- Theresa Downs
Wine By Appointment Falls Into Paris
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Wine By Appointment is in Paris!
Wine By Appointment spent late September and early October in the City of Lights, Paris, enjoying the sights, wonderful markets, fabulous food, and most of all, spectacular wine!
Highlights of our trip included a romantic boat trip down the Seine, a terrific wine dinner, touring the wonderful food and produce markets and cooking classes.
Our first stop with at Legrand Fillet et Fils located in the beautiful Gallerie Vivienne to sample white and red burgundies from some of the best wine regions in France.
Next stop was a superlative dinner at the Aux Lyonnais, featuring the specialties of Lyon. Definitely worth a visit; one of the first Parisian bistros, the snails alone are worth a trip.
One special night, we traveled down the Seine with the Bateaux Parisians boat tour. This is a great way to see Paris at night. We enjoyed a multi-course dinner with multiple wines while gently floating down the Seine enjoying the beautiful lights.
Another new favorite is Willi’s Wine Bar in the 1st arrondissement. Great food and even better wine in a relaxed atmosphere perfect for cozy get-togethers.
No trip to Paris is complete without a visit to Maison Dubernet, particularly if you are a foie gras aficionado. And, even if you aren’t, it’s just fun to take a look around their amazing shop with their assortments of pates and charcuterie.
A real find this trip was La Place Royale. We stumbled upon this elegant restaurant after a morning perusing the Marais. Located in the square surrounding the Place des Vosges, it gave us a welcome respite from the rigors of site-seeing. Lunch was incredible, paired with a great Bordeaux.
Other memorable evenings were a wine pairing dinner and wine tasting we attended at O Chateau, probably our favorite wine bar in Paris. Friendly, expert wine professionals greet you in a cozy modern lair making you feel at home instantly.
Our sommeliers for the both evenings skillfully interwove interesting Parisian facts with wine knowledge making for a delightful evening. All fare was prepared by the O Chateau staff. The foie gras, in particular, was impressive.
A new discovery was Wine Tasting in Paris….a modern wine tasting salon in the 5th arrondissement. The sommelier, Thierry, conducting the tasting gave one of the best presentations on wine I’ve ever attended. A demonstration packed with bits of local color and wine knowledge together with great wine in a cool environment. Definitely something to plan to do.
I was lucky enough to attend a couple of cooking classes while in Paris this time. The class at Le Foodist located in the 5th arrondissement included a trip to the local market and a 6 hour cooking class. Small class size allowed students to have lots of hands-on participation…thoroughly enjoyable.
Ecole de cuisine-Alain Ducasse school offered an introduction to more formal French cooking. Students prepared panfried sea scallops and vegetables under the watchful eye of Rachel. I walked away with a lot more knowledge of sea scallops and their beards! A really, really great experience.
Anyone spending any length of time in Paris should make a point to visit at least one market or marche. They are incredible and worth spending at least one afternoon browsing and sampling their fare. While there a number of markets, usually open some weekdays as well as on weekends, our very favorite was the Marche de Aligre. Rows and rows of amazing displays of fresh meats, seafood, fruits and vegetables, cheese and, yes, wine!
No blog about Paris or France, for that matter, is complete without some type of homage to butter. I don't normally eat butter but couldn't resist Parisian butter.
And so our visit is over with plans to return very soon.