Madeleine, its beauties, and legit €10 haircut

Hi guys, just a quick post on this one about the city that I'm actually living in, the one and only and the capital of France, Paris. I would like to quickly share with you a very specific area of the city and even to be more specific, just within a five minute walking radius of the metro station Madeleine. The name of the metro station is also the very name of the area we will be covering today, so let's get into it!

Madeleine is in fact the name of the church just right in front of you, regardless of which metro exit you would come out from. La Madeleine is a church here in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, and serves as one of the four major monuments nearby, being Place de la Concorde to its south side, Place Vendome on its east end, and Saint-Augustin to the west. History goes back to show that it was constructed to honour the victorious army of Napoleon. Anyhow that should do it for the historical context of this Roman Catholic church, since that would sort of bore some of us.

As I said, you get this massive and really stunning classic church just a stone throw away from the metro stop. I forgot to mention how you could get to metro station Madeleine. For this trip, you will need to get on Line 8, the purple one, which runs from Creteil to Balard, and runs through some important stations like Concorde, Opera, Republique and Bastille. It's actually a very interesting line with the amount of important stops it makes throughout the trip, so if you have a bit of spare time, it's definitely worth a look just to see what interesting attractions are around these line 8 metro stations.

Other than the beauty of the church in which you can enter and appreciate, there is also Le Foyer de la Madeleine, which is the much-talked about eatery under the church. I have always wanted to go there and check it but have never had the time to do so. What this is is basically a restaurant, that is organized and powered by an association that has strong passion, appreciation and connection with the actual church. The Foyer serves lunch from Monday to Friday, between 11:45 and 14:00, and everyone is welcome to come it and enjoy a traditional, home-cooked, French meals.

These meals go out for only €8. 50 euro each, which is almost like a steal compared to other places in and around Madeleine and of course Paris as a whole. There are, however, additional costs that you should be aware of, like the initial €5. 00 that you need to pay to become registered to the list. If I understand the process correct, the €5. 00 is paid once, or at most once a year, so once this is paid, you will only pay €8. 50 for the meal. If you would like to get some wine, they also have a selection as a very reasonable price. Since this is an association and their work comes from the purity of their heart, tips as well as kind words are always welcome.

So just in a nutshell, the standard menu will cost you €8. 50 (entrée from a wide selection, your main course from two choices of menu of the day, cheese or dessert which is usually fruits, dessert of the day, patisserie, ice cream, etc) while any other additions, for example, beer is at €1. 70, cider of 33cl goes out for only €2. 00 and coffee and tea are priced at an unbelievable €0. 80. I have never seen coffee on the menu for less than one euro here in Paris, so this place is definitely something different.

That aside, another cool thing that I would like to share with you guys is an interesting place to get a hair cut. Like its restaurants, cafes and bistros here in Paris, it's very difficult to find a deal that fits the budget of us students and young adults doing internships. What I can personally recommend, is a place right by the gates of the metro station, called Beauty Bubbles. You may now question what kind of a barber shop this is since it's underground and next to the metro gates, but trust me, it's legit! I have been a customer for the past three months and they do a quick and decent job with men's and women's hair alike. Beauty Bubbles has many different branches, but the one I always go to is this one here in Madeleine.

Men's haircut is priced at €10. 00 (wow! ), but is only valid with their loyalty card. So with this, I present to you the good news and bad news. The bad news is I will be leaving Paris is less than two months. This should not really affect you guys, but the good news will. At the beginning of my time here in Paris, I had purchased their loyalty card for €70. 00, which would give me seven hair cuts, so that's €10. 00 each. The good news with me leaving is that I can't and won't be going here to hair cuts anymore, for obvious reasons, so I would like to get rid of my card. If I am not wrong, the card still has four haircuts left, or a credit of €40. 00. If you guys are interested, let me know by either contacting me through here or through my personal email address at [[email protected]]. Again if I'm not wrong, a normal haircut without the card will fall €13. 00, so that would be so difference that having a haircut elsewhere, but considering that this is in a great location, and they have other locations, I think this is a great buy. Other locations of Beauty Bubbles in the Paris area include:

• Gare Montparnasse
• Metro Gare de Lyon
• Metro Montparnasse
• RER Auber

Other then La Madeleine, Le Foyer de la Madeleine, and the inexpensive haircut at Beauty Bubbles, there is also a sporting store called Decathlon just minutes away. I personally really like Decathlon because of their style of products. If you're looking for specific products from football, basketball and other team sports, I would recommend going to Inter Sport located at the Rivoli area instead. The products here at Decathlon are considerately prices, and you could get gears for quite cheap. They do have larger brands other than that of their own, like the usual Nike, Adidas and Puma. For more information on both Decathlon and its competitor Inter Sport, check out the links down below.

Eglise La Madeleine

Le Foyer de la Madeleine - Important Information

Beauty Bubbles Madeleine

Inter Sport Paris

Decathlon - La Madeleine Branch

If you like the content of this post, or just want to check out some pictures that I take on my adventure, feel free to like and/or follow me on instagram at oat93, cheers!