During our stay in Paris, we found it easy to organize our day trips by “loops”.  The first loop that I’d like to talk about is the northeast loop.

Breakfast at Holybelly

This restaurant is super popular for two reasons: it’s hard to find a good American breakfast and it’s super tasty.  Get here early – if you arrive at 10:09 after a 10am opening, expect to wait about an hour (which is fine, because there are plenty of things to walk around and see).

Take a long gander at their menu before you order, some of the descriptions are pretty creative.

No matter your choice though, you won’t be let down.

Parc des Buttes Chaumont

After your wonderful breakfast, it’s time to do as the Parisians do and walk off those calories!  Your slightly uphill stroll to Parc des Buttes Chaumont (wiki) is just what the doctor ordered. It may be the fifth largest park in Paris, but it was number one in our eyes.  A couple of bridges over a significant amount of water, topped off by elevation changes, greenery and the Temple de la Sibylle.

Paname Brewing Company

Now that you’ve had some time to relax, you should probably grab a beer at Paname Brewing Company.  There aren’t a ton of breweries in Paris, but even so, this is the only one that sits on a canal.

Warning: Even though a French beer might claim to be an IPA or Pale Ale, they are pretty mellow in comparison to what you find in the United States.  Don’t be afraid to dive in and get any beer you want here.

Seating on the floating terrace was a little weird to get used to.  People are on the honor system here.  You queue up and wait for someone to leave before securing your table.  If you can’t read the chalkboard sign that’s in French: the ordering system is also different – you order at the bar and give them your table number, then they bring your food out.

You can’t go wrong with the burger and fries or the pizza here.  Everything is great with a beer, on a terrace, on a canal, in Paris.

Tangent: Happy Nouilles

After a long day of amazingness, it’s hard to want to continue to eat and enjoy more.  You need to push through.  We could have threw in the towel and gone home, but instead we went out to Happy Nouilles (map).

We had the Beef Lo Mein, Hot and Sour soup, and Beef Udon.  You probably should wait to get udon at another restaurant (like Sanukiya), so hold off on ordering that – everything else was pretty great.