|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2009 18:32:36 GMT
We Parisians with our often pitiful kitchens do not always cook as much as the other French do. And strangely enough, the more money Parisians have, the less they cook, and that isn't just because the wealthy ones go to a lot of restaurants. Some of you may have already noticed that the ready-made food you can pick up in Parisian shops can be pretty good, so if you have the money, why bother? This evening, I went to a movie at Place de Clichy and then walked home along rue Caulaincourt, one of the wealthier streets of my arrondissement. I observed some of the food offerings along the way. First of all, there was a Franprix supermarket. This is the most common supermarket chain in Paris (and metropolitan region) and does not exist in any other part of France. Parisians just have to be different. My own Franprix is very ordinary, but the one on rue Caulaincourt is perhaps the most chic store in the entire chain. A few steps farther was a chic bakery. It actually had a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There was soon a wine merchant as well. I also came across a Nicolas store, which is the main wine chain in France, but just about every Parisian would have bought his wine back at the Franprix anyway. An extremely elegant cheese store followed. This didn't look at all like most of the open front cheese places, but this guy's goods were so aromatic that I could smell them through the closed door. About every 50 meters there was a small greengrocer with tempting items on display. Another bakery proposed special items to be served with apéritif. There are numerous butchers and charcuteries for starters and main courses. For people who REALLY don't want to cook, there are always the rotisserie chickens and roasted small potatoes. Perhaps a few macarons to finish off the meal. Frankly, I have to admit that I was shocked by the prices and would not have bought a single item that I saw (except at the Franprix). On this rich street, everything was double or more the price that I pay just another 500 meters east, for comparable quality. Unfortunately, many visitors to the city do not realize how much prices can vary and think that the price they are seeing wherever they are is the normal one. |
|
|
|
Post by imec on Jun 27, 2009 18:44:11 GMT
OMG! Only another 6 days and I'll be seeing and tasting this stuff for real! Thanks kerouac.
|
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Jun 27, 2009 19:03:50 GMT
Great Photos! Kerouac, do you take a camera most times when you leave your apartment - just curious, because Peter takes his camera everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE, even to work and back. He likes to do impromptu photos and gets into our local newspaper on occasions.
Now about the FOOD! You make my mouth water just seeing those wonderful offerings!
Langoustine = crayfish?
Baguette fillings = some with asparagus? The other with cucumber & tomato?
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2009 19:20:56 GMT
Langoustines have strange English names like 'Norway lobsters' and 'Dublin Bay prawns' -- they are a sort of miniature lobster, indeed very much like a giant crayfish.
Tod2, I don't always take my camera with me, but I do take it when I have an idea in the back of my brain on possible photos for the day.
|
|
|
|
Post by Don Cuevas on Jun 27, 2009 20:01:25 GMT
Great stuff! So, it may be true that the French have great food?  I really liked that first bakery. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2009 20:07:02 GMT
I have another photograph from a different angle. Let me see if I can dig it up. (Glory to the age of digital photography!) |
|
|
|
Post by lola on Jun 27, 2009 20:09:12 GMT
(noise between a whine and a jealous sob)
why do people bother with Eiffel Tower with such sights as those?
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jun 27, 2009 20:46:40 GMT
I stubbed my fingers quite painfully lunging for those breads!
Your daily life spreads are always fascinating. I don't think it would be sour grapes at all to assume that the produce would be just as nice in your supermarket or in the less ritzy neighborhoods.
When I was little my brother & I had a book featuring a French poodle who worked -- where else? -- in a French bakery. It looked exactly like the extremely photogenic one you show here.
|
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Jun 28, 2009 9:32:12 GMT
The area in which we have an apartment in Paris also has loads of food shops, although some of them are disappearing and being taken over by chain clothing stores. I think you would find streets with shops like those in many parts of Paris, even though there are some streets that are known for their food stores, and I don't mean the extremely expensive places in the fanciest areas.
For example, rue Levis in the 17th, rue des Martyrs in the 9th, rue du Rendez-vous in the 12th. Those are just some I know off-hand, and I'm not a foodie. These shops are always packed on Saturdays and Sunday mornings, but closed on Mondays.
|
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Jun 28, 2009 10:00:51 GMT
That Franprix is pretty much always open. I thought shops that were open on Sunday were supposed to be closed another day, usually Monday?
Yes, the bread is making me hungry. I can get similar bread, but you do have more choice in Paris. There is a new bakery in Outremont (an upscale neighbourhood, not very far from here) that evidently has all manner of fancy ficelles and such, but I keep forgetting to make the trip there.
In the parts of Paris I stayed in, the rotisseries were run by Arab guys, and they were very good too. Though I passed on the lamb heads.
I've found the range of prices in Paris to be extremely large from ritzy neighbourhoods to more ordinary ones. More than most places I know (unless talking about very fancy speciality shops, expensive anywhere).
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2009 10:56:40 GMT
I'll bet that cheese shop had Stilton.
Very similar to NYC ,I'm amazed each visit at what was once say a locksmith shop or cobbler is now a chic chic food store/green grocer/bakery or worse ,Starbucks. 5 or 6 individual figs were something like $5.00USD.(the same variety that grow in the backyards here).
We used to have an excellent European bakery walking distance from our house and I miss it terribly. Two Swiss fellows ran it.The best brioche in the world.
|
|
|
|
Post by traveler63 on Jun 28, 2009 14:57:19 GMT
Oh, K2:
I could small the cheese as you described it. This is wonderful. We have discovered just from our two previous trips that while going to some of the recommended sites, attractions and areas, we have found that just walking into an area and getting "lost" finds us the most memorable adventures in Paris. That is how we found the shop off Blvd St. Germain where we found a wonderful little shop of collectable IWACHU Japanese tea pots they are caste iron. Here is the story about the teapot.
We purchased it and yes caste iron is heavy. So I decided to pack it in the checked big bag. Oh boy was that a mistake!!!!. Since it was small, dark red and it had a bunch of small caste iron spikes, all over it, something like a porcupine, I guess TSA thought we had a grenade in our luggage. When I went to retrieve the suitcase in Tucson, it looked like it had gone thru a war. They had opened the suitcase, opened the box that held the teapot, taped the box back up, literally threw everything else back int the suitcase and, basically destroyed the one of the outside zippered compartments. Oh, and they left a note in the suitcase. Ruined bag, airline said not their problem, TSA said not their problem, so luckily American Express came thru because of the baggage insurance that comes with out card. (When I pack, everything goes into zippered clear bags, so at least my undies aren't laying on the floor somewhere in the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport!!!!)
Lession learned!!!!! I will pack something like that in the carry on.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2009 16:32:00 GMT
Ha! I have had my baggage ransacked so many times by TSA that I have stopped counting, and usually this is just from taking canned goods back and forth -- no need for spiky bomb bumps on the container.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2010 11:24:33 GMT
Hmmm... it may be time to buy a rotisserie chicken again.
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jul 22, 2010 1:57:54 GMT
Ooooo ~~ I forgot about this thread! It's so pretty. Actually, this is not making me hungry the way it should because I am having a near-death heartburn experience due to the take-away I bought this afternoon: a Oaxacan chile relleno made with that special trick they have of getting each one to absorb an entire liter of cooking oil. Anyway, this is a serious question to ponder. You say: the ready-made food you can pick up in Parisian shops can be pretty good, so if you have the money, why bother? It's one thing for you, since you know how to cook, or visitors with no kitchens, or workers giving themselves the occasional break to buy this stuff. However, if people exclusively ate this, they really wouldn't learn about food preparation or what are the correct basic versions of many dishes, would they? |
|
|
|
Post by auntieannie on Jul 22, 2010 18:42:59 GMT
how did I miss this thread last year?
made me salivate... and I have just finished a delicious dinner!
|
|
