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Cuisine, most aimiable of the arts

Markets, bread-making, a goat-cheese farm, gourmet shops

 

 

Cuisine and appreciation for wine, like so much else in France, are arts that the Court stimulated. They are at the heart of French culture and are among the reasons why so many travelers visit.

 

We can take you to the world-known stores for gastronomy and make personalized arrangements at celebrated restaurants.

 

Or we can concentrate on the produce and places that Parisians with discriminating palates select.

 

Perhaps more interesting?

 

 

  • Markets are part of life in Paris

 

 
A royal feast in the 15th century
Open-air markets are among the most pleasant aspects of every-day France.

"Madame Georgette"

has sold her own farm products

in an inexpensive neighborhood market for 40 years.

 

Every morning (except Monday) neighborhood marchés take place. They can be expensive, inexpensive, can stretch out over a single street or many, be covered or open-air. They can be organic, raucous or simply picturesque.

Markets are an expression of the French capacity to make simple things beautiful.

 

We point our visitors toward those we think they'll enjoy most.

 

 

  • Visiting a "boulangerie" (bakery) takes us into the heart of everyday France

 

 

Neighborhood "boulangeries" are wonderful too.

Many bakeries still make bread themselves, but are unenthusiastic at the idea of visitors.

     

     

    •  How is cheese made?

     

     

    An exception nestles in "hometown Paris" (Madame Georgette's market is there too). It is particularly memorable at chilly times of year, because it is warm and cozy. It always smells wonderful.
    Part of a wider visit: Please click on the link below.

    Chèvre frais, crottin, chevrotin (goat camembert), chèvre wrapped in a chestnut leaf so that the tannins will bring a fluid cheese...

    The farm is near the otherwise eye-opening town of Dreux, which is about an hour's drive south of Paris, much of it through bucolic countryside.

     
    • Specialized boutiques nestle here and there, including in neighborhoods where one would not expect them... 

     

    A family candy store, a few steps from a mass-produced chocolate store on the Avenue de l'Opéra
    Wine, cheese and farmers' products on the Faubourg Saint-Denis, once a trade route, now a street where 50 nationalities mix.

     

     

    • Restaurants whose style is unique
    This 19th-century landmark is totally Parisian.
    As well, it is inexpensive and very convivial.

     

     

    • These suggestions are usually part of wider programs.

    • Costs: please click

     

     

    Credits: Fifteenth-century feast / "Les très riches heures du Duc de Berry", Condé Museum (Chantilly); candy store and wine store / Catherine Aubin;  other photos / Claude Abron

     

     

     

     

    Unexpected Paris guided tours