Travel

Discover Paris beyond the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower as LORNA THORNBER strolls through the hip precincts of the city of romance and drinks in the cuisine, the culture and the cultivated

Eat the street

Gorging on cheese, chocolate, pastries and other calorific gourmet delights is an integral part of immersing yourself in the French culture and Rue Montorgueil, a pedestrianised market street, has all bases covered. Must-visits include Stohrer, founded by Louis XV’s personal pastry chef in 1730, where you can indulge in boozy baba au rhum (invented on the premises), chubby éclairs, religieuse au chocolate (a chocolate and pastry concoction) and other sugar-laden delights. A few doors down you’ll find the avant-garde Fou de Pâtisserie, which elevates the humble pastry to fine edible art, and La Fermette (“the little farm”) where you can enjoy a classic French cheeseboard. A former haunt of Proust, Charlie Chaplin and Pablo Picasso, the Second Empire-style L’Escargot Montorgueil is also worth a stop – if only to sample another French culinary classic, cooked snails. Ask for them prepared traditionally with garlic and parsley butter or opt for the fancified truffle or goldflaked versions.