You COULD go to the markets. They're everywhere. They're cheap. They're fresh. My friend and I got kilos upon kilos of fresh fruit and vegetables for under €10. Mix in a couple of baguettes from any boulangerie, and you're golden.
But I didn't come to Paris to eat HEALTHY (unlike that wrapped clementine from Marche Bastille in the photo above). Boy, if I wasn't going to seek out that vegan community and latch onto that g-o-O-O-o-d junk food...
Here are my recommendations so you don't have to sift through Happy Cow and/or Yelp, neither of which Parisians use.
The Vegan Lingo
Végétarien = vegetarien
Végétalien = vegan
Sans produits d'animaux = no animal products
Sans la viande, beurre, lait, fromage, oeufs = no meat, butter, milk, cheese, eggs
1. Hank Burger
The photo of my burger came out really blurry (like 4 pixels of deliciousness), so here's the upstairs dining area.
Where it is: 55 Rue des Archives, 75003 Paris, France
What to get: La Catcheuse (€8 burger with vegan cheese, alfalfa, mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles) and the fries (€3). Make sure to load up on the vegan mayo they have in dispensers.
2. Vegan Folie's
A slice of chocolate hazelnut cheesecake with a chocolate ganache center.
Where it is: 53 Rue Mouffetard, 75005 Paris, France
What to get: A slice of cheesecake (€6), but note that it tastes more like a really good almond/cashew cake rather than an exact "cheese" cake replica.
3. Las Vegans
Doner kebab and a chocolate speculoos donut.
Where it is: 30 Bd de Bonne Nouvelle, 75010 Paris, France
What to get: A kebab (€10) and any donut (~€3). The kebab is an enormous pita filled with a vegan street meat that could rival any 'real' one (seriously, considering I'm a pretty harsh critic of vegan meat and dairy substitutes).
4. Un Monde Vegan
That was of the best meals I've ever had, including vegan meat and cheese from Un Monde Vegan.
Where it is: 64 Rue Notre Dame de Nazareth, 75003 Paris, France
What to get: Anything your heart desires. Seriously, they have cases and cases full of vegan meats, cheeses, fish, chocolate, etc. of all prices. I ended up opting for VegiDeli cold cut slices (€2 per pack), MozzaRisella (€2 a log), Violife cheese (€3 a pack), and some obscure German brand of tortellini that was pizza-flavored.
5. Grande Mosquée de Paris
On that table is the best tea I have ever put into my body on one of the many beautifully tiled tables.
Where it is: 39 Rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire, 75005 Paris, France
What to get: The tea (€2). I don't know what type of tea it was; I just remember it being good. Just order a couple for you and your friend, and talk for hours in what feels like a gated palace.
This place is a complex that includes a working mosque, this cafe, and a restaurant. I've also heard that if you make the right turns in in the hallways, you'll find a gorgeous courtyard with water, tile, and topiary art.
Eating vegan in Paris didn't feel like a drudgery of restriction. Rather, it introduced me to a very cool subculture of Paris, to people who "make it work" in a city where their lifestyle is in the supreme minority.
That's also the message I'd like to impart on anyone living a vegan lifestyle who decides to travel anywhere: just make it work. You don't have to find specifically vegan places to eat. Buy a baguette, get that kilo of spinach (lesson learned: that is a lot of spinach), or have a really long conversation over a couple cups of tea.
Adjust yourself to where you are rather than attempting to make the place work for YOU. Nothing should be so stressful when a city can manage to make their subway so pretty, right? (Beats pizza rat every time, in my opinion.)