Is Rue Cler worth visiting if you aren't staying there?
Jul 7th, 2004, 04:16 PM
#41
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Sorry, BTilke, that picture-snappin' tourist could've been me! I like to mix a 'close-in' photo here and there in my album of all the sights. You know, bring down the scale of things... wine and cheese shop windows, a close-up of geraniums, the face of a statue...and, yes, beautiful, colorful produce, stacked so neatly, with swirly hand-written signs (is that a 1 a 7 or a 4??)... no need to duck, I'll wait until you go by..
Jul 7th, 2004, 04:17 PM
#42
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Not sure I made my point . .
there were visitors wandering about Rue Cler way before Steves publicized it . . because it is a nice place to go . . not because he reccomends it.
And it seems no more popular now than then.
Rich
Jul 7th, 2004, 04:20 PM
#43
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I think WillTravel has the assignment of visiting a market street a day, noting how many American accents are overheard, documenting which have the best variety of goods, which seem most authentic, and getting back to us asap.
Jul 7th, 2004, 04:44 PM
#44
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<i>I had to dodge around numerous tourists taking pictures, as if they were at some kind of fruit and vegetable museum.</i>
I don't get it. Is that some kind of crime? I took photos in the La Boqueria market in Barcelona. Does that mean I saw it only as a fruit and vegetable museum and not as the fascinating and colorful market it is?
I don't get it. Is that some kind of crime? I took photos in the La Boqueria market in Barcelona. Does that mean I saw it only as a fruit and vegetable museum and not as the fascinating and colorful market it is?
Jul 7th, 2004, 05:27 PM
#46
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That was probably me taking the pix of the market stalls in the rue Cler. Since I always stay in a nearby hotel, the last thing I do in Paris the morning before my departure is to get up early and walk up rue Cler to see the shopkeepers opening up for the day, and I often take pictures.
I do patronize the Vietnamese place that sells the extraordinary dumplings; I have bought both shoes and luggage from the shop across from the Post Office; I love the Olivier store and the cheese place and Le Nôtre. I do not patronize the Café du Marché as I have eaten in its cavernous "back room" once and was grossed out by the waiters' blood-stained aprons and the steamy/smokey atmosphere. Nor do I patronize the place that advertises "American breakfasts" and charges an arm and a leg for them.
It's a typical Parisian street in a typical Parisian neigborhood. Yes, there are LOADS of Americans there in high season, probably because of RS, but that doesn't mean the local Parisians have gone elsewhere to shop or that it's less than "authentic." Catherine Deneuve still shops there, so if it's good enough for her, it's good enough for me.
To answer the original question, no I would not go far out of my way just to see the "rue Cler" (though there are lots of other connecting and nearby streets that are equally fascinating like the rue Ste-Dominique), but if I were close by, I'd make a detour.
I do patronize the Vietnamese place that sells the extraordinary dumplings; I have bought both shoes and luggage from the shop across from the Post Office; I love the Olivier store and the cheese place and Le Nôtre. I do not patronize the Café du Marché as I have eaten in its cavernous "back room" once and was grossed out by the waiters' blood-stained aprons and the steamy/smokey atmosphere. Nor do I patronize the place that advertises "American breakfasts" and charges an arm and a leg for them.
It's a typical Parisian street in a typical Parisian neigborhood. Yes, there are LOADS of Americans there in high season, probably because of RS, but that doesn't mean the local Parisians have gone elsewhere to shop or that it's less than "authentic." Catherine Deneuve still shops there, so if it's good enough for her, it's good enough for me.
To answer the original question, no I would not go far out of my way just to see the "rue Cler" (though there are lots of other connecting and nearby streets that are equally fascinating like the rue Ste-Dominique), but if I were close by, I'd make a detour.
Jul 7th, 2004, 05:34 PM
#47
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Perhaps the point is, some of us who have been lucky to live in places like Paris or London simply get tired of having tourists treat everyday life like a museum exhibit, to be documented at great length...
Imagine you have had a really bad day at work. It's 7pm and you need to hit the stores just to get something to eat in the house. You're tired, hungry, and just a little crabby. If you're in Paris, and someone realizes you're Anglophone, d'you feel like striking up a conversation with this total stranger?
Or maybe you're down the pub for 'a swift half' with coworkers before heading home. Another American at the bar suddenly feels like he/she's your best friend. You have had a stinking day, and small talk and conviviality just aren't high up on your priorities list at that point . . .
Come on, anybody living in a major metro area with a high-pressure job, can you see this POV?
(And, apologies for anyone reading these scenarios who've been the objects of my 'sorry, I just don't feel like chatting' rebuffs. I'm older and a bit mellower now . . . . . )
Rue Cler is a good add-on if you happen to be heading to that part of the 7th anyway. I'll never forget my teenage cousin's screams of 'eeeeewwwww' upon seeing a skinned rabbit hanging in a butchers there. Buci is also good but touristy.
I guess it all depends if you want to see the native fauna stalking their habitat (the local marché without the zoo-like feeling of shutters snapping...
</rant>
Imagine you have had a really bad day at work. It's 7pm and you need to hit the stores just to get something to eat in the house. You're tired, hungry, and just a little crabby. If you're in Paris, and someone realizes you're Anglophone, d'you feel like striking up a conversation with this total stranger?
Or maybe you're down the pub for 'a swift half' with coworkers before heading home. Another American at the bar suddenly feels like he/she's your best friend. You have had a stinking day, and small talk and conviviality just aren't high up on your priorities list at that point . . .
Come on, anybody living in a major metro area with a high-pressure job, can you see this POV?
(And, apologies for anyone reading these scenarios who've been the objects of my 'sorry, I just don't feel like chatting' rebuffs. I'm older and a bit mellower now . . . . . )
Rue Cler is a good add-on if you happen to be heading to that part of the 7th anyway. I'll never forget my teenage cousin's screams of 'eeeeewwwww' upon seeing a skinned rabbit hanging in a butchers there. Buci is also good but touristy.
I guess it all depends if you want to see the native fauna stalking their habitat (the local marché
without the zoo-like feeling of shutters snapping...</rant>
Jul 7th, 2004, 10:46 PM
#49
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One tourist taking picures was ok. More than half a dozen taking pictures at the same time in a single stall AND blocking access to the strawberries and tomatoes is not a crime, but it is aggravating. Especially when the tourists are right on top of the food taking close-ups, not politely standing at the edge. The stall holders aren't happy about it either, but know it's the price of doing business on the rue Cler. However, I have heard a few of them exchanging complaints about tourists with each other at a bar after hours.
By the way, has any else besides MichelParis tried the market at Auteuil and the food shops around it? I stick with my original response--yes, if you're in the area, no, if you would like to see another street market that's even better and isn't filled with tourists.
(actually, I think the weekly market at Place Chatelain here in Brussels is also better than rue Steves)
By the way, has any else besides MichelParis tried the market at Auteuil and the food shops around it? I stick with my original response--yes, if you're in the area, no, if you would like to see another street market that's even better and isn't filled with tourists.
(actually, I think the weekly market at Place Chatelain here in Brussels is also better than rue Steves)
Jul 7th, 2004, 11:32 PM
#51
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Auteuil market isn't featured in great detail (photographs of vendors & produce) but does get a mention in the most wonderful book by Nocolle Aimee Meyer & Amanda Pilar-Smith called Paris in a Basket and subtitled "Markets - The Food and the People". It has inspired me to not only make my first trip to a market this June whilst in Paris, but to visit one or two everytime I'm there. This time we choose Auguste Blanqui in the 13th.
BTilke - sorry I think I've missed your trip report. I know you were there same time as us. We have only been back 10 days having gone on to Guernsey etc.
BTilke - sorry I think I've missed your trip report. I know you were there same time as us. We have only been back 10 days having gone on to Guernsey etc.
Jul 8th, 2004, 06:05 AM
#52
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BTilke, it will make you feel better to know that I always stand back and use my zoom for my 'close ups'. I don't like to be too obvious or interfere with flow of foot traffic. In short, I will go without a photo rather than be annoying.
Jul 8th, 2004, 06:26 AM
#53
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That's cool, Travelnut. Apologies for my rant -- glad to hear somebody's trying to take it all in & not be annoying.
And don't even get me started on the time I was praying in St-Julien-le-Pauvre, and ugly American shorts-wearing family starts taking pictures of ME -- without even asking -- hello, my agent would have something to say about those photographic rights! , )
And don't even get me started on the time I was praying in St-Julien-le-Pauvre, and ugly American shorts-wearing family starts taking pictures of ME -- without even asking -- hello, my agent would have something to say about those photographic rights! , )
Jul 8th, 2004, 07:05 AM
#54
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Oh, tod, you will not be disappointed. If you do a google search for Paris markets--or Patricia Wells' book--you can get a list of all in every arrondisement. It is one of our very favorite things to do every trip.
Jul 8th, 2004, 07:26 AM
#55
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Merci, BTilke. I can certainly understand how having a half-dozen or so tourists taking pictures at the same time in a single stall, blocking access to the fruits and vegetables, would be aggravating. I can't say that's ever happened to me at a market in Europe, or even at heavily-touristed Pike Place Market here in Seattle, but I'm sure it does happen.
"<i>Especially when the tourists are right on top of the food taking close-ups, not politely standing at the edge. The stall holders aren't happy about it either, but know it's the price of doing business on the rue Cler.</i>"
As for me personally, I try, like Travelnut, to be respectful of others around me while taking photos as I don't want to be an annoying tourist. In fact, when I was taking photos at the La Boqueria market in Barcelona, I'd always wait until other people weren't around.
Anyway, thanks for the mention of the Auteuil market. Next time I go to Paris I'll try to visit it.
"<i>Especially when the tourists are right on top of the food taking close-ups, not politely standing at the edge. The stall holders aren't happy about it either, but know it's the price of doing business on the rue Cler.</i>"
As for me personally, I try, like Travelnut, to be respectful of others around me while taking photos as I don't want to be an annoying tourist. In fact, when I was taking photos at the La Boqueria market in Barcelona, I'd always wait until other people weren't around.
Anyway, thanks for the mention of the Auteuil market. Next time I go to Paris I'll try to visit it.
Jul 8th, 2004, 10:11 AM
#56
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Rue Cler doesn't seem like a typical Parisian street to me and I do think it touristy but maybe it's just because I know how much it's touted by RS and thus I notice things more than I would otherwise. I think we all have our personal opinions on this which aren't necessarily logical or unbiased. I know a lot of people have negative feelings about other parts of Paris I enjoy and feel comfortable in and I think some of the things others write about those places are wrong or based on very limited experience or just viewpoints I can't share.
It is upscale for one thing, and thus isn't the average residential area or typical to me. It's also an area very highly concentrated with English-speaking expats (both American and British) and that's unusual untypical thing about it to me. The bookstore caters to American tourists, for one place I noticed. Even if it weren't for the tourists, I just don't like the ambience or look of the place that well, though, and don't think it has that great of shopping or stores or places to eat. there's nothing special I'd go out of my way to go there for, but I'm sure I'd find it okay to shop for fruit or something if I lived in the area, but I don't get it as a tourist destination. I do think other market streets are more attractive, also. I don't know why Catherine Deneuve would shop there as she doesn't live in that neighborhood and has better markets closer to where she lives from what I've read -- now I really like her but don't consider her a typical Parisienne.
I have been in other upscale areas and thought they were nicer shopping and more attractive (like in the 16th -- I like the market street of rue de l'Annonciation, for one place over there). Now on my next trip shortly I'm staying in a new area and will check out the market streets in the 9th (Cadet and rue des Martyrs, I hear are market streets) and the roving market at place d'Anvers.
There are two different kinds of markets mentioned on here -- the regular market streets like Cler, Buci, Mouffetard, etc, and then the roving ones once or twice a week. Here is a good list of the roving periodic ones by arrondisement with hours in French
http://www.paris.fr/fr/marches/liste_marches.ASP
and English
http://www.paris.fr/EN/Living/markets/markets.ASP
It is upscale for one thing, and thus isn't the average residential area or typical to me. It's also an area very highly concentrated with English-speaking expats (both American and British) and that's unusual untypical thing about it to me. The bookstore caters to American tourists, for one place I noticed. Even if it weren't for the tourists, I just don't like the ambience or look of the place that well, though, and don't think it has that great of shopping or stores or places to eat. there's nothing special I'd go out of my way to go there for, but I'm sure I'd find it okay to shop for fruit or something if I lived in the area, but I don't get it as a tourist destination. I do think other market streets are more attractive, also. I don't know why Catherine Deneuve would shop there as she doesn't live in that neighborhood and has better markets closer to where she lives from what I've read -- now I really like her but don't consider her a typical Parisienne.
I have been in other upscale areas and thought they were nicer shopping and more attractive (like in the 16th -- I like the market street of rue de l'Annonciation, for one place over there). Now on my next trip shortly I'm staying in a new area and will check out the market streets in the 9th (Cadet and rue des Martyrs, I hear are market streets) and the roving market at place d'Anvers.
There are two different kinds of markets mentioned on here -- the regular market streets like Cler, Buci, Mouffetard, etc, and then the roving ones once or twice a week. Here is a good list of the roving periodic ones by arrondisement with hours in French
http://www.paris.fr/fr/marches/liste_marches.ASP
and English
http://www.paris.fr/EN/Living/markets/markets.ASP
Jul 8th, 2004, 08:15 PM
#57
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Tourists are always part of the scene in Paris or any other similar major city. They are an important part of the local economy. Just ask the shopkeepers and hoteliers what life was like in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. I work at a place that is dependent on tourism. After 9/11 it was quieter than a morgue.
As one poster noted Rue Cler was crowded with tourists before RS wrote about it. I enjoyed my stay there and would stay there again. I also plan on exploring other neighborhoods in Paris. Whether it is a typical Paris street doesn't concern me. One of my favorite pictures from my trip is I took a picture of the street and right in the middle of my picture is an elderly woman carting her loaf of bread home. Paris!
As one poster noted Rue Cler was crowded with tourists before RS wrote about it. I enjoyed my stay there and would stay there again. I also plan on exploring other neighborhoods in Paris. Whether it is a typical Paris street doesn't concern me. One of my favorite pictures from my trip is I took a picture of the street and right in the middle of my picture is an elderly woman carting her loaf of bread home. Paris!
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