Out and About in Paris: Rue Mouffetard Market on a Sunday

This weekend marked the Parisian exodus. This is when the Parisians head out to their country homes, to some faraway place, or to the south of France for the sun and the sea, for their annual four-week vacance. With the tourist season in full swing, the visitors have Paris, mostly to themselves. There are some locals who choose to stay and actually enjoy the quietness in the city and welcome the new pace of the summer days. One thing to remember about the month of August is half of the business establishments are closed for renovation, as the owners and employees go on holiday.  Just in case you made a list of restaurants or places to visit, be sure to check the availability and schedule, beforehand.


One thing to include in your itinerary is to visit  a French market, which can be quite entertaining. Occasionally, we go around on Sundays just to check out the market scene. 

At the onset, the permanent market at rue Mouffetard looked like a typical set-up, just like the other markets. There were the usual stalls for fruits, vegetables, seafood and meat. This market happens to be on a very old cobblestoned road (which goes back to the 1st century) situated on the St. Genevieve Hill, which was left untouched during the redesign of Paris by Baron Haussmann, under the reign of Napoleon lll. It is one of the oldest markets in Paris, located in the 5eme arrondisement. 

Then, I heard music. Under a green canopy was a gentleman playing French tunes on his accordion...

providing dance music for the crowd that had gathered.

They even got playful and started to do chain dancing. 

A lady got up, took the microphone and began to sing, much to the delight of the dance aficionados and the restaurant patrons.

This was the type of French ambiance I had previously associated with being in France, based on the movies I had watched. Though now, it is not as typical as I thought it would be, until I come to places like this. And I love it!

An older man came over to ask me to dance...or maybe, he was my age - and I wanted to dance - but I declined graciously as I was carrying a load plus my camera. It was delightful to watch them, enjoying themselves dancing up to 1:00 p.m. The spectators were all regaled by the simplicity of the ordinary occasion - in the market on a Sunday - that had been turned into a wonderful time. What a lively place this was.

People come here for different reasons - to hear mass, have a date, a Sunday meal with the family, to socialize, to go dancing or simply to shop.

This artist came with her paint supplies and started to paint the characters in the market.

This young girl kept her eyes on this young boy who came dressed up like Charlie Chaplin.

For the moms and dads, they could let lose their kids to have some fun in the playground, next to the church. 

The market is situated at  Place Contrescarpe, where rue Mouffetard meets rue de Lacepede. This is a pedestrian street, without much vehicular traffic...except for...

this street sweeper which promptly came as soon as the market vendors started to pack up.

Even when the market had closed at 1:00 p.m., the numerous restaurants and shops along this street and the side streets remained open.

 Trompe l'oeil on the exterior wall - this building stood out, as we were walking in search of a place to eat.

For those who did not want to bother with meal preparations at home, there were several places offering ready-cooked foods, to-go, such as these ones.

A Mediterranean selection of grilled and pickled veggies and a variety of olives

Lebanese cuisine

For the gourmet cooks, a specialty store for ingredients for their pasta recipes.

And always present in every market are the products the French can't be without, in the...

fromagerie...

and the boulangerie/Patisserie. 

There are several wine stores here, too. The French always have a bottle of wine to pair with their meals, and another one with the cheese trays and desserts.

But for the majority of the weekend crowd, it was a time to spend in a nice restaurant setting -  in good company, with good food. There's a wide array of cuisines to choose from.

Greek food

 A taste of culinary specialties with influences from regional parts of France, and other European and Asian countries.

There are more restaurants serving full-course menus, bistros or cafés which serve simple meals; and brasseries serving hearty food in the side streets - this is rue du Pot de Fer.

The street has been almost taken over by the outdoor table settings, the preferred sitting by most, but no one is complaining. Anywhere you go in the city, when it's good-weather season, the restaurants' sitting areas extend to the sidewalks and the pedestrian streets, whenever possible.

Fondue/Raclette, anyone?

 For lunch, there are reasonable three-course meal deals from 
18 € - 25 €. 

 Some gelato at Gelati d'Alberto for that alternative, sweet ending to a meal, or, for those just strolling around. 

After looking around and reading the menus, we opted for Mexican food and walked back closer to the market area. Mexican bistros are not too common in this city. Whenever we find one, we always go and try them out. This one was good.

Give yourself some time to window shop, or, even shop. Some of the stores that open on Sundays bring some of their goods to the sidewalk, and even to the street, to attract the passers by.

This store was so attractively colorful that we just had to go in.

And, quite interesting was this bookstore specializing on travel.

Here we are at the other end. It's been a good 2 1/2 hours that we've been here. What a pleasant time it has been.

As we continued walking, we got to see the backside of the Pantheon - said to be the most perfect architecture in Paris. 

We decided to walk home and headed towards the Seine River. There is always something new to see, even in the old, familiar places. When you come to Paris, do remember that the best way to see this place is to walk and walk around here and everywhere.

Tour de France 2011's Grand Finish at the Champs-Elysées

This was the 36th year that Paris hosted this event - Le Tour de France. It's a triumphant celebration for the winners, after a grueling three-week competition, and finally riding through the last 95 km, stage 21 - from Créteil to Paris, after going through mountainous (Pyrenees and Alps), zig-zagging routes and plains. For those who managed to stay on the tour, their efforts focused on riding strategically fast, at a blistering pace, to win the yellow and green jerseys. It took team effort to win. Team strategies were crucial in making use of the talents of the team members in supporting, breakaway, and lead roles.

Congratulations to the winners...

the first Australian to win the coveted "Yellow Jersey"  (with the lowest over-all time) Cadel Evans ...

 Englishman, Mark Cavendish - for winning the "Green Jersey" (points competition) ...

Spaniard, Samuel Sanchez was awarded the polka dotted jersey (king of the mountains) and the white jersey (young rider classification) went to Pierre Roland of France. 

A total of 3.4 million euros was given away. Prize winnings are usually divided among the members of the winning teams.

By the time this finished it was almost 8:00 p.m. Can you imagine how some people - the spectators - had been there for about 9 hours? I was! I went out thinking that the event was going to commence at 12:00 noon. Not quite, I found out as it was scheduled for 4:00 p.m. I made some friends and we were all right next to the barricade - a prime spot. I hesitated to leave it. I asked my new-found friends to watch my place and I left to get some folding chairs and food. That turned out to be a smart move. 

In the hours that passed, we got to see the progression from part of the preparation to the final stage- le tour d'honneur (the victory lap). 

The center divider was being completed.

The roving camera was hoisted up into position.

 The spectators were coming, with several hours of waiting to go. It was all about getting a good vantage point.

The people who attended this event were of different nationalities. The British had one of the biggest delegations. And they were , of course, routing for Mark Cavendish. 

I learned how serious the people in the crowd were about Tour de France. One of my new friends biked for 4 days from London to Paris, in a charity event that brought him here in time to see the final stage at the Champs-Elysées. I was getting running commentaries from the people around me, as to who was coming towards us, their ranking, and the problems they encountered. It was quite interesting,

At 2:00 p.m., the sponsors' parade began - a marketing parade of products - with a presentation of a wide range of services and consumer goods.  We were entertained by the designs and the music, the dancers and the acrobats performing to get our attention.

LCL Bank celebrating 30 years

Micky Mouse came to announce his website: www.journaldemicky.fr

Skoda - the official car for the Tour de France

 The new Smurfs movie in 3 D - a family comedy.

Haribo candies

A sports magazine and internet site

A sausage manufacturer

This parade went on for an hour with many more companies participating. After, there was another lull for more than an hour. While waiting, I managed to take a nap and pray. I could have finished reading a book, had I remembered to bring one. Finally, the announcement came, during the usual commentary, that the cyclists where about to arrive. This was the moment we had all been waiting for.

Thus, another parade started to welcome them, and soon the car's of the different teams lined up and passed us by. The crowd cheerfully clapped and anticipated the members of the teams to follow soon.

First, came the leaders of the pack.

Then, the  middle group - when they came, we just had a split second to call out some names or take a picture. 

Our cameras were aimed at all times, as the cyclists had to go around the track eight times to finish the course. Cavendish had mechanical problems during the second round but managed to catch up with the middle group and kept going. The eight round finally came to pass, after over an hour, then, the awards ceremony took place at the grandstand, at the Place de la Concorde. It took another hour's wait before le tour d'honneur  commenced.

Patiently, we - the crowd - stayed. And when it was time, we showed our support as the different teams came one by one, cycling together and in no rush, this time, but to smile and wave at their supporters and fans. There were 22 cycling teams and 198 riders, who came from Russia, Kazakhstan, Australia, the United States, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, England, and France.

Spain's Alberto Contador, last year's winner, came into the tour this year with a failed drug test which was appealed. First, he was booed, then received warmly after he showed them his mettle in different stages of the tour. He came in number 5 position, this year.

It's the second year in a row that I got to watch this major event. I decided to change locations from the last time, and this was better - better in the sense that I could see the bikers and their teams at a closer range.

I suppose I can say that Parisians love to bike and are big fans of the professional cycling sport, as shown by  their numbers at the Champs-Elysées, showing their support for the several French teams.

In Paris, you will notice several sights like this. Riding the bicycle is a major means of getting around in the city. The Vélib' stations have mushroomed all over the city since 2007. It's a bicycle sharing program designed for the public's use. If you want to try this, as a tourist, click on their website and buy your annual pass online. Most of these bike stations are empty on the weekends, and in the early and later hours of the day.

With the Fête Nationale (Bastille Day) just celebrated last July 14th, the world-renowned avenue des Champs-Elysées, once again, had been turned into another venue and became an open sports arena for the spectators who came to watch the fastest bikers sprint to the finish line. 


It all happened on a lovely day - on July 24, 2011, with mild temperatures in the low sixties. It was a blessing that it did not rain, or that would have been one, last, slippery course for the cyclists.