While in Paris why not do a food tour?
I subscribe to Paris By Mouth and especially like the “Tours and Tasting” page. I was fascinated by this as soon as I saw it. And, since we were staying in Montmartre for a few weeks, what better way to learn about the neighborhood than with a food tour?
As it turned out my business partner over at Provence Rugs, Delana, was coming to town for a few days and was more than enthusiastic to try this tour.
First stop: we actually learned the difference between un baguette tradition and a plain old baguette. Yes, there is a huge difference and from that day forward I always asked for un baguette tradition!
And, we learned the difference between un croissant au beurre and those crescent shaped “croissants”. The latter are made with margarine… yes, quelle horreur, margarine! You always want un croissant au beurre, right?
Oh, the charcuterie and pates!(sorry, can’t get the accents in here) We sampled about six of these and it was very, very hard to choose a favorite.
Olives, of course.
Seafood in all its glory:
I included this image because… can you see the label? Tahiti. I had never seen anything imported from Tahiti before! Maybe on the West Coast, but certainly not in the East. Zabar’s maybe? Well, I’ve never seen it and was amazed by this!
Break time at the Cafe on Rue Lepic… the same one appearing in the film Amelie!
The cheese shop. Well, what can I say. We spent a long time here, sampling and tasting. Goat cheese, cow’s milk cheese, yogurt (one of my most favorite things in France!), learning about ripeness and how soft a perfect cheese should be. At this point I think we were all a bit dazed…but on we went.
This was one I went back to buy several times: goat cheese with a fig “compote” on top.
To die for. Period.
Our final “tasting” selection:
Last, but not least, was the chocolate boutique!
The two of us with the eccentric unique owner of the shop!
We can highly recommend this tour, or any of those offered, from Paris By Mouth.
One small word of advice: wear comfortable shoes (we did) as you will stand and walk for almost three hours….