Paris in January : A Cozy Culinary Escape

While January in Paris is a little grey, damp and on the chilly side, the city never disappoints. The crush of tourists is only a slight squeeze and we find ourselves enjoying the sites like a local.  

We have chosen to explore a new neighborhood as our home base, Le Marais, in the 4th arrondissement.  Le Marais is vibrant in January. The cobble stone streets are speckled with falafel shops, boulangerie, Yiddish specialty shops and hip clothing stores. Neighbors cluster and chat as they pass. The buzz in the street ebbs and flows well into the night. The restaurants fill late into the evening and the boulageries bustle in the morning( and until the last baguette is sold!)

Though Paris is know for its exquisite food, winter is the ideal time for some classic comfort food. While onion soup may be cliché on a chilly damp evening it is a warm hug of deep complex flavors and scrumptious stringy cheese that dribbles on ours chins with each mouthful.  Cheese is king in France!

A gratin chaud at  the Bistro au St. Augustins another traditional delicacy that is matched no where else. thin sliced potatoes and lardons, tomatoes, onion and garlic bubbling hot in a crème and cheese sauce will transport you to a gastronomic nirvana.

Paris’s version of street food, a gyro from the Latin Quarter or a falafel pita from the Marais and you are acclimating to this amazing place one bite at a time. 

We quickly find a boulangerie right around the corner from our apartment. With a French vocabulary that rivals Emily in Paris, you can easily order your caffe, croissant ( or other scrumptious tart), 

drink with the locals,as maman stops off with her daughter for a petite-dèjeuner, or mesdames et messieurs  get their baguettes still warm from the oven…. the feast is more than the bite, something for all the senses!

Welcome to Paris! Next post… a look inside the newly re-done Notre Dame Cathedral. Preview… it’s spectacular!