foodwineclick

Take Away Message:
Go to Paris.  Stay in the 7th Arrondissement. Take the Eiffel Tower Food Tour early in your trip and eat well for the rest of your stay.  Thank us later.

A typical 7th Arrondissement view.

Julie and I were planning a long awaited trip to Europe this summer.  Julie had not been to Paris since 1977 (!) and I have never been, so we knew we would need to start there.  Lucky for us, I stumbled on Mardi Michels through her Instagram photos of her food tour around the Eiffel Tower back in July.  Besides her excellent photography on Instagram, she writes a wonderful blog: Eat Live Travel Write. We found a bunch of great Paris suggestions from Mardi and other bloggers.

Localers is a company that runs a wide variety of tours all around Paris.  All the tours are small groups or even private and are reasonably priced given that you will part of a small group.  Our 3 hour food tour involved a total of 8 people plus our guide, Maël.  The cost was €119 per person for two people.  By the conclusion of the tour, we knew several very good restaurants, the difference between a brasserie and a bistro or restaurant, and excellent sources for cheese, chocolate, bread, pastries, meringues, fish, wine, ham, macarons and of course, foie gras.  What’s the difference between a boulanger and an artisan boulanger?  Ask us.  Picnic by the Eiffel tower?  No problem!

We found some of the best advice for Paris from travel and ex-pat bloggers. It’s like getting advice from a good friend.  You’d be crazy to ignore it!

Here’s a brief summary of our fast paced tour in photos.  Click on any photo to start the slide show.

Maël started the tour with an introduction to Left Bank architecture.

Maël explained the important difference. Look for an Artisan Boulanger.

Michelin 2 star restaurant lists the menu by ingredient, not by dish.

Maël explained that the Brasserie below offers adventurous food at a more reasonable price. We agree!

The staff having lunch before the noon rush.

Learning the finer points of boulangerie.

Patisserie: our first tasting stop.

Go for the tradition over the baguette; better quality flour.

Madeleines, macarones, and canelé.

Macarons: sweet and pure flavor

Purity of a single macaron

Take a sandwich for lunch

Sparkling apple cider

Watch out: it’s under pressure.

Cool tool for slicing Spanish ham.

Aging hams as decorations. One of these hams was €2000.

Not a machine gun case, a holder for your jambon.

Olive oil tasting? Yes please.

Chocolate Artist

Pave: miniature versions of the bricks in Paris streets

One of a kind chocolate handbag.

My mom made our Easter chocolates in molds just like these. So nice.

Dremel tool made of chocolate?

Paris High School students on break: too cool.

Not the high season for black truffles, this still smelled so good. I bought some truffle salt.

Rue Cler fruit stand

Fresh fish at Rue Cler

Ready to eat seafood salad.

Sea whelks

Rue Cler fruits

Fresh Ceps

We also did a honey tasting. My favorite was thyme honey. How about you?

Live music at lunch by a Rue Cler Brasserie

A variety of single source chocolates

Single source chocolate shop – terroir for chocolate

Macarons!

The macarons are carefully handled by special tongs

The foie gras shop

Ready to try my first foie gras

Duck, Duck, Goose! Left to right: partially cooked duck, fully cooked duck, goose.

Dessert wine is the classic pairing for foie gras

Sweet white wine is the perfect pairing for foie gras

Every type of cheese you might like to buy.

Preparing our cheese course with wine

Two hams, young sheep’s milk cheese, aged cow’s milk cheese, and young goat’s milk cheese

Corsican wine to enjoy with our cheese plate

Our guide, Maël, and me at our tour conclusion

Sunday afternoon, we counted 7 brides simulataneously at the Eiffel Tower. Crazy, but fun!

Every hour on the hour, the Eiffel Tower has a scintillating light show.

Peace garden view to the Eiffel Tower

Thanks to Maël and Localers for the fun tour.  Thanks to Mardi Michels for introducing us!