On a recent trip to Paris, Dan and I wanted to spend our last afternoon in Montmartre, specifically Sacre Coeur.  Why?  One of our favorite breweries made a Belgian Quad called Sacre Coeur and we wanted to drink Sacre Coeur at Sacre Coeur!  Great success!

While drinking the beer at Sacre Coeur was a success, as any foodie visiting Sacre Coeur knows, the restaurants surrounding Sacre Coeur are touristy, touristy, touristy (and that usually translates to BAD)!  I had scoured reviews online before we left the U.S. in hopes of finding a close-by, non-touristy restaurant for our final afternoon in Paris.  Nothing.  We ended up with less time than expected on our last day before leaving for the airport (surprise, surprise!) and decided just to wing it after getting our prized beer picture and enjoying the beer!  Winging it on our last meal in Paris was a BIG risk, especially for me!  I love Paris and food and really wanted – no needed – our last meal of the trip to be good!

Oddly enough, we left our Uber just below Sacre Coeur, to the right if looking up at the Basicilla on Rue Lamarck, and found two restaurants that looked pretty decent.  Neither were filled with tourists, even though it was prime lunch hour, and one even had real Parisians sitting down!  What?!  We first looked to the restaurant with the Parisians, but the menu was a bit to dinnery for what we wanted.  On to Le Babalou, which mainly serves pizza…  We were not thrilled with the idea of pizza, but the French do make a good pizza and we were running short on time.  We took a seat at one of the adorable outdoor tables. Very Parisian.

A waiter came out almost immediately with menus.  While certainly not a requirement, a bonus was that the waiter spoke perfect English and gave us some ordering tips.  For example, when he realized that we were planning to split a pizza, he told us that we could order half of any pizza with a salad for the same price as splitting one!  That worked out very well.

I ordered the Picante: tomato, mozzarella and spicy sausage, and it was a good choice! The pizza was excellently cooked on thin, crisp crust and the sausage was delicious and very piquante.  It was particularly good with the spicy oil on the table (a delicious French custom).  The salad was also good, and the restaurant had a number of full meal salads.

Dan ordered the Di Parma: tomato, motzarella, parma ham and roquette.  Dan’s pizza was also good, but he agreed that mine was better.  In addition to the pizzas that we ordered, the restaurant had a laundry list of pizzas with various options, including many vegetarian options.

As I mentioned, in addition to pizza, the restaurant had a number of entree salads, desserts and a wine list!  I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone wanting a casual lunch in Sacre Coeur!  I will leave you with some of my favorite pictures from Sacre Coeur!

Seriously, flowers are all over Montmartre, and they make Montmartre so beautiful!!  My mother still remembers all of the flowers from her visit to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur 12 years ago!

STEAL OUR TRIP

Le Babalou: 4 Rue Lamarck, 75018 Paris, France. T. + 33 1 42 51 37 32. Reservations can be made at La Fourchette, but probably are not necessary.  Open daily from 11:30 – 23:00, except Wednesday when Le Babalou is open 17:00 – 23:00.  Le Bablou has a long list of pizzas and a sizeable selection of large salads for a French restaurants, making Le Babalou a good option for those with dietary restrictions.

ON A BUDGET

Le Bablou is a great choice for budget travelers, serving large portions at a decent price.