All aboard the Bustronome! It’s the tastiest sightseeing bus in Paris
If you’re visiting Paris and want to go on sightseeing tour of the city, here’s a great way to do it. The experience is so out-of-the-ordinary and enjoyable that it might turn out to be one of your favorite Paris memories. It sure was mine.
First, a little backstory. In April 2019, I went on a week-long group tour of Paris with a tour operator based out of Texas. On the second morning, we did what many tourists do: we hopped on a tour bus.
As our private bus slowly rolled around Paris, our friendly, English-speaking French tour guide stood in the aisle, pointing out landmarks and providing information and commentary on them. Close to noon, the bus parked at the foot of the iconic Sacré-Coeur Basilica and everyone got off for a one-hour lunch break. Lunch was on our own. The area was swamped with tourists and the few restaurants located around the Basilica were already jam-packed with diners. No time to wait for a table, I grabbed a sandwich at an open-air deli. After our lunch break, our group of about eight women got back on the bus and rolled around Paris for another hour or so. Our tour guide continued his commentaries. Then the bus stopped, and we all got off. End of story. It was your typical sightseeing tour of Paris.
Fast forward two years later.
I went to Paris again in late fall 2021. This time I travelled alone because I wanted to discover the city on my own. During my week-long stay, the best time I had was on a sightseeing tour bus. “Wait, what?” you’re probably thinking. “You just said the sightseeing tour was nothing special.”
Yeah, but that was that tour bus. I’m talking about this tour bus.
All aboard the Bustronome! Here’s what makes this bus so special:
It’s a double-decker sightseeing bus of Paris that doubles as an upscale French restaurant on wheels.
For optimum views of the most beautiful city in the world, the bus features 360-degree panoramic views and a glass roof.
Downstairs is a commercial kitchen and guest restrooms.
Upstairs are thirty-eight guest seats. Each table has a window.
Lunch and dinner are served seven days a week (except Christmas, New Year’s Day, and select French holidays).
Children are allowed.
Lunch tours last one hour and 45 minutes. Dinner tours last two hours and 45 minutes.
If you have food allergies or intolerances, they’ll cater to your needs.
RAIN OR SHINE, THE BUSTRONOME ROLLS
Frenchmen Jean-Christophe Fournier and Bertrand Mathieu conceived the idea of their “voyage gourmand” in 2013. It was such a hit that the following year they opened a second Bustronome in London. And just recently, in August 2024, the company announced the grand opening of Bustronome New York City.
I discovered the Bustronome on a Google search while creating my itinerary for my French trip in 2021. I’d never heard of it before, but it looked like fun. I decided to go for it and made an online lunch reservation for my last day in Paris.
The Bustronome has great reviews, so I was surprised when I boarded the luxury bus-restaurant to see so many vacant seats. My server, Maëlys Janvier, explained that it was because we were in early December, which is low season.
“It’s nice to have it half-full like this,” she said in her native French. “The off season is more relaxed. And when there are fewer people, I can spend more time serving them.”
The day I went, it was good weather. But the Bustronome rolls rain or shine. If you go on rainy day, it might even be more romantic. Remember Woody Allen’s critically acclaimed film, Midnight in Paris (2011)? In the ending rain scene, Gil (Owen Wilson) runs into Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) on a bridge in Paris and asks her if he can walk her home.
As they are talking (flirting), the weather suddenly changes.
“Oh, OK, now it’s starting to rain,” Gil says in a discouraging tone.
“No, but that’s OK,” says Gabrielle, cheerfully. “I don’t mind getting wet.”
“Really?,” asks Gil.
“Yeah,” says Gabrielle. “Actually, Paris is the most beautiful in the rain.”
“I feel like that’s what I’m always saying!” says the smitten Gil. “I couldn’t agree more with you. Yes, it is more beautiful.”
A “PLACEMAP” OF PARIS
An interactive map of Paris
Unlike traditional sightseeing buses, the Bustronome doesn’t have a tour guide who stands in the aisle and comments on landmarks. Instead, each guest has an interactive map at their dining table that indicates the tour’s route. Photos on the map show the landmarks you’ll pass by as the bus-restaurant rolls, including:
The Eiffel Tower
The Louvre Museum
Notre Dame
Each guest also has an audio pen.
Here’s how it works:
Touch one of the photos on the map with your pen.
Touch the speaker icon.
A recorded commentary (available in multiple languages) starts coming through the speaker end of the pen.
Hold that end of the pen to your ear. Et voilà! You’ve got your very own self-guided tour.
My server, Maëlys Janvier.
The interactive map looked both educational and entertaining; however, I decided to pass. Maybe next time. But on my maiden Bustronome voyage it was enough to just savor my French wine and my beautifully plated, four-course lunch as I watched street scenes of Parisian life roll past my window like a mesmerizing silent movie.
Not using the interactive map also gave me a chance to interact more with my server, Maëlys.
I asked if she was from Paris.
“No, Madame” she said. “I wasn’t born in Paris. But I’ve spent most of my life here.”
“Well, that certainly qualifies you as a Parisian woman!” I quipped.
Over the next ninety minutes, Maëlys brought course after course to my table. Since I’d forgotten the seasonal menu I’d seen on Bustronome’s website back home, I inquired each time what I was eating. From the best I could interpret Maëlys’s descriptions, these were the courses:
Bustronome’s chef preps desserts for lunch diners.
Celery purée
Cabillaud, a fresh cod fish. [fyi, cod is France’s favorite fish.]
Turkey stuffed with some other kind of meat or foie gras. This course came with a side of squash purée and a small corn cake.
A chocolatey, crunchy dessert served with vanilla ice cream
The first three courses were sumptuous. But then came la pièce de résistance.
Minutes and more minutes passed, and it appeared that everyone else on the tour bus but me had their desserts. While waiting for mine, I noticed the couple seated at a table in front of me. The man was celebrating something because he was the only I saw on the bus who had a lit candle on top of his dessert.
A few more minutes passed. Then I saw Maëlys walking up the stairs from the kitchen. She was walking very slowly towards my table. One of her hands was cupped around the flame of a birthday candle.
When she arrived at my table, she grinned at me. Then she set down my dessert, glowing by candlelight.
When the tour was over and everyone was exiting the bus, the man I’d noticed earlier asked me, “Is it your birthday, too?”
“No,” I replied.
Random acts of kindness, like a waiter lighting a little candle for her dinner guest, just because. Ain’t those the sweetest things in life? Sweeter, even, than that crunchy, chocolaty, sinfully decadent dessert aboard the fabulous Bustronome.
I still have that birthday candle. It was the best souvenir of my trip.
Have any of you gone on the Bustronome? If so, when did you go and how was your experience? I’d love to hear about it.
Bustronome Paris
Bustronome New York City
Lunch: Daily @ 12:15 PM
Duration: 1 ½ hours
Dinner: Daily @ 7:15 PM
Duration: 2 ½ hours
Departure Point for Lunch and Dinner: 40 W. 57th St.
