I am friendly with many of the local shop owners in the Marais, as I frequent them personally and on my tours. In recent months many have been struggling to stay in business, as the effects of the Charlie Hebdo and the bad economy have seriously curtailed their business. I am a great supporter of local small businesses, as they are the lifeblood of the French economy. Many of the shops are unique and have merchandise you won’t find anywhere else. I would hate to see any of them go under, as in recent years some have gone out of business and have been replaced with chain stores, threatening the demise of Paris boutique shopping by becoming a glorified mall of global brand names.
In support of keeping my local shops alive and hopefully thriving, I am re-posting a story I wrote in 2009 about a wonderful foie gras and French gourmet shop next to my apartment, Aux Ducs de Gasgogne. If you are in the Marais and love foie gras, please visit Franck at Aux Ducs de Gasgogne and treat yourself to a jar or two of their fabulous foie gras.
I live on the rue St. Antoine and I am spoiled with an incredible selection of food shops. Within a three block radius there are three supermarkets, two cheese shops, four boulangeries, three wine shops, two chocolate shops, a honey shop, a butcher, two fruit and vegetable stands, and best and most decadent of all, two foie gras shops.
My favorite foie gras shop is Aux Ducs de Gascogne. The owner Franck, a jovial, gentle man, is most helpful when you want to select foie gras. In fact what I like best is that when you buy any foie gras or paté, he will explain how to serve and store it (he speaks English) and he also puts a sheet of paper in the bag with your purchase with the same information in English.
Aux Ducs de Gascogne has its own farm in the Gars region in southwestern France and own two stores in Paris. I have tried the foie gras in numerous versions and the quality is excellent and the taste superb. It comes in cans, jars, and refrigerated shrink-wrapped plastic packages. Franck recommends buying cans or jars if you are transporting it in your luggage. Besides foie gras entier or bloc style, they offer mousse de canard and terrines of salmon, rabbit, St. Jacques, and quail. One great gift idea is a selection of 8 sample terrines and patés in little colored boxes for 13.90 euros or 12 for 19.90 euros.
The shop has a vast selection of other top quality gourmet products including olive oils, vinegars, mustards, sweet wines from southwest France and Champagne to accompany the foie gras,liqueurs, aperitifs, homemade jellies & jams,truffles, Absinthe, chocolate, olives, and jars of beans, fruits, and vegetables.
Aux Ducs de Gascogne has won the 19 prestigious Medaille D'or's in the last 12 years. The other nice thing about the shop is that they always have special sales and reductions on certain products.
Aux Ducs de Gascogne
111 rue St. Antoine, 4th arr.
Metro: St. Paul
Tel. 01 42 71 17 72
http://www.ducsdegascogne.com/fr/default.asp
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte's professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.
Cost: 195 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday,Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.
Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Tours start at 225 euros for up to 3 people, and 75 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com
Click here to watch a video of our famous Marais tour