Which marche or both?
 

Dh and I arrive Saturday morning on Ile Saint-Louis for a week's stay. Our first visit to Paris and I'm so excited! Plan on walking the Ile and buying a few items for the apartment. Depending on how fatigued we are we are playing the evening by ear.

Sunday's plan is to walk to either or both, Richard Lenoir or Place d'Aligre and have a look at Place des Vosges. Are the markets so different that it warrants a visit to both? I want to buy fruit, sausages, foie gras and generally get a feel for the neighborhood. Does this sound too daunting while we are still acclimating to the time difference from Chicago?

Will appreciate any suggestions!

Don't know how long you are staying, but I would wander up to the Mouffetard market around 11 a.m. for the dancing. I think you could easily do one of the others before that. (If you are staying longer than a week then you could do that the next week.) (We also arrive Sat. am but are staying on Cite. Do you arrive at 9:25? We will probably rub shoulders at some point and never know it. Have a great trip. CJ

I have visited the markets on Richard Lenoir and Place d'Aligre sequentially on a Sunday. They are different, not only in size, but also in ethnicity and ambiance. There is a certain gentility in the former and a touch of grittiness in the latter. If you wish to feel Paris to the fullest, go to both. If you want to go on to other things, I think the one on Richard Lenoir would be my first choice.

It is an easy walk from one to the other.

Hmmm ... I just re-read your shopping list: fruit, sausages, foie gras. Don't forget the cheese, olives, and rotisserie chicken. Yes, I'd go to Richard Lenoir for all that. But if you have an extra hour, stroll down to Place d'Aligre for a very different feeling.

And don't forget the potatoes basted in chicken drippings that sit below the chickens on the rotisserie. Most street markets have a couple chicken sellers, at least. YUM!!!!

Can't sleep. Too excited. Now my mouth is watering in the middle of the night! CJ, we get in at 9:10 AA. Maybe we'll rub shoulders at the tourism kiosk at ND! Don't look at weather.com! Safe travels.

AnselmA and Mel, ok it's either chicken/potatoes for dinner or ready made beef bourgignone from RLenoir! And food blogger David Lebovitz recommends a frommagerie on St. Antoine which bears stopping at for the best butter in the world.

Even better than chicken on the rotisserie is pork. Inside the covered market at Place d'Aligre is a butcher’s stall that roasts whole pigs on Sundays. Chickens are available everywhere, any day of the week. Both R. Lenoir and Aligre are worth some time. But if you want some of the best roast pork you may ever eat, don’t miss Pl. d'Aligre near noon because it sells quickly.

What may be fun for you is to read Cara Black’s “Murder on the Ile St-Louis”. Her books are about a female private investigator in Paris - who lives on the Ile St-Louis - that solves cases in various neighborhoods with great detail about each quartier. The books are also an entertaining read.

Have a great time in Paris.

I would never cross town to go to a market. There are markets in every neighborhood and many of them are quite fine. You will come across street markets every single day except Monday.

If I were staying on Ile Saint Louis, I might head for the Montorgueil market street and the rue Montmartre street market right next to it on Sunday morning.

The Sunday markets close down around 13:30 in most areas.

You don't cross town because you don't have to.
I love the Richard Lenoir market and they will have tinned foie gras.
I happen to love the Pl. Monge market on Sunday morning.

If you want tinned foie gras, you can go to any of the dozens of supermarkets open Sunday until 13:30. It's more expensive at a street market because it pretends to be more chic.

If you want tinned foie gras, you can go to any of the dozens of supermarkets open Sunday until 13:30. It's more expensive at a street market because it pretends to be more chic.

I don't really understand the market touring obseesion either. Why go to serveral markets if you don't need anything, just to look at them? And why talk about all this food which you can't be buying anyway if you are just a visitor duyring the day (ie, you don't buy a whole roast chicken to carry around with you all day). There is very little food you can buy from these markets that you could be carrying around with you all day, if any.

Fairfax, the roast pork sounds intoxicating! I have Murder On The I'le in my carryon! :-)

Tinned foie gras? Why would I want that?

Christina, I understand. We will peek at Place des Vosges then shop the markets in the morning and drop the items at the apartment on L'Ile where the wine can chill for dinner there in the evening. The remainder of our time will be walking the quay, crossing to Marais or wherever the winds take us.

I never miss the Ricahrd Lenoir market and I often don't buy anything but some cheese for the apt. I do not cook or eat in when in Paris, I do that at home! I like the Aligre for the junque displayed outside rather than the food. There is a place right across from our apt. that sells pork and lamb grilled every day

Back home now but we sure did love going to the R Lenoir market! So many vendors selling rotisseried chickens but we went for some cheese and salami for our afternoons in the apt. Loved looking at the scarves, buttons, and other items. We then walked to Place des Vosges and then to a cafe for lunch and people watching. What a fun introduction to Paris while we were acclimating to the time change!

You obviously don't like foie gras!! My downfall was when the foie gras man told us he took VISA. LOL

Glad you all got your foie gras thru US customs. Last time they confiscated about 100 dollars worth from me. Now I just order it fresh from D'Artagnan

I understand that foie gras is okay if it's fully cooked. Demi-cuit is not okay. However, I've never tried to get through Customs with it.