If you follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Flickr, you’ll know I spend an awful lot of time in Paris. And that I lived there many years ago. Back in 1995 when I first moved there, I unknowingly moved myself right into what Zola calls the “Belly of Paris” (the Les Halles neighbourhood in the 2ième arrondissement). My tiny studio apartment was situated around the corner from the rue Montorgueil, but as I came to learn over the 5+ years I lived there, the quartier offers so much more for the food enthusiast than the gorgeous market atmosphere in the rue Montorgueil.
Ah, the kitchenware stores – a throwback to the days of Les Halles being a thriving market (a market was located in the area from 1183 until 1969 when the market moved outside Paris to Rungis). Back when I lived there, my studio had a “kitchen” the size of a postage stamp so I wasn’t really in the market for anything kitchenware-related. These days, it’s a different story when I visit Paris because these type of stores are always first on my list of places to visit (yes, above museums!)
From specialty ingredients to the biggest copper pots you’ve ever seen in your life, these stores really do have “de tout” (everything)!
I mean, for me it wouldn’t be a trip to Paris without some sort of kitchenware purchase (and sometimes, I am, indeed *that* person – the one on the floor of the airport check-in line, moving things like baking trays from one bag to another to distribute weight more evenly in my luggage!).
Indeed, specialty ingredients and kitchenware (within limits of luggage allowance, of course!) are my favourite souvenirs to bring back from Paris.
Want to know more about the kitchenware stores around Les Halles/ Montorgueil? Check out my guest post over on the Vacation in Paris blog for all the details of my favourites (and some useful hints to help you shop in them!) and to discover all my “bonnes addreses.”
I want the rooster at the top of the post – it’s very cool.
Currently in that “too small a kitchen” thing, but I could find myself shifting pots and pans around like you! I must check it out when next we are there!