Enjoying Wine and Food in Paris….Far From The Madding Crowds

When the Summer Olympic Games take place in Paris, France, between July 24th and August 11th, large crowds will throng at the Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, Seine River cruises, and the Versailles Palace. Many well-known restaurants and bistros will be closed for France’s cherished five weeks of vacation, i.e., summer vacation. Those eating establishments remaining open will be flooded with customers. So, what’s a visitor to do?

Skip the tourist attractions and packed restaurants. Instead, take a page from frugal, savvy Parisien natives.

Buy a crusty baguette or two from Paris’ innumerable bakeries, then add some delicious cheeses and cured meats readily available from fromagerie shops throughout the City of Lights. Pick up some easy-drinking, reasonably priced bottles of wine. Then head to a nearby public park, and voilà, enjoy a casual picnic at your own pace.

In addition to green space, Paris’ numerous public parks offer free admission, lots of seating on chairs and benches, and attractive features such as fountains, well-tended flower beds, statues and sculptures, and, occasionally, great views. Even when crowded, seats and patches of grass are usually available to relax and enjoy your fun feast. Here are some sure bets to try:

A Drop Wine and An Iconic Left Bank Park:

The Seine River bisects Paris creating a “Right Bank” and “Left Bank.” The latter has long been a home for university students (the Sorbonne is located here), writers, musicians, artists, and actors. Plus, the Left Bank features plenty of cafes, bistros, wines bars and wine shops.

So it was not surprising that over twenty five years ago, American-born Juan Sanchez founded his cozy wine shop, La Dernière Goutte, at 6 rue Bourbon-le-château in the famed St. Germain quartier in the Left Bank (Métro Stop: Either St-Germain-des-Prés or Mabillon). La Dernière Goutte in French name means “the last drop.” Rather ironic since Sanchez and his team still sell bottles and host popular classes (in English, if requested) on wines with no last drop in sight.

On my last visit, Sanchez’s engaging and knowledgeable colleagues poured samples and handled sales, while talented northern Rhône winegrower Guillaume Clusel chatted with customers. The tasting becomes hectic at times, but nobody minds while sampling Clusel’s tasty and inspiring wines.

Therein lies a key to Sanchez’s success. He offers only estate grown wines–in French, vins de propriétaire. They come from relatively small, artisan domaines where winegrowers work long hours in the vineyards with mud on their hands and boots.

At Clusel-Roch, Guillaume’s family domaine, he makes wines from the famed Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu vineyards as well as from the Côteaux du Lyonnais, a reclaimed terroir west of Lyon.

Guillaime spearheaded the domaine’s conversion to biologique organic winegrowing which rejects treating vines with chemical herbicides, fertilizers, fungicides and pesticides. Grasses and flowers grow between vine rows to promote robust life in the soils, a factor forcing vines to compete and become sturdy. Spring plowing reawakens vines and requires tremendous labor in the steep and rocky vineyards. Yields come in at low levels to enhance quality. After manual harvest, the grapes ferment as naturally as possible.

The Guillaume Clusel, Côteaux du Lyonnais, “Galet” offers a Gamay-based red wine with guts and breeding. Aromas of cherries and blackberries waft up with hints of newly plowed earth and smokiness. Pure red fruits and mouthwatering minerality open in the glass balanced by firm, but entirely elegant tannins. All in all, it is a startlingly delicious, well-made wine. (Available in France at around 16 Euros; For U.S. availability at around $25, consult www.wine-searcher.com).

After grabbing your bottle (or bottles), bread, and cheese, walk to the Jardin du Luxembourg (i.e., Luxumbourg Gardens) located at the meeting of Rue de Médicis and Rue de Vaugirard just over a mile south of La Dernière Goutte. A bustling, bourgeoise neighborhood with upscale townhouses and fashionable retail shops surrounds the verdant park.

Like several other public gardens in Paris, Jardin du Luxembourg began as landscaped grounds attached to a royal palace. Queen Maria de Médici launched the project in 1611. Today the French Senate occupies the original palace building, but the surrounding 57 acres provide an urban oasis offering meandering gravel trails, green lawns, shade trees, fruit trees, a large central fountain where children launch toy sailboats, tennis courts, statues, benches, and lots of secluded corners to watch the world pass by. In short, it is the perfect place for a relaxing picnic and fun people watching.

Revolutionaries and Wine Atop Paris:

The Belleville neighborhood in the Paris 19ème arrondissement on the Right Bank has a long history as a hotbed for working class revolutionaries, diverse immigrants, and artists. Set in the slopes of northeastern Paris, the area’s vibrant energy always attracted iconoclastic wine merchants and bistro owners.

Today as creeping gentrification slowly emerges in Belleville, the neighborhood’s essential spirit remains. This lively ambience is on full display at La Cave de Belleville (51 Rue de Belleville, 75019 Paris, Métro Stop: Belleville), an épicerie selling good bread, tasty cheese, and cured meats. It is also a cave à manger where guests enjoy tasty nibbles with either a glass or bottle of wine.
The massive take-out selections feature over 1,500 wine labels including from prominent organic Bourgogne growers such as Jean-Claude Rateau, Guilhem Goisot, Domaine Gouffier, Alice and Olivier De Moor, and Domaine Henri Naudin-Ferrand. The choices of relatively inexpensive, dry Bourgogne-Aligoté white wines are especially strong.

Try winegrower Clair Naudin’s delicious Domaine Henri Naudin-Ferrand, Bourgogne-Aligoté (around 15 Euros). The grapes come from vineyards on sunny, limestone rich slopes in the Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes.The wine ferments with native yeasts and then ages on the fine lees in stainless steel vats. Bottled with minimal sulfites, the wine’s ripe, round peach and citrus fruit balances with superb, zesty freshness with a touch of creaminess. It makes a nice complement to La Cave de Belleville’s tasty cheeses such as Saint-Nectaire, Comté, Morbier and a coolant (i.e., runny) fermier cheese from near Paris.

With bottles and food in hand, continue walking up the slope to the beautiful Parc des Buttes Chaumont. Until the late mid-19th Century, this area lay outside the Paris city limits. It was a former quarry and agricultural area that morphed into a refuge dump for garbage and horse carcasses. After the City annexed the area, planners reclaimed 61 acres to create a new sanctuary and park for the growing numbers of workers in the surrounding neighborhoods.

They succeeded magnificently. Today Parc des Buttes Chaumont features lovely sloping lawns with shade trees, a large artificial lake, a grotto and waterfall, lots of gravel paths, plenty of seating, and a stupendous view of central Paris sprawling below the hilltop. Again, it is a lovely setting for a quiet picnic.

Natural Wines and a Quiet Park:
Located in a quiet Paris residential neighborhood on the Right Bank, Square Maurice-Gardette features a relatively small (2.5 acre) park with mature leafy trees and quiet paths. Tourists rarely visit here, as it is not close to famed attractions. Yet it is a lovely place for enjoying readily available wines and picnic foods.

Right across the street from the park, Le Vin de Bohème (28 rue du Général Guilhem, 75011; Métro Stop: Saint Ambroise) conveniently provides a nice selection of organically produced “natural” wines from around France. For the wine, try another crisp white, the René Bouvier Bourgogne-Aligoté.

Just around the corner from the Le Vin de Bohème wine shop, butcher shops, cheese shops and bakeries offer all the necessary picnic provisions. It could not be more convenient.

Cheers!