Markets, Open-Air & Covered, to Beeline to in Paris
....plus, an info-packed guide to all 20 Parisian districts, a study confirms the city is insanely crowded, & a Strasbourg patisserie I'm now gaga for
Dear Subscribers,
Particularly on a spring or autumn morning in Paris, there’s little I find more alluring than strolling through a marché alimentaire (food market or farmer’s market). The French capital has dozens scattered through the city, from open-air stalls that pop up twice or more frequently every week to traditional covered markets— some of which are hundreds of years old. The latter are especially good havens on a rainy or miserably cold day— of which there are many at certain times of year.
The most-beloved-and-frequented food markets offer ridiculously fresh produce and other goods– olives, cheeses, fish, bread, oils, flowers, the list goes on– in abundance, alongside impressive people-watching opportunities.
But consider yourself forewarned: the culture of the Parisian marché isn’t always genteel. t’s not uncommon for regulars to brush past you impatiently with their enormous shopping caddies if you get in the way of their attempt to assess a pile of fresh chanterelles. The crowds can be a little daunting, and again, pushing isn’t unheard of.
The vendors, though usually cheerful and happy to offer samples of a juicy wedge of pear or a bit of orange, can also be a tad brusque and business-like, hollering out the deals of the day in singsong cries and attending to your order without much ceremony or chit-chat. They also often dislike their stands being photographed— if you want pics, you may have to be a bit surreptitious about it. This is something I’ve had to learn over the years.
Let me temper all this: I’ve also had some of the warmest exchanges with locals at Parisian markets, both of the covered and open-air variety. You might argue that, alongside the cafe terrace, the market functions in French culture a bit like the Greek “agora”: especially on the weekends, it’s a place where people of many backgrounds and ages assemble and interact.
If the modern supermarket is too often a lonely, droning and grim place, the traditional marché whether indoor or out, can be an antidote to the ho-hum sameness and isolation of contemporary life.
I’m probably waxing too idealistic and misty-eyed about all this. Surely a farmer’s market is just a place where people come to buy some handsome leeks for and sweet gariguette strawberries, then go about their days, right? Maybe the truth lies somewhere in the middle…
Whatever your perspective and without further ado, consult our picks for the finest open-air and covered markets in the French capital.
Next, I was intrigued by the results of a small study that confirmed something many of us already know viscerally: Paris is a ridiculously crowded place. The capital is the world’s most-visited city in terms of square kilometers, attracting 351,429 visitors per square km — compared to New York City’s 80,760 per square km.
So while NYC technically comes in first as the most-popular city for tourists (over 63 million visits per year compared to around 44 million for Paris according to most estimates), the presence of tourists in any given square kilometer in the French capital is likely to be denser. They're less dispersed across available space than they’d be in NYC and in many other cities.
One of my takeaways from all this, especially for first-time visitors? Make sure not to just spend all your time in areas that are densely packed with tourists, or you might start to feel something akin to a greasy sardine (especially in the now-sweltering summer months). I go into some detail on all this here, in my broader guide to planning a first trip to Paris.
This all offers a nice segue into the next piece I wanted to draw a bit of attention to today: a massive, intensely-researched and updated guide to what to see & do in all 20 Parisian arrondissements (city districts).
To help you get oriented, understand a bit about the city’s key neighborhoods as you plan your trip, and gain an overview of places and things to spend time on in each, keep reading. Think of it as a trusty primer that might help you avoid finding yourself stuck in the same old, well-trodden places.
And remember, even areas you assume to be purely touristy often aren’t. You just need to know where to find the quieter, more local corners in places around the Louvre, Eiffel Tower or Centre Pompidou. That’s one of the things I've aimed to achieve in the guide, which (for example) directs you to a market street just blocks from the Eiffel Tower that tends to bustle with local residents rather than tourists.
Changing tack a bit, I’ve got two recent exclusive posts for paid subscribers this month (and remember, you can take advantage of a 7-day free trial to read these, or any features in our now-ample archive at Substack, that may interest you).
First up, I take you inside the Strasbourg-based patisserie and bakery that’s won my devotion due to its intensely delicious cakes, pastries, hand-tossed pizzas, and various other specialities.
Maison Naegel is notably the place where— as I detail in the post— I happened on what has to be the most delicious (and original) lemon meringue tart I’d yet had the joy of tasting. And detail more on why this is one of the places you should definitely put on your list if you’re ever in Strasbourg. Just be prepared to stand in line for a stretch.
Next, if you’re interested in delving into urban history, make sure to check out this post on 3 free history museums I recommend in the Marais (one of Paris’ most popular neighborhoods— but as I note above, even these reserve areas and sites that get less attention than they should).
Within a tight radius of just a couple of miles and a few metro stations, you can shuttle between three of the capital’s better history museums. And in more good news, their permanent collections are all free to the general public.
If you're willing and able to, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. This gives you unlimited access to my archive of exclusive articles on the capital and other destinations in France— including in-depth travel itineraries, stories and reviews like the ones above.
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That’s a wrap for this month’s free newsletter, friends. I’d be remiss if I didn’t note once again how grateful I am for your continued readership and support. I also encourage you to visit the Paris Unlocked website to dig into our free archive of in-depth stories, features and France-related travel tips, and to visit our YouTube channel for some visual inspiration & travel tips.