Bonjour Le Marais
The iconography of postcard-pretty Paris runs deep. From architectural moments like the Eiffel Tower, to baguettes and berets, it’s a city that holds famous markers in our nostalgic sensibilities. Be it from books and films or from our Romantic fantasies of our 19th century selves, it’s hard not to hear Piaf on the boulevards before we even step foot outside.
Until now we’ve had the kind of relationship with Paris where we’ve wanted to love it, but have not felt the love affair with the place that it’s supposed to invoke. This time, equipped with key phrases (no–one in Paris speaks English) and our local friends who showed us around on foot and by bike (aka L’ French Poodle Bicycle Gang) we tasted the Paris of the storybooks and found choice traditional and modern gems. The city is small and walkable in the way that you can really get under it’s skin. With limited time on this trip we decided to focus on local finds in Le Marais.
L' French Poodle Bicycle Gang
Although very fashionable now, Le Marais was farmland in the 17th century when Henri IV built Place des Vogues. After the court was transferred to Versailles it became a mercantile quarter. The Jewish quarter has been in Le Marais for centuries (centred around Rue des Rosiers) this part has become very touristy in the last few years but there are still some traditional bakeries and delis worth visiting, not to mention the best falafel in town. Le Marais's interwoven streets house the most remarkable private Parisian mansions which have been turned into museums. The Hôtel Salé hosts the Picasso Museum and the Hôtel Carnavalet is home to the Musée Carnavalet.
We went in search of the perfect crêpe (we found it) and found some other must, see, eat and do’s along the way.
Bonjour Le Marais!
First stop: brunch at our perfect crêpe find - Breizh Café (109 rue Vieille du Temple), founded by Bertrand Larcher, well known French entrepreneur. The story of Breizh is a personal story of his travels from Brittany (where he was born) to Japan. Breizh Café merges French and Japanese cuisines (they both love buckwheat) to give us a traditional crêperie who's mission is to serve the best modern, local ingredients from Brittany with added Japanese touches (dessert crêpes with yuzu and ginger).
The Galette (buckwheat crêpe) is to the French what Pizza is to the Italians and we found the best quality by far to be at Breizh. We started with a plain galette with a selection of Jean-Yves Bordier butters which are handmade in Brittany. Seaweed flavoured butter was a favourite and went perfectly with the apple cider for which Brittany is famous too.
The winner for mains was the fried egg, shredded gruyere, butter and spinach galette and we asked to add their signature onion crème to that. Yes please over and over, and the kind of meal that could be brunch, lunch or dinner.
Breizh Café is a must and we recommend making a reservation as lines work their way around the block. L'Epicerie Breizh Café next door sells choice groceries (buy the butter there) and they have a small seating area at a communal table which seats people on a first come first serve basis and has the same menu as next door. You are in for an East meets West culinary treat.
After brunch we strolled through Le Marais. These are our 10 best local finds (some popular and some lesser known). We've mapped a route starting at Breizh Cafe.
Le Marais - Local Finds
1. Breizh Café - traditional crêperie with an East meets West twist - recommend booking.
2. Izraël - for spices and dried fruit from this family run bazaar - beautiful interior - they don't like you taking photographs inside.
3. Fromagerie Laurent Dubois - located next to a baroque Italian church - a small, tiled, corridor interior - friendly people working in the store with suggested samplings of the best local cheese varieties.
4. Comptoir de l'image - postage stamp sized hidden treasure for book and magazine lovers.
5. Méert - traditional pâtisserie - beautifully wrapped biscuits and sweets - good gifts.
6. Picasso National Museum - most comprehensive Picasso collection in the world - houses more than five thousand works - in the beautiful Hôtel Salé, 17th centuryprivate mansion.
7. Yvon Lambert Galerie - choice art books, catalogues, rare and out of print books, edition prints posters, t-shirts and art objects - good gifts.
8. Les Lunettes d’also - choice collection of handmade glasses that you can buy off the shelf with the help of very knowledgable shop assistants or you can have made bespoke.
9. French Trotters - multi brand ready-to-wear lifestyle clothing and design goods store - look out for their own label line and beautiful homeware section.
10. Merci - always a favourite - perfectly edited selection of clothes, design, furniture and home essentials - breakfast in the library bar, lunch in the basement cafe - give yourself time to explore through the various floors.
From this trip's findings we recommend one must-do that goes beyond Le Marais: for a traditional brasserie experience go to Au Petite Riche, it’s been there since 1854 (9th arrondissement) boasts it's original Belle Èpoque interior and serves excellent traditional food. Go for the food, the mood and the Romantic Paris of the picture books.
We left the pretty city to get back on the road, and make our way to Provence with a stopover in Boussac along the way.
Bon voyage and bisous (kisses) from Paris!
