A Cook's Sunday in Paris

[gochrisgo]

I will be in Paris for just 15 hours on August 31. I am going on a cruise that stops in Le Havre and I am planning to make the trip into Paris.

I've been to Paris once before and would like to focus this trip around food, particularly cooking and markets. I am worried about the time going by so quickly. Since I don't speak French, I'm worried about losing my way and missing things.

I'm thinking about hiring my own tour guide to show me around on a specialized tour like this. Does that seem like a good idea? Any recommendations on guides?

Thanks so much for your help.

[ChefJune]

Rachel Kaplan at www.frenchlinks.com is an American who's lived in Paris for the past 25 years, and offers custom tours as well as preplanned ones.

[gochrisgo]

Thanks for the tip Chef June. Have you been on one of her tours?

Unfortunately, at $1000 a halfday, these might be out of my price range.

[ChefJune]

I have. Contact her anyway, there may be some leeway.

Another idea might be to contact Le Cordon Bleu and see if there is a student who might be able and available to show you around. not sure at all what that would cost.

[patz]

on sundays, you should check out the market at the bastille.
another idea for a guide is through context tours: http://www.contexttravel.com/paris/
they have a lot of private tours they can arrange - i work for them (not doing the food tours, though), and they have a lot of great guides.

[chochotte]

You can find here details of Paris' markets including which are open on a Sunday:
http://www.v1.paris.fr/EN/Living/mark...

I'm afraid I don't know anything about guides, but I hope someone else can help more than I can.

Paris on a Sunday can be quite difficult, as lots of things are shut, shops particularly, but some restaurants are open.

[gochrisgo]

Hello,

I wanted to let you know that in the end, I met Julien, a food blogger and writer from http://www.julotlespinceaux.com for our Paris food tour. He was a gracious host -- who met us at the Eiffel Tour with croissants to kick off the day. He took us to a market, bakery, cheese shop, wine shop. He had lots of information and ideas about the real cook's Paris. I highly recommend him and am so glad I found him on this board.