Wine and Dine Me Parisian Style
Our last Monday in my wine class, our teacher took us on a little tour of the first and second arrondissments. On our little tour he told us a ton about food and wine within Paris. He gave us recommendations for places that are good and places that we should stay away from. It was a really, really long almost three hours because it was hot and we were walking for a really long time but it was so incredibly worth it. We went by so many things that I would have never otherwise seen on my own. We went by all of the high fashion stores and it killed me to not go in to any of them. Thankfully, we were walking pretty nonstop. However, after going down a bunch of little streets and making what felt like random turns, Olivier landed us right in front of the shoe god himself. Christian Louboutin. I pulled a tourist move and took a picture. Just looking in the window, I was completely in heaven.
Halfway through our little tour, we stopped in this huge wine shop. Apparently it's owned by a chain and business isn't doing well because the prices are higher than most Parisians pay for a bottle of wine but it was nice nonetheless. All I wanted at this point was food, water and a chair. Instead, I got a chair and wine! On the upper level is a restaurant and wine bar. So we sat down and our teacher bought nine glasses of wine for all of us to try. We tried this one Japanese wine that smelled like a grocery store and tasted like the smell of a grocery store. I definitely had the most of one of the whites though. It was so good and everyone had pretty much picked their favorite at this point so this just so happened to be mine.
We continued our little wine tour of Paris and ended at Laduree and this amazing chocolate shop that I don't remember the name. Our teacher bought us some chocolates where we then proceeded to go back to O Chateau. We spent our last little bit of time here eating chocolate and drinking this amazing red wine. For someone who doesn't like red wine, I loved this one. It was so amazing. It was also the first red wine that I tasted and actually enjoyed. I have to find it somewhere in the US.
Anyway, more importantly, I learned some facts that are actually quite shocking. The quality of food in Paris is deteriorating and they are become Americanized and are in this period of globalization. It's really sad because when you think of Paris it's everything fresh: baguettes, cheese, meats. There's also so much food available on menus now that you can easily find in America like hamburgers. Five to ten years ago you would have never found a burger on a menu and now they're everywhere. It's kind of disappointing. Another thing that most people I tell find shocking is that the French, primarily Parisians don't drink wine! France is wine and Parisians don't drink wine! French women barely touch the stuff if at all. It's believed to be a great factor from the negative propaganda that the French government has been sending out on wine for the past decade. Hopefully France and Parisians will come to their senses and go back to the traditional ways that they are known for. When I go back to France I want to be able to have a glass of wine without looking American and eat fresh without paying a fortune for it.
