We slept in this morning, which was needed after a night of faerie reveling at the Moulin Rouge. Then, we checked out and left our luggage at the hotel. The hotel was quite nice, which I had booked with points since Paris hotels are pricy! September isn’t a shoulder/off-season anymore! I would recommend the hotel- I loved the neighborhood and the room was slightly larger than our first hotel, although still on the small side.
Marais
We went to the Marais in anticipation of our noon food tour, the French Cheese Explosion. One of my colleagues raised his eyebrows at the name, remarking, “I imagine the explosion happens afterwards.”
We were early, so we walked around the Marais. We saw two of the oldest houses in Paris, featuring external wood beams and stone.
13 Nov 2015 Memorial
Then we walked into a garden square, which is a memorial for the Paris attacks of 13 Nov 2015, which were coordinated attacks at several sites by Islamic extremist terrorists. It is the perfect memorial- it reminded me of an event I had forgotten and it beautifully commemorated the victims and the resiliency of Paris and community.
Cheese Tour Explosion!
It was time to walk to the tour meeting spot. The tour was led by Jennifer, who was a really dynamic, enthusiastic host with a lot of knowledge. She has formal training, but has also learned a lot through her passion project of trying all French cheeses. There were three other pairs on the tour: two couples and one sister duo. Everyone was so nice and it was a really great tour group. It was fun to socialize with them although most of the time was spent learning about cheese. And eating. Don’t forget the eating.
The tour started off with a walk-through of a local cheese shop, owned by a Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (MOF). Jennifer walked us through how a shop is organized and the families of cheese: Fresh, Natural rind (goat), Bloomy rind (Camembert, Brie), Washed rind (aromatic!), Blue, Pressed, and Hard pressed. I learned that the rind is edible, although people have different preferences of how much of it to eat. Tyrosine crystals in aged pressed cheese are what bring us joy:)
After the shop, which we went into in groups of four so we didn’t completely obstruct the place (we still did a little), we walked close to the old Mideval houses for a sit down cheese tasting accompanied by wine.
It was heaven! So many great cheeses. Jennifer sent us a summary email afterwards, which I am going to study! There were so many cool takeaways and I really appreciated our time spent in the noble pursuit of cheese nirvana.
Afterwards, we walked back towards the Marais and briefly went into a jewelry shop with the sisters. The older one (audiologist!) looked at a pair of earrings, which were gorgeous but very pricy. Given the price of gold, not surprising and the artistry was beautiful, but it was more than she (or I, looking over her shoulder at the price sheet!), wanted to spend.
Then, we walked along the Seine on a gorgeous Paris afternoon. We picked up our bags and went to the Montparnasse train station. We took the train to Bordeaux and checked in to our hotel near the train station. I picked this location because we have a lot of day trips planned.
Then we went to Ô QG, where I ordered steak frites. Startlingly, our dishes came out within three minutes of ordering. Literally. Our meals were fine. I am in search of the perfect steak frites after incredible experiences at Les Halles (RIP) in DC with my Dad, but this wasn’t it. I’ll keep searching!
Oh, that cheese tour looks amazing!
I’ve had amazing food in France, and blah food in France. Any place that brings out your food that fast has it ready in the back. Keep on looking!