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OPINION | A virtual journey through gourmet Paris

2020-07-03T23:37:58.789Z


It is impossible to tell you in a column everything you can experience in Paris - one of my favorite cities of all life - but there are certain moments and places that are almost an obligation.


Editor's Note:  Mari Rodríguez Ichaso has been a contributor to Vanidades magazine for decades. Fashion, travel, gastronomy, art, architecture and entertainment specialist. Film producer. CNN Spanish style columnist. The opinions expressed in this comment are yours. See more articles like this at CNNe.com/opinion.

(CNN in Spanish) - It has been several months since we are confined at home and there is no doubt that this situation has made us a little obsessive about food. There are even jokes and video chat conversations about our many trips to the fridge!

Talk about recipes, because many of us have learned to cook, just like gourmet dishes is very common. As the vast majority of our travel plans have been suspended for the moment, the consensus among my friends at Zoom is that there are cities that only with a little imagination we can enjoy from a distance.

And exquisite Paris, which has already reopened to visitors, is one of them!

Let me tell you ... When I was little, growing up in Havana, the dream of my life was to get to know Paris. And I knew the map of the city by heart and even the diagram, floor by floor, of the Louvre Museum! It was wonderful to plan the walks I would one day do, and many years later I was able to do. And, without making a mistake, I think it is still the dream of many of us.

Oh Paris! and that glamorous je ne sais quoi (I don't know what) of the city. A mysterious charm that we can't exactly define. The perfect layout of its avenues. The emblematic buildings, and even that sky between gray and blue are wonderful. Once Karl Lagerfeld himself told me that "the Parisian light beautifies us all." And it is true, because it is soft and diaphanous. Like a veil that hides flaws!

And that divine attraction where history, fashion, beauty and the most fascinating characters welcome us, has always been a magnet for travelers of all ages around the world. And its gourmet tradition is one of its most important characteristics and I want to tell you about it today!

Gourmet Paris: Place de la Madeleine

An integral part of the most desired and famous Paris is without a doubt its food. Its wonderful cuisine. That destiny that drives us crazy and brings us delicious delights. A love of gastronomy that goes back centuries, and where just by entering a pastry shop - the simplest of the neighborhood patisseries - the smell of butter is almost an aphrodisiac.

Places where we find clothing that looks like mini-works of art. And among the hundreds of patisseries and bakeries - remember these facts! - Let's start this virtual journey with a visit to the Madeleine church area.

On Rue Royale is the Ladurée patisserie-tearoom. Since 1862 there they offer the divine almond macarons filled with many flavors - and other very beautiful sweets, such as the St. Honoré vanille, the rose and raspberry ispahan, or the coconut and passion fruit cocobot. Having tea in your living room, with the great angels painted on the ceiling, is a pleasure like few others.

Something curious is that when it was founded, Ladurée was a place where women could meet alone, in complete independence and without anyone criticizing them.

Leaving Ladurée, surrounding the iconic Madeleine church, you will find gastronomy shops such as La Maison Maille, which since 1747 has served kings and emperors with its famous mustards and vinegars, at Place la Madeleine, or Fauchon: from its humble origins selling Fruit in the late 1800s, grew up and today in Place de la Madeleine, it is an empire of gastronomy. Its iconic black and white cases, tied with pink ribbons, full of gourmet wonders, such as mustards, pâtés, fruits, chocolates, teas and champagne, are the ideal gift.

On the other side of the church -passing the famous Nicolas wine store- there are two of those restaurants that you cannot miss: La Maison de la Truffe and Caviar Kaspia, one next to the other, where you can taste true wonders. If you've never tried truffles, order their famous truffle fettucine - or their truffle ravioli. Also the black truffle soup or its craquant de brie cheese with truffles.

It is a small and elegant place, where the fragrance of fresh seasonal truffles - the so-called 'gastronomy black diamonds'- envelops you and fascinates you. I also recommend trying their truffle oil to take home.

Right next door has an extraordinary variety of caviar from around the world. Their Kaspia caviar has been a favorite of several celebrities since 1927: Cocó Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent, as well as Naomi Campbell, Kendall Jenner and many famous models. Other highlights are their roasted potato with caviar and the caviar tasting - which costs almost US $ 1,000. They also offer a more intimate space, the Kaspia Le Bar, in Galeries Lafayette.

 La Rue Mouffetard, Saint Germain and more ...

An old street on the rive gauche or left bank of Paris, is Rue Mouffetard where a walk will take you through a market (marché) that has fruit, vegetables, roast chickens in the middle of the street in the Rotisserie style, as well as cheeses, very cool pâtés and shops. If you are a gastronomy lover check this diverse street. Just as the well-remembered Anthony Bourdain did at the Le Papillon restaurant, in his No Reservations program.

Not far away, walking towards the charming area of ​​the Saint Germain des Prés Square (the typical Paris of tourism posters) you have to visit two restaurants that I love: the old Brasserie Lipp, which has the most delicious Alsatian chocroute in the city ) and Le Procope, the oldest café in the French capital, founded in 1686 on several levels, where Rousseau ate his Coq Au Vin, and Napoleon once left his bicorn. Their food and atmosphere are absolutely wonderful. When I go, I order the menu of the day, which includes various dishes and a surprisingly inexpensive treat. A must-see: take a tour of its multiple rooms.

As part of your tour, visit the two most famous cafes in Paris. Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore (both founded in the 1880s), where history has been made through the centuries. These places were visited by Ernest Hemingway, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus and many other artists and thinkers of the time. Sitting there to watch the world go by or have a delicious breakfast or lunch is a unique experience in Paris.

In the meantime, on this virtual tour, I recommend you visit each other's official website and learn about their fascinating history before you go there in person in the future.

In this area on the left bank of the River Seine - a 15-minute walk from the cafes - is the very chic Bon Marche store with its famous La Grande Epicerie gastronomy market. It is another must-see.

Unforgettable Parisian places and moments

It is impossible to tell you in a column everything you can experience in Paris - one of my favorite cities of all life - but there are certain moments and places that are almost an obligation. For now you can virtually browse them through their websites and even the maps available on the internet, but I assure you that when you meet them, you will enjoy them twice.

1.- Try (and take home) Angelina's hot chocolate, from 1903 at 226, rue de Rivoli, where Marcel Proust loved to sit for hours and hours and write his legendary book “À la recherche du temps perdu” (In search of lost time), while eating his favorite mont blanc of whipped cream and chestnut puree.

2.- The view and the delicious lunch of Café Marly, on a terrace of the Louvre Museum in front of the Pei Crystal Pyramid. A moment that you will remember all your life. Sit on your terrace. And be sure to visit the bathroom and see the museum's halls from its windows.

3.- The citron and fraises cakes of the Paul Pastry shop, which has several branches.

4.- The famous and super-delicious Jewish food in L'As du Fallafel, in the Jewish Quarter of Paris, in Le Marais. In this area there are several patisseries. It's worth waiting in line and trying the most delicious fallafel in Paris, and a chicken schnitzel or poulet pané, which is amazing. There are vegetarian options and also kosher. Afterwards, walk through the very fashionable Marais and visit the Picasso Museum.

5.- Visit and taste cocktails in the Hemingway Bar of the renovated and very elegant Ritz hotel in Place Vendôme or have tea with cakes and champagne in its Proust Lounge. Furthermore, the hotel offers cooking classes and is a delightful experience.

6.- A dinner at the Michelin awarded Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower is unforgettable, now with the specialties of chef Fréderic Anton. The same as dining at the same corner table at Le Grand Vefour, where Colette and Jean Cocteau - near the one that Napoleon used centuries ago - used to do in the Palais Royal area. An ideal place for a romantic lunch.

7.- If you have dreamed all your life of dining at the legendary and Michelin-awarded La Tour d'Argent (founded in 1582 and much visited by King Henry IV, there you will be able to see the boats passing by from your table window (bateaux mouches) crossing the river Seine His pressed duck by Frederic Delair is his famous specialty, of which more than a million have served and of which every diner who orders it, receives a card with the identification of the number of the dish he has eaten.

8.- At night, I recommend a dinner in one of the many restaurants or cafes for all budgets on the Champs Elysées, with the illuminated Arc de Triomphe as a background. There are some very beautiful ones like L'Alsace, Ladurée, the famous Fouquet´s, and other cheaper ones like Pizza Pino, Leon de Bruxelles, and even a great McDonald's with an outdoor terrace.

So far we come with this virtual trip through gourmet Paris and the places that seem fundamental to me to discover its gastronomic treasures.

Start dreaming, that sooner rather than later, you will be able to visit all these places in person.

Paris

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2020-07-03

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