After living in \’the 14th\’ for quite many years, I have found my favourite places in the \’quartier\’ which I\’d like to share with you…
Best Chocolate
Maison Chenu
85 rue Raymond Losserand
Although the owner of this patisserie takes a bit of getting used to, it\’s well worth a visit to try her homemade chocolates. You can buy a box of chocolates to take home as a souvenir/gift or you can choose from the section available and buy a little sachet, which you can then sample while walking home through the famous street \’rue des Thermoplyes\’ which sides with their shop. \’Rue des Thermoplyes\’ is probably the most photographed street in the neighbourhood which has featured in a number of films including \’Paris Je t\’aime\’.
Best bread
La Fournée d\’Augustine
96 Raymond Losserand
There\’s probably more than ten boulangeries along the length of Raymond Losserand one of which has recently been publicised in the press as producing the best baguette in Paris: However my favourite is La Fournée d\’Augustine, try their \’petite boule levin\’ or their \’petite boule cereales\’ or one of their \’baguettes tradition\’ . What ever you choose you won\’t go wrong! While you\’re there you won\’t be able to resist their cakes… I like their traditional cheese cake or their strawberry tarts. Unfortunately this boulangerie isn\’t open on Sundays. Little tip to keep your bread fresh Keep your bread in an air tight container to retain its freshness, pop it in the oven for a few minutes to crust it up a bit.
Cheapest Café
Le Moulin Cafe
9 Place de la Garenne (just off rue Pernety)
You can become an \’adherent\’ of this little cafe for 10€ and benefit from further reductions off your food and drink. Even without the discount you can get a platter of cheese and a glass of wine for 5€; they also serve extremely cheap lunch and dinner dishes. They have a section of board games which you can play and they have regular entertainment throughout the week including Salsa and Zumba classes. Once a week you can buy locally grown organic vegetables from the cafe at extremely reasonable prices. It seems the cash made goes to the neighbours\’ social club as it is run by them.
Best ladies clothes
Shop Ema Robe
49 rue Daguerre
A fantastic selection of clothes at reasonable prices, I love their dresses and handbags. Ema Robe offers a selection on Nat and Nin handbags and purses.
Best salads
Maison Peret
6 rue Daguerre
Peret offer a wide range of delicious salads my favourites being the Capri (only available from May to September when the goats cheese is in season) and the Mayan salad with goats cheese roasted on honey bread. If you don\’t like one of the ingredients the waiters are always happy to swap them for you. You can have an apero there watching the shoppers pass buy, I recommend \’un cremant\’ for an appetitive. If you go with friends get a pitcher of Cahors red wine and a platter of cheese and charcuterie and you\’ll love it. If you have any room left their \’confite de figue\’ dessert is great, again only available when in season.
Wine tasting
There\’s a number of places where you can go for wine tasting and tapas:
Place Jacques Demy
rue Didot, this cave offers wine from the Languedoc region of France in the south. As the region is one of the sunniest in France their wine is strong, like Spanish wine. You can do a degustation here of wine and charcuterie.
L\’ombre d\’un Bouchon
82 rue Daguerre
A very classy cave where you can try a range of wines from different regions and countries:
Are you missing home…?
Monoprix on rue Alesia has a British section where you can get among other things HP Sauce, Marmite, Typhoo tea bags and salad cream.
There\’s also a Japanese section and Spanish and Italian section in case you\’re missing any other delicacies.
Do you have any secret tips about the \’14th that you would not mind sharing ? Please let us know in the comments
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