef will show you how to make choux pastry using some of the freshest ingredients of the region. Choux pastry can be easily transformed into mouth-watering dessert pastries, simply by using a pastry bag to add fillings such as Chantilly cream, Vanilla Cream or Pistachio as you will often see in many French bakeries.
You can also use these puff pastries to make the Croquembouche – a pyramid of cream puffs held together by a caramel syrup. You can also use them to make profiterole- a dessert of choux pastry filled with ice-cream and topped with chocolate.
At the end of the session, you get to leave with a goodie bag full of your own pastry creations!
Cost: From 99 Euros/ Person
8- Learn how to make Paris Brest
Paris-Brest, one of the most well-known pastries in France, is over 100 years old. They’re easy to recognise by their wheel-like shape and nut toppings. It’s caramelised hazelnut filling is tantalising.
Most good bakeries in Paris sell Paris-Brest. During this Paris Brest baking lesson, you’ll learn how to make these delectable pastries under the supervision of a talented pastry chef from Maison Fleuret. He’ll walk you through all the steps of baking this recipe. The interesting textures of this unique pastry will be a pleasant surprise for your palette.
At the end of the experience, you get to take home all your creations.
Cost: From 99 Euros/ Person
9- Dive into the world of chocolate-making
Are you an indulgent chocoholic? If so, this experience is right up your alley!
During this 2.5 hour experience, the host will take you to all his favourite chocolate shops in in the 6th district. Whether you have a hankering for white, milk, dark or praline chocolate, you’ll have your fill here.
Formerly an artistic quarter, modern-day St Germain des Prés is home to some of the best gastronomic artists in all of France. This little excursion will take you to relish in the delights of Ducasse, Larnicol, Chapon, Roger, Marcolini and many other chocolate makers in the area. Get ready to explore chocolate in all its glory!
Cost: From 30 Euros/ Person
So there you are! These are some of the food tours and experiences in Paris. If you have some spare time to explore some less explored parts of Paris, check out these amazing Parisian flea markets and easy day trips from Paris. If you’re on a budget, don’t worry. There are quite a few things you can do in Paris for free too.
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