Paris - on a Mission

[bleudauvergne]

Lets face it, Paris is huge. If time is limited, priorities must be set. One way to do it is to set a goal, a mission, and discover Paris as the mission is accomplished. I once took part in a treasure hunt with a group of friends in Paris. The organizers spent months coming up with a series of clue leading to clue, and hid them all over the city. We had to locate a certain bakery to pick up a special cake which contained a clue, we found a clue tucked between some exotic fruit at Tang Freres, etc. The treasure hunt was a whole lot of fun and I learned more about Paris in one day than I had in the last three months I'd been there! Here are some of the missions that people have set on recent threads.

Melange is going on a recon

mission for chocolate..

Owen did an investigation of the

Coffee in Paris.

lamington went to Paris and set a goal to sample French cheese.

Jan Keenan did her research and went to Paris with the simple goal to eat.

Freckles (who lives in Paris) is slowly winding her way through the Parisian

wine bars by arrondissement, in numerical order.

The mission for the

pans of Paris.

Some are on pilgrammages to very special restaurants.

Does anyone have any other ideas for interesting missions in Paris?

[LindaK]

This is a great idea. My first few trips to Paris years ago were all about the cheese pilgrimage.

Another favorite is to seek out good market streets or the roving open air markets (marches volants, I think they're called). The selection of foods in one small place can be amazing--not only what you'd expect in the way of vegetables and breads but small cheese producers, arrays of olives and spices, specialty meats, flowers, etc. Depending on the neighborhood there is often an array of ethnic food products as well.

The atmosphere is always fun, very busy and bustling, and gives you a chance to experience local life in a small way--and it often takes me to neighborhoods that are outside the usual tourist loop. I don't know that I'd make this my only mission on a visit, but marketing Paris-style is always one on my great pleasures during a visit and something I always miss after I come home.

[ludja]

Mission to discover the best macarons, and in the meantime sample other wonderful breads, cakes, cookies and pastries among Parisian boulangerie and patisserie...

Here's a thread on some egulleteer's favorite places for macarons in Paris: click

Good thread idea!

[BigboyDan]

Mission to discover the best macarons, ...

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Now, that's funny.

[TarteTatin]

We've done our own "market tour of Paris".

For a week, we bused/metro'd from one market to another, sometimes hitting three in one day.

We've also done our own "bicycling trip of Paris".

What does this have to do with food? Well, we bicycled from where we are staying, to where we're having lunch that day, and bicycle back, or around the Bois de Boulogne and nap, then bicycle out to dinner! Dressed nicely! (as the Parisians do....it amazes me to see women in dresses and heels and no helmet)

[Bux]

I regret to say that every time I'm in Paris, it seems I'm disorganized and in need of a vacation from organizing the other parts of my life, which never seem to benefit from attempts at organizing anyway. I've made feeble attempts to cover a few patisseries. Once however, four of us were in Douarnanez in search of the perfect Kouign Amman, that wonderful very buttery Breton pastry. We didn't get far. They were all so good that we had to finish each sample purchased and in some cases, I seem to recall there were no individually sized pastries to sample, so we had to buy a big one. That we made it halfway though the towns pastry shops was actually a miracle.

A great kouign amman is better than a cannelle or a macron. Alas, of the three, it is the only one not to have achieved any sort of popularity in NY. Perhaps it's because you need good Breton butter. Reportedly, there are places in Paris that make it well.

[John Talbott]

I regret to say that every time I'm in Paris, it seems I'm disorganized and in need of a vacation from organizing the other parts of my life, which never seem to benefit from attempts at organizing anyway. I've made feeble attempts to cover a few patisseries. Once however, four of us were in Douarnanez in search of the perfect Kouign Amman, that wonderful very buttery Breton pastry.

Reportedly, there are places in Paris that make it well.

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Indeed, Arnaud Larher, now at 53, rue Caulincourt (not far from the Lamark-Caulincourt Metro) - whom I understand was raised in Brittany, makes a very tasty Kouign Amman, and for those folks perplexed as to how to pronounce it - it's Queen-a-man (now don't everyone jump on my attempt to simply the language of Moliere).

[Felice]

This weekend I made it my mission to learn more about French cheese. I had been browsing around the market on Sunday and saw a stand that was only selling a few different cheeses and sausages, but none were labeled. So, not knowing what they were, I asked. The guy had a big grin on his face that said “Silly little foreign girl” and pointed to his shirt which read Auvergne in big bold letters.“Ah oui” I replied, even though it didn’t really help me out. So, I bought some cheese and then went home to order the book French Cheeses from Amazon and vowed to try at least a new cheese each week, if not more.

[Busboy]

It's likely that I'm a terminal Type B, but my only mission when I'm in Paris is to be in Paris and to kind of allow the city to seep into my pores until I come over feeling all Frenchified.

The whole concept of trotting from boulangerie to fromagerie to cafe, checklist in hand, fills me with horror.

If you need me, I'll be in a cafe on Boulevard St. Michel, wondering how Parisian women learn to tie their scarves like that, and practicing my French by ordering more wine.

Maybe I'll go to a museum.

[John Talbott]

It's likely that I'm a terminal Type B, but my only mission when I'm in Paris is to be in Paris and to kind of allow the city to seep into my pores until I come over feeling all Frenchified. 

The whole concept of trotting from boulangerie to fromagerie to cafe, checklist in hand, fills me with horror. 

If you need me, I'll be in a cafe on Boulevard St. Michel, wondering how Parisian women learn to tie their scarves like that, and practicing my French by ordering more wine.

Maybe I'll go to a museum.

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Several thots:

Lucy, you've started a great thread.

Busboy, I'm with you. As a friend (French, food-obsessed, indeed food-crazed), said today "but we're crazy."

There is a class on tying scarfs/scarves given at WICE (the Women's Institute for Continuing Education), or at least it was 20 years ago, but a friend recommends looking at Aristide Briand posters until you get it right.

Finally, totally off-topic, museums - two great shows - the Brazil show at the GP and the Bob Wilson "Fables of Fontaine" designs, sets, drawings at the Yves St-Laurent space near the Pont de l'Alma.

[LindaK]

It's likely that I'm a terminal Type B, but my only mission when I'm in Paris is to be in Paris and to kind of allow the city to seep into my pores until I come over feeling all Frenchified. 

The whole concept of trotting from boulangerie to fromagerie to cafe, checklist in hand, fills me with horror. 

If you need me, I'll be in a cafe on Boulevard St. Michel, wondering how Parisian women learn to tie their scarves like that, and practicing my French by ordering more wine.

Maybe I'll go to a museum.

Yes! I'm with you..though I've had culinary agendas during my visits, I've always managed to fit good meals in between the laissez-faire scheduling. Maybe because I can only afford the occasional trophy meal, I've learned the pleasures of the unpretentious, unplanned dinner.

One of my favorite memories, for many reasons, was two years ago during a late September/early October trip that coincided with the baseball playoffs of my beloved Red Sox--I was pulling all-nighters watching games that started at 2 a.m. Paris time. It turned into a trip of leisurely lunches--I needed only a light dinner before the obligatory pre-game nap, but after stumbling home on the first metro, I found that lunch became my real meal of the day. Ordinarily I'd always saved my francs/euros for dinner, but I got in the habit of going for a late, bleary-eyed multicourse lunch at a nice local place. The waiters learned to ask about "le match de baseball" and to bring me un espress without even asking.

It was hard to explain to friends back home that in three weeks I'd only done one museum...it wasn't what I'd planned when I went but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

[Carlsbad]

Ok, I confess to being a little type A. And food and wine are my major hobby. I tend to agonize about restaurants and make a lot of reservations way ahead. Once there, however, I can just sit in a cafe all afternoon if it's a good one in a good place. I also like art and jazz. And I don't mind a little history. Those are the things that fuel my vacations. Is there any city better than Paris? I can't wait until I get there in July.

[bleudauvergne]

This weekend I made it my mission to learn more about French cheese.  I had been browsing around the market on Sunday and saw a stand that was only selling a few different cheeses and sausages, but none were labeled. So, not knowing what they were, I asked.  The guy had a big grin on his face that said “Silly little foreign girl” and pointed to his shirt which read Auvergne in big bold letters.“Ah oui” I replied, even though it didn’t really help me out.  So, I  bought some cheese and then went home to order the book French Cheeses from Amazon and vowed to try at least a new cheese each week, if not more.

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Good for you, Felice. Cheese is a great thing to discover.

As for the seep into skin types, that's just it. If I didn't have a mission I'd spend all my time wandering aimlessly, and then my feet would hurt. You enter the city and it's like getting sucked into a vortex. I can't sit all day in a cafe when I'm in Paris, there's too much energy buzzing about and I feel like I have to be circulating in it. An exposition or a museum is a formidable mission, I agree. I'll try and afternoon in a cafe the next time I go and see what happens, though.

[Bux]

I regret to say that every time I'm in Paris, it seems I'm disorganized and in need of a vacation from organizing the other parts of my life, which never seem to benefit from attempts at organizing anyway.

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In fact, I arrive in cities such as Paris (are there really any cities that can be compared to Paris?) with a huge mental list of things I should do, but no organized plan of attack. I've taken many notes, but they're always back in my computer, when I'm in the quartier where they would come in handy. The net effect is that by the time I've left Paris, I have at hand the practical experience to plan the visit I should have made. None of which explains why I've had such a good time, unless it's that I leave knowing I need to come back. All of which however, suggests I'm the ideal person to tell you to do as I say, not as I do.

[Busboy]

I regret to say that every time I'm in Paris, it seems I'm disorganized and in need of a vacation from organizing the other parts of my life, which never seem to benefit from attempts at organizing anyway.

←

In fact, I arrive in cities such as Paris (are there really any cities that can be compared to Paris?) with a huge mental list of things I should do, but no organized plan of attack. I've taken many notes, but they're always back in my computer, when I'm in the quartier where they would come in handy. The net effect is that by the time I've left Paris, I have at hand the practical experience to plan the visit I should have made. None of which explains why I've had such a good time, unless it's that I leave knowing I need to come back. All of which however, suggests I'm the ideal person to tell you to do as I say, not as I do.

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Maybe I'm just lucky -- on one political campaign I was placed in charge of "food advance" because of my good fortune in finding good restaurants in strange cities -- but I think one of the great things about Paris is that it's hard not to stumble across life's little necessities. And, frankly, I'm about as happy to picnic on the quais as I am to check off Michelin stars, so if I can't get reservations at Tour d'Argent, ca m'est egal. There's always next time.

[Bux]

In another thread I once again extolled the virtues of a chocolate macaron from Hévin. It was eaten while walking in the Jardin du Luxembourg. We were walking to the gardens from the south, but I can't remember where we were or what we were doing there. I do remember walking past a Hévin shop, there are several in Paris, but this wouldn't have been the one I might have targeted. As soon as I passed the shop, it hit me that I wanted to taste their wares. I stop and returned. As usual, my wife warned me that it wasn't an opportune time to have a snack, it never is, and that I'd ruin my appetite, like if. So I restricted my purchase to one perfect macaron. Chocolate of course, Hévin is a chocolatier first and patissier only if chocolate is involved in the recipe. Yeah, these kinds of places are all over Paris, sort of like first aid kits or life preservers.