Perhaps your idea of a perfect weekend destination is coffee and pastry in France.

But if that's a bit out of reach right now, consider heading to Charlotte, where at Amelie's, you'll feel like you're at a cafe in Paris.

[light airy music] - Amelie's is a French bakery and cafe.

There are a lot of things to look at, a lot of little hidden gems that you'll just have fun walking around and finding.

To me, it's Marie Antoinette has fallen down the rabbit hole.

It's what I like to call a feast for the senses with a nod to Ernest Hemingway with beautiful aromas from the food, with the wonderful taste from our pastries and our savories.

It's, I think, a really fun experience.

[light airy music] - Well, I think it is an experience.

You know, you come in and there's really nothing like Amelie's.

So when you've come in for your first time, it's like very overwhelming to walk in and just see chandeliers all over the place and then cases full of beautiful products.

So people just really enjoy coming here and the fact that it doesn't seem like a normal restaurant, it seems like an experience, like you're coming to see the decor and get beautiful pastries and interact with the staff.

[light airy music continues] - Amelie's was born and raised in Noda, and it's a community with artists and musicians and just any variety of creatives you can think of.

We feel like we have a wonderful location.

We are center stage to all of the activity and all of the new development that's going on here in Noda, and we're really proud to be a part of it.

So I think we're a good fit.

- So we have a huge variety of French classics, such as eclairs, we have the macaroons, but at the same time we take those same items but add our own little creative flare.

I think ultimately it just comes down to our personal creativity in the sense of what we want to use with our flavors and ingredients.

Yeah, you'll get your traditional French items, but at the same time you'll kinda get more of an Amelie's flare just based on the creative team that we have in the kitchen.

- I love the idea of being able to work with my coworkers because they're all crazy in the best ways.

And when it comes to being able to talk to people and have an effect in the community, to see that like somebody could be having a bad day and something silly I say just puts a smile on their face, or watching one of my coworkers do that for a customer.

Stuff like that is what makes me excited to get up and go to work every morning.

- Well, Amelie's makes it special 'cause you feel sort of comfortable here.

It's like being part of a community and at the same time having some anonymity where you can sit by yourself and read your book and be in your own head and nobody takes it amiss because it's a place where people hang out.

And for me it really triggers memories of Paris in a good way.

I've been only once in my life, but really fell in love with the city, and so it's fun to pretend that I'm in Paris when I'm in Amelie's.

Well, I had a croissant earlier and now I'm topping it off with a cheese danish and some dark roast coffee.

- Our top two popular drinks are a cafe marcotter, which is like our weird funky take on like salted caramel vanilla latte, which is really good.

And then our salted caramel brownie mocha latte.

Chocolate, the decadence of the caramel, vanilla, like a little whipped cream if you're feeling extra.

Those are the things that I like about 'em the most and I think that's what most of our customers come to grab and they gravitate towards.

- [Summer] So we're here at the Noda location, but our closest location to here would be our Uptown location.

We also have locations in the Park Road Shopping Center, Carmel Commons, and then one in Rock Hill as well.

- Each location is similar but different in a lot of ways, and I don't like anything that's prefab or manufactured, I usually make everything myself and just try to make each place individual and a place that'll make you happy and smile when you walk in.

I think probably my favorite piece is the huge Eiffel Tower that's in the dining room, and that was a collaboration, a lot of people worked hard on that.

I think it's a fun piece.

Probably won't see one in town anywhere else.

- Our staff is a very unique group of people as are our customers, so making small connections with our customers is very important.

We have a lot of regulars who come in every single day.

- Amelie's, we've been coming here as far as they opened and it's the closest to back home that it feels, so it feels really French, it's homemade.

All the flavors are really fresh and on point.

- When you walk in, I think you'll smile.

I hope you'll smile, and not take the design too seriously.

Just come in and see for yourself.

- Amelie's French Bakery has four locations in Charlotte, Uptown, Noda, Carmel Commons, and Park Road.

To check out their menu, order ahead, or find out more, go to ameliesfrenchbakery.com.