There comes a point when a woman decides she has spent quite enough time organising everybody else's holidays, remembering everybody else's birthdays, and making sure everybody else is having a good time. I decided to book myself a week in Paris. Not a family break. Just Paris, a comfortable hotel, some very good meals, and seven days in which nobody would ask me where the passports were.
I have been to Paris before. I know the Eiffel Tower, have walked along the Seine, and have spent more time than I care to admit in the department stores. This time, however, I wanted something different. I wanted to eat well, discover a little more about the city, and meet people who knew it rather better than I did.
I also wanted to enjoy myself without feeling that I had to justify the expense. There are weeks for sensible decisions. This was not one of them.
The first thing I discovered was that Paris is still very much Paris.
That may sound obvious, but the city has spent an extraordinary amount of time in recent years appearing in international headlines for demonstrations, political tension, security incidents, and occasional disruption. Anyone planning a trip could be forgiven for wondering whether the romanticised version of Paris still exists.
It does. The cafés are open, the markets are busy, people are going to work, meeting friends, buying bread, and arguing about politics over lunch. Paris is a large, functioning European capital, not a permanent news broadcast.
That does not mean ignoring sensible precautions. But I was not about to let headlines make my decisions for me.
For this particular week, I had a better plan: discover Paris through the people who understand its food.
Montmartre has a habit of appearing on every Paris itinerary. The Sacré-Cœur, the artists, the steep streets, the views, and the familiar photographs are all there. It is beautiful, certainly, but it can also be busy enough to make you wonder whether everyone has been given the same map.
The trick is to look beyond the obvious.
Montmartre is a neighbourhood with layers of history, changing populations, independent businesses, food traditions, and places that have little interest in performing Paris for tourists. To understand it, you need someone who knows more than the quickest route between the landmarks.
That is where Chef PJ Hayes comes in.
PJ's Montmartre food experience approaches the neighbourhood through food, wine, and the stories behind the places encountered along the way. It is not simply a matter of being taken from one tasting to another. The food provides a way into a conversation about the area, its history, and the people who give it character.
For someone who has already seen the famous sights, this is a rather more interesting way to spend an afternoon. There is pleasure in being able to ask a chef why something is prepared in a particular way, what makes an ingredient worth seeking out, or how a neighbourhood has changed.
It also helps to have someone else take responsibility for knowing where you are going. A holiday should contain a certain amount of wandering, but there is no particular virtue in spending half an afternoon trying to find somewhere worth eating.
Discover Chef PJ's Montmartre food experience.
By the time evening arrived, I had walked enough, seen enough, and photographed quite enough buildings to last the week. Dinner was no longer the priority. I wanted to sit down, enjoy a glass of wine, and learn something without being made to feel that I should have studied French wine regions before leaving home.
Montmartre Confidential, another experience led by PJ, offers a different kind of evening.
This is a wine-focused exploration of French wine, food, and the neighbourhood, with a maximum of six guests. Over approximately four and a half hours, PJ introduces the stories, regions, and traditions behind eleven iconic French wines. The emphasis is on understanding the wines, not racing through eleven glasses. It is an opportunity to learn how French wine fits into the country's food culture and why the differences between regions matter.
There is something particularly enjoyable about learning from someone who knows the subject but has no need to make a performance of knowing it. Wine can be intimidating when every bottle seems to come with a geography lesson and a vocabulary test. A good guide makes it accessible, without making it simplistic.
For anyone who enjoys wine, or simply wants to understand a little more about what is in the glass, this is an evening with a purpose beyond dinner.
Explore Montmartre Confidential.
A few days later, I had a different sort of appointment. No grand dining room, no elaborate reservation, and no need to dress for the occasion. I was heading to Marché d'Aligre, in Paris's 12th arrondissement, with Chef Sophie Brissaud.
There are few better ways to understand a city's relationship with food than to spend time in a working market. Restaurants tell you what someone has decided to serve. Markets show you what people buy, what is in season, what ingredients matter, and how food fits into everyday life.
Marché d'Aligre is particularly interesting because it combines the open-air market with the covered Marché Beauvau and the surrounding food businesses. It has the feeling of a neighbourhood that still uses its market, rather than a destination that exists primarily for visitors.
Sophie is an ideal person to introduce it. A French food writer and culinary historian, she brings a deeper understanding of the ingredients, customs, and traditions behind French food. Her market experience is not a hurried tour of stalls followed by a token tasting. It is an opportunity to understand how French food culture works.
The morning begins with a traditional French breakfast, rather than the predictable assumption that every Parisian morning must involve a croissant. From there, Sophie introduces the market and its food, explaining the choices and traditions that make French markets so interesting. The experience continues with a leisurely French lunch, accompanied by wine and dessert.
It is a different kind of luxury. There is no need to hurry, no need to know what to order, and no need to pretend to understand the difference between every variety of cheese. You can ask questions, listen, taste, and enjoy the company.
For visitors interested in French cooking, ingredients, markets, and the people behind them, this is one of the more rewarding ways to spend a morning in Paris.
Discover Chef Sophie's French Market Tour.
There are plenty of ways to eat in Paris. You can follow a restaurant guide, book a tasting menu, visit a famous bakery, or spend an afternoon working your way through a list of places recommended online.
All of those can be enjoyable. But there is a difference between being shown where to eat and understanding why a place, ingredient, dish, or tradition matters.
A chef brings a particular perspective. They notice things that a casual visitor may overlook. They understand the work behind a dish, the importance of an ingredient, and the difference between something that is merely fashionable and something that is genuinely good.
That knowledge can change the way you experience a city. A market becomes more than a collection of stalls. A glass of wine becomes a connection to a region. A neighbourhood restaurant becomes part of a larger story about the people who live there.
This is the thinking behind The Chef Tours. It is an experience company built around human connection, with food providing the reason to meet, explore, and learn. The experiences are led by chefs and culinary professionals, rather than built around a standard script and an identical itinerary for every group.
The three Paris experiences offer different ways into the city's food culture. PJ introduces visitors to Montmartre through food and neighbourhood stories. Montmartre Confidential explores French wine in greater depth. Sophie takes visitors into the world of French markets, ingredients, and culinary history.
They are not interchangeable experiences.
Paris can be an excellent destination for a woman travelling alone. It offers an extensive public transport network, a wide choice of accommodation, cafés and restaurants, and neighbourhoods that can be explored on foot. As in any major city, it is sensible to be aware of your surroundings, particularly at night and around busy transport hubs.
A little planning makes a difference. Choose accommodation with convenient transport links, keep valuables secure, check local conditions before travelling, and avoid demonstrations or areas with significant police activity. For the latest information, consult the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office's France travel advice, the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, or your own government's travel advisory.
There is also a practical advantage to booking a small-group experience when travelling alone. You have the opportunity to meet other guests, spend time with a local expert, and discover places without having to organise every detail yourself.
A solo holiday does not have to mean being alone for every meal or every hour of the day. It simply means having the freedom to choose your own company.
By the end of the week, I had not attempted to conquer Paris. I had not ticked off every museum, queued at every landmark, or eaten at every restaurant someone recommended on social media.
Instead, I had spent time in Montmartre, learned more about French wine, explored a working food market, and enjoyed meals with people who knew the city from the inside.
I had also rediscovered something that is easy to forget when travelling: the most memorable parts of a holiday are often not the things you planned to photograph. They are the conversations, the unexpected details, and the moments when someone explains something that makes you look at a familiar place differently.
Paris has never needed to be reinvented. It simply rewards visitors who take the time to look beyond the obvious.
And if the week was meant to be a treat, there is no reason it should not include a little education, a very good lunch, and a glass of French wine.
Sometimes the most sensible thing a woman can do is book the trip.
The Chef Tours offers three distinct chef-led experiences in Paris:
Montmartre Food Experience with Chef PJ: Explore Montmartre through its food, wine, history, and neighbourhood stories.
Montmartre Confidential with Chef PJ: A small-group French wine experience, with a maximum of six guests.
French Market Tour with Chef Sophie: Discover Marché d'Aligre, French ingredients, market traditions, and a leisurely French lunch.
Compare the experiences and book directly through The Chef Tours Paris destination page.
For more ideas, read our Paris Food Guide, covering markets, neighbourhoods, French food traditions, and ways to explore the city through food.
What are the best food experiences in Paris?
The best experience depends on what you want to discover. A chef-led neighbourhood experience in Montmartre offers food and local history, a French wine evening introduces regional wines and traditions, and a market experience at Marché d'Aligre explores ingredients and everyday Paris food culture.
Are chef-led food tours in Paris worth it?
They can be particularly worthwhile for visitors who want more than a sequence of tastings. A chef can explain ingredients, cooking methods, food traditions, and the neighbourhoods in which the experiences take place. Small groups also make it easier to ask questions and have conversations.
Is Montmartre worth visiting for food?
Yes. Montmartre is known for its artistic history and landmarks, but it also has a varied food and wine scene. Exploring with someone who understands the neighbourhood can help visitors discover more than the busiest tourist streets.
Where can I experience an authentic French food market in Paris?
Marché d'Aligre, in the 12th arrondissement, is a good place to start. It combines an outdoor market with the covered Marché Beauvau and surrounding food businesses. A guided visit with a French culinary specialist can help visitors understand the ingredients, traders, and traditions they encounter.
Is Paris safe for women travelling alone?
Paris is visited by solo women travellers from around the world, and many enjoy exploring its neighbourhoods, cafés, museums, and markets independently. It is still a large capital city, so normal precautions are important. Check current government travel advice, avoid demonstrations, and take care of personal belongings, especially on public transport and in crowded areas.
What is a luxury food experience in Paris?
Luxury need not mean an expensive dining room or a famous restaurant reservation. For some travellers, it means access to knowledgeable local professionals, a small group, excellent ingredients, thoughtful conversation, and time to enjoy an experience without being hurried. A chef-led market visit or wine experience can offer that kind of luxury.
How many people are in The Chef Tours Paris experiences?
Montmartre Confidential and Chef Sophie's French Market Tour are limited to six guests. Chef PJ's Montmartre food tour allows up to 10.
Where can I book a chef-led food experience in Paris?
You can compare the three Paris experiences and book directly through The Chef Tours Paris page.
Article by Claudia Bennett
