Disclosure: I received a small discount on my Vacation in Paris apartment rental in exchange for a writeup about my experience and a post about my most recent trip. You can read about a few of my favourite Paris markets on the Vacation in Paris blog.
Long-time readers will know that I lived for a number of years in Paris before I moved to Canada. In the pre-Internet age (! I know, shocking!!) I was not particularly well-informed about many aspects of moving to France, knowing only what I knew from reading guide books and chatting with people (in real life, imagine!). So when it came to the question of where to live, I didn’t have much information available. For the first month I lived there, I was in a Foyer des Jeunes Filles while I found my feet. I spent my spare time (when I was not waiting tables or chasing up people at the university – yes, I was supposedly there to work on my PhD) poring over the English-language classifieds, trying to find a place to live that would work with my small budget.
Quite by chance, I ended up one Sunday afternoon meeting with a landlord in the 2nd arrondissement on a street called Tiquetonne. A charming, pedestrian street paved with cobblestones, it intersected at one point with a street called Montorgueil, that I noted at the time, was a lovely quiet street. The area seemed very different from the touristy Left Bank where I had mostly been looking for places and the rent was do-able (also, the studio was not much bigger than a closet but, hey, it’s Paris…). I moved in a couple of weeks later on a weekday morning and I noticed that the area was no longer quiet and that the rue Montorgeuil was a full-blown market-street. Even way back then, before I was writing about food, I knew that I had found something really special. I stayed in the tiny studio for a couple of months, moved to a different studio in the building for close to 4 years and spent another year in a much larger place a few blocks away. I was smitten with the area.
And still am today. Every time I go back to Paris, I stay in the old ‘hood and it’s always great to see how some things stay the same though the area has seen a lot of change over the past decade and now it’s firmly ensconced on the “foodie tourist trail”. With good reason but it is definitely much more touristy than it was when I moved in! On my recent trip, mum and I stayed in a tiny studio just on the edges of the ‘hood, thanks to Vacation in Paris and because we didn’t have a very “full on” schedule (see how we travelled in this post), it was rather tempting to just stay the entire time in the 2nd arrondissement. We didn’t, of course, but you totally could…
There are bakeries for your morning baguette…
(Maison Collet at 100 rue Montorgueil also has a spectacular selection of giant meringues…)
The rue Montorgueil is also home to the oldest pâtisserie in Paris – Pâtisserie Stohrer.
If you’re a baker or cook, the area’s cookware stores will have you wishing you had a bigger luggage allowance…
Pictured:
Dehillerin
18-20 Rue Coquillière
75001 Paris
http://eshop.e-dehillerin.fr/
La Bovida
36 Rue Montmartre
75001 Paris
https://www.labovida.com/
Mora
13 Rue Montmartre
75001 Paris
http://www.mora.fr/fr/index.asp
G. Detou
58 rue Tiquetonne
75002, Paris
Phone: + 33 1 42 36 54 67
(no website)
Read more about my favourite kitchen stores in the 2nd arrondissement here.
Tired from all that shopping? Grab a newspaper or magazine and settle in on one of the many patios for some serious people-watching:
(Au Rocher de Cancale at 78 rue Montorgueil has been there since 1848!)
Refreshed from your session of people-watching, head to the old-fashioned hardware store (yes really…) at 69 rue Montorgueil.
…there you’ll be able to pick up your re-usable shopping bag that you’ll need later…
Because the rue Montorgueil is a great place to pick up all you need for dinner that you can enjoy in your vacation rental!
How about that classic French “fast food”, poulet rôti?
(Tribolet at 54 rue Montorgueil, has been around since 1927!).
Fancy some vegetables to go with that chicken?
(Note that at the Palais du Fruit, 62-74 rue Montorgueil, you can’t select the produce outside the store but inside you are free to choose your own)
And what about some wine to go with that?
Nicolas, the chain store at 61 rue Montorgueil, has a range of wines for every palate and price range!
To end your meal, there’s no shortage of cheese stores on the rue Montorgueil either…
If you’re staying in Paris a week or more, I always recommend buying flowers for your vacation rental.
Anaïs at 52 rue Montorgueil has a lovely range.
If you’ve still got room in your bag, the rue Montorgueil is a great place to pick up some souvenirs.
Tea from Mariage Frères at 90 rue Montorgueil is a great Paris gift for someone (or yourself!)
A la Mère de Famille at 82 rue Montorgueil has a great range of chocolates and candies to suit any sweet tooth!
On your way back to enjoy your dinner in your rental apartment, don’t forget to look up!
And after you’ve enjoyed your French dinner chez toi, maybe head out for a walk around the neighbourhood as night falls. In the mood for a nightcap?
Ma Cave Fleury at 177 rue St Denis (about a block from the rue Montorgueil in what looks like a seedy street but it’s really quite harmless) is the place to order biodynamic wines or champagnes by the glass or bottle, served up by Morgane Fleury, a former actress who serves as brand ambassador for her family’s champagne house in this quaint, slightly chaotic looking space. It’s not pretentious at all and a great place to while away a few hours over some wines you likely won’t find outside France. Live music on some nights and they serve cheese and charcuterie platters too.
…And this is just touching the tip of the iceberg of things to do/ see/ eat and drink in the 2nd arrondissment around the rue Montorgueil… See why it’s hard to get out and see anything else? 😉
What’s your favourite area in Paris?
Read more about my work with Vacation in Paris here.
Disclosure: I received a small discount on my Vacation in Paris apartment rental in exchange for a writeup about my experience and a post about my most recent trip. You can read about a few of my favourite Paris markets on the Vacation in Paris blog.
Wonderful post Mardi. It makes me want to go back even though we just returned a few weeks ago. Now we have another street to discover.
Barbara – you would love this area. You’ll just have to go back!
Oh yeah… I remember the street well. Never a dull moment, never short of something to look at.
You can totally see how one could spend days in that hood and not leave, right?