A Paris food tour.

I get even more familiar with a favourite part of this great city on a Paris food tour – a well-fed ramble through the back streets of an historic town.

Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, Le Marais

Regular readers will know that I cant go past a great food tour. As I’ve mentioned in the past, in posts like this and this, they’re a great way to get a look at the beating heart of a city – and the perfect way into some of the regional food secrets. So imagine my surprise, when I was recently invited on a Paris food tour, to realise that I’ve never done one in the ‘City of Light’ – despite repeated visits there!

I was asked to take part in a visit to the Marais in Paris, a part of the city I know quite well, by The Tour Guy, a travel organisation made up of a diverse group of travellers who love sharing the local culture of their cities with visitors. They offer an appealing range of small-group tours in several countries, including a selection in Paris.

Kicking off with Champagne and oysters!

There are about 1,600 different types of cheese in France – here’s just a few at the Marché des Enfants Rouge, one of the stopovers on my Paris food tour.

My Paris food tour was a three hour, easy amble around the back streets of The Marais, with a delightful local guide who was very knowledgeable about her part of this fabulous city. We enjoyed frequent refreshment stops and lots of local stories, and the tour left me happily replete – with food, wine and local history.

Kicking off with champagne and oysters – and a view of one of the original glass and cast iron food halls from the original Paris food markets in Les Halles – our very small group of two enjoyed cheese and wine, crepes, a hearty sit-down meal and finished off with dessert, with enough strolling in between courses to relieve any calorie induced guilt.

Delicious crêpes.

One of the few existing, original food halls from the original Paris markets at Les Halles now sits in a quiet street in Le Marais.

This Paris food tour is a fantastically relaxing way to enjoy a vibrant and fascinating neighbourhood in one of the great cities in the world, and I’d highly recommend it. And my best tip is to do a tour like this early on in your visit – then you get to pump your guide for information about other great dining spots in The Marais and nearby arrondissements.