France Day 2 – 3/31/2026 – Food in Paris

This morning, we went on a three-hour walk through the Marais district of Paris, sampling food at seven different shops. It’s a neighborhood just north of our hotel and Notre Dame, a place with lots of interesting shops and restaurants. Not as crowded or as blatantly touristy as the Latin Quarter was yesterday.

Our first stop was a genuine boulangerie, a store that makes bread onsite, not to be confused with a patisserie that sells bread but doesn’t make it onsite. Petit Ile had another characteristic that set the tone for several of the other stops on this tour: it’s operators are Taiwanese. Wherever they came from, the croissants we sampled were delicious; just what you’d expect in Paris.

Actually, croissants themselves are an import from Austria. Our guide said that many “French” foods are imports from elsewhere. The French either make them with better ingredients, with greater skill or with greater artistry, take your pick.

Next, a chocolatier. From where? Japan. You couldn’t tell the nationality; the chocolate tasted 100% French.

Then a quiche and salad plate that proved to be a meal in itself. This one looked to be genuine French, but who knows?

Paris has an active Jewish population, and our trip included a stop at a genuine Jewish deli where a pastrami sandwich was offered. In reality there are two distinct Jewish populations in Paris: those from Eastern Europe and another more recent group from Northern Africa. Falafel can be found in the same neighborhood as pastrami.

Jews in France achieved the right to own property, run businesses and become citizens in the 1790s during the French Revolution and Paris became a favorite place to settle for Jews from elsewhere in Europe. The Vichy government during WWII turned most of the Jews over to the Germans; most never made it back from Auschwitz.

Here’s what the Arab News said about the proprietor of our next shop: “Meet Myriam Sabet, the Syrian pastry chef conquering Paris.” She conquered my taste buds with a chocolate creation, that’s for sure.

The last two stops got combined into one: a cheese and wine tasting session, cheese from one store and wine from another. This time, both came from France and our guide gave us precise geographic references for both. A nice white and a Beaujolais that even Judy liked.

Our guide turned out to be from Dublin Ireland. Her story was one we’ve heard before: “I came here for a study abroad year. Fell in love with the place and here I am ten years later.”

 So, a very cosmopolitan outing, a lot of fun and great food all along the way.

The tour ended just across the Seine from Ile Saint Louis, our hotel home’s island. We walked back but fell victim to the siren call of a coffee shop next door to the hotel. Chai Latte gave us the strength to retrieve our bags, hail an Uber and get to the dock to board the Tapestry II, our home for the next seven days as we sail northward down the Seine to Normandy and back.

The ship’s very nice, very competitive with Viking river boats we’ve been on before. There was a welcoming session with free booze and canapés, introduction of the captain and staff, etc. followed by a four-course dinner: escargot, lobster soup, veal or John Dory and a raspberry tart for dessert. All the wine you cared to drink.

Tomorrow I’m going on a walking tour and Judy’s touring by bus before we cast off in the evening.