Exploring Parisian Markets, Jazz Clubs & Boutique Hotels

Foreign.

Episode of travel in 10, we wandered through the streets of Paris with Oliver Gee, the host of the popular Earful Tower podcast.

A great look at Paris and all the things to see and do in the city that Oliver's been doing for several years now, doing a weekly podcast series on the best of Paris, uncovering sort of hidden corners, secret histories, the kind of stories that make you feel like you're already there.

Today we're stepping even further into Parisian life, into the heart of its flavors, its colors and sounds, by starting off with exploring some of the city's iconic markets.

And I find as we were talking about in our theme this week, in a second trip to a city, getting to some of its markets is really one of the best ways to really experience local life.

I love to rent a place when I'm in a city like this where it has a kitchen where you can get fresh produce, fresh market finds, bring it back and actually experience cooking when you're in a city like this as well.

And of course, Paris probably unlike any other city in the world in terms of being known for its culinary experiences, there are some great cooking classes you can do.

One we came across on our last trip was a place called Le Tellier des Chefs, has a couple of different locations throughout the city with cooking courses running regularly.

I've tried to go to it twice now, but wasn't able to because we didn't book in advance.

So if a cooking course is something you're interested while you're in town, I would check out Le Tellier des Chefs in advance and try and book your cooking class ahead of time.

But what we want to start off talking about today is really getting out and exploring some of the, some of the best markets in the city.

And I had a chance to stop through some three during one of my most recent trips to Paris.

The first was a place called Bastille Market.

This is or Marche Bastille.

This is open on Thursdays and Sundays, kind of from early morning to early afternoon near the Bastille.

It's one of the biggest, most popular open air markets in Paris.

It stretches along a wide open boulevard.

You're going to find fresh produce here, artisanal cheeses, charcuterie, seafood, fresh flowers, a great selection of ready to eat street food.

Also a few stalls selling more things like clothing and kitchenware.

But food really is very much the focus here.

And Sunday, I would say is the livelier day and where you're going to find the most merchants.

So I think of the three markets, this was probably My favorite.

And if you're in Paris on a Sunday, I would definitely recommend checking out Bastille.

Another popular market is one called Marche des Enfans Rouge.

This is one that operates from Tuesday to Sunday in the third district.

And this is the oldest covered market in Paris.

Really sort of a cozy, bustling, very much foodie focused.

This is less of a traditional produce market and more, more kind of a collection of high quality food stands and mini restaurants offering global cuisine and French favorites, of course.

Burger Fermier was one of my favorite places.

One of the best burgers I've ever had.

You pull up, pull up right to the kitchen there.

And great, great place to stop for a burger as you're passing through town.

But they had Moroccan, Japanese, fresh pasta, lots of different specialty shops, lots of great French wine and a great atmosphere.

And that, that really is what I would say that you come to this market for is the atmosphere.

Great place to go at lunchtime.

It's going to be busy, packed with both locals and tourists at communal tables.

So that makes it kind of a fun experience to meet with some locals or some other travelers as well when you stop by the market.

The third is probably the most authentic local market that I went to was Marche d'.

Aligre.

This is again, this one operates Tuesdays to Sundays, kind of early in the morning to early afternoon.

This is in the 12th district.

Kind of a cool part of town.

Very much a mix of kind of a outdoor produce market with an indoor covered market as well.

And at this market, I had a chance to stop and talk to one of the vendors and get his take on what some of the best food experiences in the city are.

And also talk a little bit about what you're going to experience at the market.

It's, it's not too touristy.

There's not many well known place in the 12th.

Yeah.

But there are really great restaurant there.

There is this market.

And what's the name of this market.

That we're at right now?

It's called Marche Bovu.

So the Bovo Market.

But most of most people call it the Marche d'.

Aligre.

Yeah, Aligre is the name of the neighborhood.

Okay.

And yeah, it's really well known for its food and food related propositions.

So there are many, many chefs who go around here and many, many locals go to market every day.

It's not something we still, still do in France.

Like there are many, many markets everywhere.

Yeah.

But it's mainly either for show or for tradition.

And we don't want to get rid of them.

Yeah.

Here people actually go here and buy things to eat with their children on the evening.

It's really.

It might seem normal, but it's not.

I'm the only person I've known carrying around a camera today.

Like everybody else looks like they are here every day.

It's a good moment to discover like the real.

The real, so to speak, Paris.

Yeah.

Because almost everybody left for the holidays.

Yeah.

So now you have the real Parisians, like people who live here and they don't live every time they have like two days free, you know.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah, but there are many, many people with camera on a day to day basis because I guess the market is famous.

But we have a lot of Canadians, we have a lot of Japanese.

Don't know why, a lot of Americans.

And so, yeah, it's a good mix of people who live here and.

And make the neighborhood what it is.

So a real place in Paris, you know, not the Champs Elysees or not.

Right.

I don't know.

Place I pretty much never go to.

Yeah.

And the other part is.

So, yeah, Americans, Canadians and so on who want to discover like French food and French products and so on.

So in terms of French fruit, French products, what are some things that people should.

Should like definitely seek out and try when they're here?

It's difficult.

My shop is actually dedicated to pretty much everything but French food, actually.

So.

So we.

Well, let's talk about the name of your shop first.

It's Sirlex.

It means on the docks.

On the docks.

Okay.

Yeah, I guess it's a reference.

I just started working here actually.

Not just.

It's been a year.

Okay.

And it's been founded like 25 years ago.

It's a reference to the Seine, where the products used to come in Paris by the river, you know, so on the docks.

And yeah, it's reference also to.

We import products from products from all around the world.

Yeah.

Mainly the Mediterranean area.

Because.

Because.

Because it's the best food in the world.

Yeah.

Let's face it.

And.

But we have also other things.

I have like a Japanese products.

And so.

Yeah, I bought your Japanese Seven Spice.

You told me that's one of your best.

Yes, it's wonderful.

And I saw you've got yuzu juice, which can be hard to find sometimes.

We have a lot of things with yuzu.

People love it.

Like I have this kind of things, like.

I don't know how to say it.

Like it's confit.

Yuzu.

Confit kind of candy.

Candy yuzu and.

Yeah but the.

The shop is.

Had been founded around the olive oil thing.

It's.

It's.

Everything turns around olive oil.

It's a big thing in front in Europe, in South Europe, Southern Europe mainly.

So yeah, we are specialists of olive oil but we have so many other things.

If you want a real, real French thing.

The so Metro Rotisserie and the Marie Bovo are two of the biggest stands stalls in the market shops.

Yeah, in the market like now it's calm but around midday the queue goes to like it goes outside the market.

Really.

Yeah, it's really, really well known and there are not this one but fish stand.

He's.

It's a generation.

Generational thing.

You know.

The current owner bought it from his father who bought it from his father and so again it's a real thing, you know.

It's not just for sure.

Yeah they've been here for, for a long time.

It's.

It's kind of cool also.

I just started working here and it's hard to get in their world.

Yeah.

That the real deal.

They're kind of harsh sometimes.

They're the real people.

They get up at like three in the morning and they.

You know.

Yeah.

And I like it.

It's a.

It's real.

Sometimes they're kind of rude to people, you know, it's just.

Yeah, I know.

I have the best thing.

So.

Yeah.

If you don't want it, if you don't have like two minutes to wait, why like just go to the next hall?

Yeah, yeah.

And yeah, maybe it's a French thing.

Many people don't like it but I kind of feel.

I kind of like it.

It's just how we do things I guess.

So outside the market I noticed there's sort of like antiques and sort of a bit of a flea market on the outside.

Is that here every day or just on the weekend?

Yeah, it's every day.

Every morning.

Every morning except for Monday.

Monday the market is closed.

Okay.

And we're open from Tuesday to tomorrow to Sunday.

And the flea market is.

Yeah, every day except Monday only in.

The morning and you open about at least today.

It was about 9 in the morning when I show up when things were first started opening up.

Yeah, many people like the, the fish store, the chicken and so on St. Open earlier because they have a lot of things to do.

Yeah, I think they open maybe around 6 or 7.

But the market opens at 8:30.

I think I open at 9:30 cuz I'm lazy.

But yeah.

It's 9 to 1pm and then 4pm to 8pm okay, so opens are 8.

Yeah, it's kind of like in Spain, you know, we have like our own.

Yes.

Siesta.

Yeah.

You were telling me this whole neighborhood is a bit of a foodie neighborhood around here beyond just the market.

And the market stalls itself.

Any highlights places you would recommend that I should check out on my tour around?

Pretty much.

So it's called the Place d'.

Aligre.

So the Allegro Square.

Yes.

You have La Rue d'.

Aligre.

Aligre street.

It's when you live by here you go on the left and the whole street is that in the morning it's hard to see, see because they are the.

The outside market.

So it's kind of messy.

Yeah, but the whole street is.

You have like Arabic pastries, you have a cheese stores, amazing cheese stores.

You have really good restaurants.

You have other kind of delicatessen kind of things.

Really nice.

On the.

On the end of it you have a place called Sabah, which is like my main.

I guess I'm advertising it.

But main antagonists.

Like he does the same thing I do.

But it's.

There's so much small things and it's more oriented Africa and really nice place.

So Rue d' Ligo parallel to this.

It's Rue Cote, same thing, but only restaurants.

Okay.

And really, really nice place from Thailand, Vietnam, Pizza place, so on.

So what else, what else was.

You have to like just move around the neighborhood.

Like the main street over there is called Boulevard St. Antoine.

Okay.

It's a big street.

Who links?

Place de la Nation Place.

So really, really big place.

And Place de Bastille.

Yeah.

And the whole boulevard, the whole street is filled with good restaurants from delicatessen like my own.

And.

And so.

And so you have just to move around.

It's really quiet and.

And cool neighborhood too.

Is that Marais?

Is that the name of that neighborhood?

As you get to place the Bastille.

Around that area, Marais kind of starts.

Yeah, it starts at Bastille.

Yeah, we're not in the Marriott right now.

Yeah, it starts around Basi and it goes to Hotel de Ville.

So the City hall.

I walked around that area last night and lots of great restaurants and cool shops.

It's.

It's a really, really great place.

But it's the opposite of here.

It's the Paris.

It's a touristy Paris and not in a bad way.

It's nice.

Yeah, it's really crowded and really famous brand stores.

And yeah, here it's.

This is much More local.

Yeah, it's chill.

Yeah.

You know, you just walk by, you rest someplace.

There are a lot of little cafes and so on.

It's more.

It's why I like it.

I'm not from.

From Paris.

I come from the south.

And I didn't like Paris in the beginning.

And when I discovered here, I went there because I used to work for the government.

Don't ask me why I do that.

And then I discovered the 12th and I fell in love.

It's really.

It reminds me of my place.

It doesn't feel like Paris.

It feels like a medium town in southern France.

I love it.

People do seem to really identify.

Like last night I was talking with someone who lives in the 11th, and they love the 11th.

You talk about this whole thing.

People really seem to identify with their local district.

It means a lot here.

It's a real thing.

We have each arrondissement, pretty much each has its own identity.

The northern part of Paris is so different from the southern part.

Is there a bit of rivalry between the districts?

Yeah, kind of, yeah, if it's a rivalry.

But there's places in Paris I would never leave in, you know, and my friends live in them.

And when we talk about it, like in the evening with a.

So it can.

The debate can eat up, you know, like.

No, no, not the 80s.

It's horrible.

It's terrible.

Too noisy.

It smells.

I don't know.

Here it's kind of the.

My friends think is like the.

The old part of price.

Like, they're only old people, you know.

Yeah, that's quite.

And yeah, so.

And then pretty much prefer the.

The, like the Marais part, where there's, I don't know, music and.

Yeah.

Party or so.

Or the northern parties is usually part, like the 18th or the 20th, which are.

Which are great places, but it's more dedicated to, like, a party and maybe hearts.

I have many, like, friends who are painters and so on, and they have their studios over there, so it's cool too, but it's not the same.

I prefer food, so I prefer.

Ali.

Yes.

So I did want to do a bit of a foodie tour today.

Would you say.

Did I pick the right market or is there another part of town in addition to this one?

Another one that's worth.

There's many, but I. I went to, if you want to like, a completely different vibe.

But I loved it.

I. I went to do like a delivery in the city, 7th arrondissement, which is like one of the richest.

That's where the Eiffel Tower is.

Yeah, it's and I, I never go there.

I don't have to eat on the other part of Paris and I had to, to do a delivery over there and when I was in the subway I went ah, I don't want to go there.

It sucks.

And it's actually really, really nice.

So you can go to Ecole Militaire, some military school home.

It's the name of the station.

Okay.

And there's the street called so C L E R I think street.

And it's a walking area.

There's no cars and they are like the, it's dedicated to food again but much more like famous names like the biggest chocolate makers in jeans.

Biggest.

I don't know, pastry makers because restaurant.

It's a really, really nice place to, to walk by again.

It doesn't feel that much like Paris.

It's.

It's quiet, it's really clean.

Yeah.

Which is odd.

Parachute.

Yeah.

And yeah, I loved it.

So yeah, you could, you could try this one.

But markets, there's so many.

There's this St. Quentin market in the 10th I think which is a, a bit bigger than here.

I don't like it that much but it's a good place too.

Yeah.

And there's a lot of outside markets especially in the weekend.

We have Saturday now.

So you just walk by, you can find something terrific.

So hopefully those three overviews of three different markets in the city between Bastille, between Marche des Enfants, Rouge and Marche d' Aligre gives you some three great markets to check out when you're in the city.

But want to go a bit beyond just markets in this episode and talk about just a couple of final things here as we look at the second trip to Paris and some of our best recommendations.

And one of them is around where to stay.

And we had a great property that my daughter and I, we were, we were there for 16th birthday here earlier this year and came across a great boutique hotel called Hotel 34B.

And this is part of a chain of boutique hotels.

Astotel is the, is the chain that, that operates them a number of kind of three and four star hotels throughout the city.

Really well priced but moder, great amenities, great design and they've got some really cool features at these hotels.

One of them is a free minibar in your room with the kind of non alcoholic drinks and snacks that you can get anytime you like.

Which, which is a nice bonus to have as you're traveling in Paris.

Many of their, their properties are in great locations.

They've all got kind of unique features, they're really kind of incorporating the local neighborhood, local art.

So I. I really, really enjoyed this chain.

And, and one other kind of really interesting aspect of it is that they had this kind of free afternoon gathering where everyone in the hotel could come down for coffee and afternoon snacks free of charge.

And if you were staying at any one of their chain hotels throughout the city, I think They've got about 10 to 15 properties throughout the city.

You could go to the happy hour at any of the properties throughout the city.

So as you were traveling around, you were looking for just a quick stop in the afternoon was a great way to do that as well.

So would highly recommend Hotel 34B.

But also just checking out all of the hotels in the same chain, that ast hotel chain throughout Paris and some great properties there.

Finally, I want to talk about one can't miss which again, during our weekend that we were there for my daughter's birthday, she really wanted to go check out some of the jazz clubs of Paris.

And we stumbled across a great one, a place called Cavaux de la Hachette.

This was open till probably three in the morning, four in the morning, every night we were there, and almost every night we were in Paris.

We ended up there and ended up there until it closed.

Great live music, great atmosphere, really inexpensive, just made for a great night out and a great atmosphere.

So to close out today's episode, we'll leave you with a little bit of music and a little bit of a flavor of what you would experience at Cabo de la Hachette.