Tour de France: Paris, 17ème – Sugar Daze

As our "Tour de France" continues, today we head to the "upper West side," if you will, to the 17th arrondissement of Paris (75017) with Cat Beurnier. Cat brings a bit of joy to Paris each day with her American-style cupcakes, otherwise known as Sugar Daze (available for order online). I love Cat's passion for her neighborhood, and she does an amazing job of giving us a virtual tour today. Read on!


From Cat: I was really excited when Anne asked me to write a guest post about my neighborhood, the 17th.I’ve been living here for almost 8 years and have come to truly love my little corner of Paris. It’s relatively quiet as far as neighborhoods go – we’re far from the hustle and bustle of touristy St Germain or St Michel on the left bank, and don’t exactly exude the cool ‘tude you find on the East side of Paris in the perennially hip Marais or bohemian 10^th/Canal St Martin area. No, the 17th is a mostly calm, family neighborhood, similar to the sleepy Upper West Side area of my hometown: Manhattan. The 17th is comprised of two relatively different neighborhoods which are ironically separated by the train tracks leading into Gare St. Lazare.One one side, there’s the Plaine Monceau which boasts wide tree-filled avenues, ornately sculpted, grand Haussmannian buildings and the lush Parc Monceau at its border. And then there’s the younger, grittier side which is commonly referred to as Batignolles. This is an area that is slowly becoming gentrified – you’ll find a lot of small, narrow streets here with all sorts of quirky boutiques and ethnic pockets as you make your way towards the 17th border at Avenue de Clichy.

Since I work with food, one of the highlights of the 17^th for me is the abundance of open-air markets. These are my absolute favorite places to shop for everything from fresh fruit and vegetables to wine, cheese, chocolates, meat and specialty items. My favorite is found on la rue Poncelet where you can find all of the above including an amazing Italian food store called Del’Italy which offers dozens of freshly prepared Italian dishes and home-made pasta as well as an épicerie with a wide selection of imported dry goods from Italy. There’s also a German specialty take-out store called Epicurya, where you will find everything from marinated herring and freshly made horseradish to the house specialty: choucroute garnie, and several varieties of sausage. At lunch-time, these are served from the sidewalk terrace in fresh poppy-seed baguettes with your choice of sweet or savory mustard, several different spices and sautéed onions. Also of note in the area is la rue Levis, another open-air market; and the Marché Biologique de Batignollles. As its name implies, this farmer’s market offers exclusively 100% organic goods. It stretches several blocks down the Boulevard de Batignolles and is only set-up on Saturdays.

Just up the street, on the corner of Poncelet and Avenue des Ternes is Café Dada. This is the local hang-out for hipsters of all ages. Popular for any-time-of-day coffee or beer, and after-work drinks, it’s one of the few establishments in the area where you will find a lively crowd day or night, even on Sundays. We are partial to Le Millesimes, on nearby rue de Courcelles, for its eclectic menu of salads, tartines, starters like millefeuille of tomato and mozzarella, nems, charcuterie and cheese platter, and a host of more classic bistro fare like tartare, côte de bœuf poêlée et carré d'agneau rôti aux herbes et gratin dauphinois . Having profited from a recent face-lift, this café a vins also attracts an after-work crowd as well as a mix of shoppers pausing for a leisurely meal in-between purchases on the tony rue de Courcelles, and the shopgirls that wait on them. Also noteworthy in the area is Flute, the intimate Parisian arm of the same-named champagne bar in NY; Meating, one of Paris’ few authentic steakhouses; and the Michelin 1-starred L’Agapé.

Two of my favorite neighborhood shops are La Chaise Longue (one of several outlets in Paris) and Pyramide. The former is found on Avenue de Ternes and offers a large selection of colorful and kitschy kitchen and tablewares, small electrics and original sometimes impractical gadgets such as an automated shoe polisher or a plexi-glass cereal distributor which holds up to 5 different types of cereal! Pyramide, on Avenue Wagram, proposes a mix of vintage-inspired serving pieces, furniture and home accessories. It’s my first stop when I need a hostess gift or a small trinket for a friend’s birthday. The owner, well-known at the local flea markets and vide greniers, stocks all sorts of original rare finds and so on any given day, you’ll find items such as Coca-Cola fountain glasses from the ‘40’s or a 5-foot tall forged metal birdcage to fragrant candles and potpourri sachets from the South of France and souvenir kitchen towels printed with the names/images of local vineyards.

A trip through the 17^th wouldn’t be complete without a mention of the Parc Monceau which in my opinion is one of the standouts of the neighborhood. Since I have two young children, not a day goes by that I don’t pass through this parc whose origins date back to 1769. Covering a space of just over 20 acres and bridging the 8^th and 17^th arrondissements, it is famous as being the landing point of the first parachutist in world history. At one point, it housed a windmill, a minaret, a pyramid, a Chinese pagoda, a Roman temple, a waterfall and the "Naumachie" which is a duck pond half-encircled by broken Corinthian columns. Most of these architectural features remain today. It was one of the original landscaped gardens in Paris, and unusual in that it copied the English-style gardens. Great care is taken to maintain the beauty and splendor of its many fields, statues, plants and trees (in fact the parc contains some of the tallest trees in Paris). It’s the perfect spot for a leisurely stroll, a summertime picnic, a get-together with friends or an outing with the kids. The parc offers a newly-installed old-fashioned carrousel, free Wi-Fi, a sandpit and playground, swings, a terrain for skaters, a kiosque selling light bites, ice cream, Belgian waffles, etc., and pony-rides for kids on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Thanks Anne for giving me this opportunity to tell you and your readers a little bit about the 17^th arrondissement. I hope I’ve piqued your interest and look forward to seeing some of you stopping through soon!

Worth checking out in the 17th:

• Del’Italy, (store at 21 rue Poncelet, restaurant at 23 rue Poncelet)
• Epicurya, 10 rue Poncelet
• Café dada, 16 Avenue des Ternes
• Le Millesimes, 110 rue de Courcelles
• La Chaise Longue, 43 Avenue des Ternes
• Pyramide, 87 Avenue de Wagram
• Le Parc Monceau, main entrances located on Boulevard de Courcelles, la rue de Courcelles, Boulevard Malesherbes and Avenue de Ruysdael.
  

Thanks, Cat!
Guest post by Sugar Daze.
@sugar_daze on Twitter