My ‘Hood – Tuesday, 26 September

Hey, look at who’s at the end of my street! I choose to take this as a positive sign!

Oh my goodness, texting while walking seems to have taken over the town! Surprisingly, I haven’t seen any collisions yet with distracted walkers, but I have had to “yield” to some of these kids. My message to them: “Don’t text and walk or I might have to hit you with my cane!”

The building that the apartment I’m renting is in houses mostly doctors’ offices. It is next door to a big sports center https://www.evous.fr/Centre-sportif-Jean-Dame,1117300.html. There are a few cafes and bars on the street, and one hotel, but overall it’s pretty quiet. My windows face an inner courtyard, so really about the only noise comes from the slight rumble of trains running in the Metro deep underground. I think I’d prefer just a teeny bit more of the lively street sounds typical in this neighborhood!

The apartment is in the 2nd arrondissement, just on the north side of the "Les Halles" area of the 1st arrondissement. For centuries (really - since the late 12th century) this was the central market where farmers, fishermen and producers brought their meat, fish, seafood, vegetables, fruits, grains, poultry, mushrooms, eggs, dairy, honey, nuts, herbs, spices, preserves - you name it - to sell to restaurants, shops and individuals. Émile Zola wrote a novel featuring the market and its merchants called Le Ventre de Paris (The Belly of Paris). In the 1850s enormous glass and iron buildings were erected to house the daily markets; they were all torn down in 1971 when the wholesale market was moved to the distant suburb of Rungis.

But during the time it operated as a market area, scores of food-related cafes and shops opened to support the suppliers, customers, bakers, chefs, etc. who shopped the markets. Many of these still operate in this area, making it a cook, baker and foodie haven! You can find anything you need (and many things that you had no idea you needed until you saw them!) in the shops that specialize in kitchen equipment, porcelain, baking supplies, spices, silverware, pots & pans, candymaking supplies, chocolate, etc. And there are plenty of bars and cafés in which to rest your weary legs and have a drink & a bite to eat!

My street, rue Léopold Bellan, intersects with one of the great Paris food streets, rue Montorgueil, which is three blocks of bakery next to wine shop, next to vegetable stand, next to fish/seafood market, next to pizza joint, next to butcher, next to florist, next to cheesemonger, next to dry cleaner, next to olive oil purveyor, next to deli, next to foie gras & preserved food vendor, next to tea supplier, next to chocolatier, next to café, next to supermarket, with some hardware stores and tobacconists and locksmiths and pharmacies and toy/novelty shops thrown in for good measure – all up and down both sides of the street – if you can’t picture it, you should just come here and see for yourself!

Confiture artisanale
du Morvan from Burgundy,
found at the
cheesemonger - wow!

My afternoon "coffee break!"

I stayed in the ‘hood today, stocking up the larder (including the best strawberry jam I’ve ever had – one of life’s not-so-small pleasures!) and buying a few essentials and watching the world go by from café chairs when I needed a break. This is an amazingly diverse area – teenagers, business people, moms & nannies with strollers, little kids with big dogs, big guys with little dogs, skateboarders, bicyclers, beggars, tourists, street entertainers, the elderly, the handicapped, the fit, the hip & fashionable, the shabby & not-so-chic, teachers leading long lines of schoolkids, artists, hawkers, flâneurs – you really can sit in one place and watch the world go by. So I do!