Rue Mouffetard
For those of you who are foodies and find yourself in the Latin Quarter area, a visit to Rue Mouffetard would and should be the call of the day. Located in the 5th, this street is a remnant of a Roman road that lead south to Italy and the origin of its outdoor market can be traced back to 1350. Typical of the middle ages, people still venture here for their daily food shopping which, ahem, I do believe surpasses the other famous foodie street, Rue Cler. I’m sure that will get a rise out of some people.
The fruits and vegetables brought in by farmers who set up shop in the open air market are spectacular. Blood oranges and mangoes and figs are more like candy than fruit, that’s how sweet and succulent they are. Buy an incredible wedge of cheese at any one of the several cheese shops, a baguette, find a quite corner in the tiny garden at Saint Médard, the church at the southern end of the street and be mindful that life does not get much better!!
Over the years, shops have given way to less than spectacular tourist traps, selling things you really don’t need. Once the market shuts down, restaurants along the street open their doors and you can find typically rustic French fare or burgers and fries depending on how adventuresome you are. A great place to unwind, although a bit trendy is Café Delmas, the old café where Hemingway is said to have frequented, which has been cleaned and scrubbed up and he probably would hate it now. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served here and the menu will fit the bill for all kinds of eaters.
This particular area has some wonderful sites to visit that aren’t on a typical tourist path but I would highly recommend. The Jardin des Plantes is a beautiful garden, nature museum and home to France’s oldest public zoo which is a delight on a beautiful day. La Mosquée de Paris is exactly that, a mosque given to Paris’ French Arab community in 1926. It is home to a wonderful tea salon, serving some of the best mint tea in all the land and flaky, rich Moroccan pastries.
I do believe you should go forth and explore this very lively part of town and get yourself some of those blood oranges. You won’t be sorry!
Additional information: Paris Eiffel Tower News
Photo credit: Rita Crane@flickr, wikipedia
Tags: , b5media, Café Delmas, france, Jardin des Plantes, La Mosquée de Paris, paris, rue-Mouffetard, Saint Medard, the paris traveler, travel, travel blogs
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POSTED IN: Attractions, Family Fun, Food & Beverage, Great Walks
3 opinions for Rue Mouffetard
maryn
Jul 8, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Truthfully, I don’t think of Rue Cler as a “foodie street” - it’s a Rick Steves’ street. He is crazy about it, and because he has an enormous following, all his acolytes flock there. But funny thing, if you check the various food-writers and chefs blogging from Paris, when they talk about their favorite shops and market stalls, they never talk about Rue Cler. This does not mean that Rue Cler fans have been misled; it is charming - but to present it as the Sole Perfect Expression of French Food Culture In Three Blocks is to oversell it.
Kim
Jul 8, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I couldn’t agree more. Even though it was in my neighborhood, I could never understand all the hype!
Pound the Pavement, People!
Jul 23, 2008 at 10:08 am
[…] London Traveller has information about London theme walks and Paris is a walkers paradise; Kim at The Paris Traveler introduces you to a section of the Latin Quarter including a stop at Jardin des Plantes, one of the […]
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