Saturday, May 29, 2010

Tea in Paris

Recently, my husband and I were fortunate to celebrate our anniversary by taking a  week long river cruise from Normandy to Paris.  It was a fabulous trip and I absolutely adored Paris!  We will have to return some day as we simply didn't have enough time for everything we wanted to see and do. 

Even though our time was limited, I did my best to visit several tea spots. On our way to Paris, we stopped at Rouen.  Rouen is a charming town with plenty of shopping and historical points of interest.  Most notably where Joan of Arc met her demise.  Cakes was our first tea stop.  The tea maids  at Cakes wore  beautiful red toile aprons which I wanted to purchase.  But a $100 for an apron couldn't be justified so a picture would have to do. No one there spoke English but using the universal language of money I was able to purchase some French Breakfast tea. It was quite robust and satisfying.
 


 Next, was the famous Hediard in Paris.  The walls were a dizzying array of  red tea tins.  Hediard, purveyor of fine teas since 1854, offers more than 200 varieties of tea from many different origins to be enjoyed at any time of day.  They strive to impart the spirit of tea, to encourage the awakening of tastes, to stimulate the desire and satisfy the curiosity for the unknown.   We were able to be seated here for a delicious pot of tea and a to die for French apple tart. 


 At Hediard,  I chose the  famous Hediard blend, one of their most popular black tea blends from China with a delicious subtle bergamot, lemon and sweet orange flavor.

Mariage Freres was the last stop for tea. It was also established in 1864.   Here there was an overwhelming inventory of  600 choices of tea. With the help of a young French salesman,  I chose  Marco Polo.   Another wonderful black tea blend of  several varieties of Chinese and Tibetan fruit and flowers creating  a highly sophisticated bouquet.



And so our trip to France came to an end all too quickly.  I am still enjoying my French tea and dreaming of returning some day.  Have you ever been to France?

3 comments:

  1. What fun, Pat! I've been to France only in my dreams...but one day...!
    Looking forward to tea with you in the fall!
    Have a beautiful day~
    ;-D Kathleen

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  2. Sounds like a great plan. I will look forward to it.

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  3. Love, love tea in Paris! One of my favorite things to do.

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