A Visit to the Rue Montorgueil

This video takes you on a visit to the rue Montorgueil in Paris, France. The rue Montorgueil has been a center of commerce in Paris for five centuries. It remains immensely popular with Parisians today. It’s ten times more active than the sleepy rue Cler. And the crowd is mostly Parisian, rather than American tourists. Shall we go for a stroll? The rue Montorgeuil is in the center of Paris, north of the Forum des Halles. It’s primarily a pedestrian street, but there are occasional cars. The street is crowded with restaurants, bars, and cafés. It also has many shops, including a few florists. Food has traditionally been the mainstay of commerce on this street. This grocery store has cool lamps hanging from the ceiling, for some reason. Not to mention those mysterious mounted animal heads in the back! Organic food store on the left. This pizza restaurant is part of a chain. There are lots of Italian restaurants here (and in Paris generally). But I guess Italian cuisine is the only real competition for French cuisine. This man is selling papers and magazines right on the sidewalk. And then comes this swarm of itinerant advertisers on bicycles. I think a half-dozen at a time might be significant overkill, no? The rue Montorgueil is a great place to hang out. It’s just one open terrace after another. This bar/restaurant is called “Strange Place for a Meeting.” Notice the pavement. Cut marble and granite cobblestones and curbs. Très chic! The Stohrer bakery has been at this address for 300 years. It was founded by Nicolas Stohrer, pastry chef to King Louis XV, in 1730. This is where the “baba au rhum” pastry was invented. Looks pretty tasty! Nicolas himself is long gone, but the store lives on. I like the little piggy in the ‘O’ in the sign of this butcher shop. Too bad you can’t smell these slow-roasting chickens in this video! If you don’t care for meat, how about the fish market next door? Fresh shrimp on ice. Plus many varieties of fresh fish. And then there’s fresh produce. Eggplant and zucchini, 96¢ a pound, peppers $2.55/lb. With so many places to choose from, it’s hard to decide where to sit down. This restaurant dates from 1804. It was originally well known for its oysters. The signs on these wines give not only prices but hints on the taste. For hygiene purposes, these pastries are not handled with bare hands. These fruits and veggies make me hungry. Always a risk on a market street. And if you like cheese, the choice is a bit overwhelming. The chorizo sausage in the middle is a lot like pepperoni. Hardware store on the left, Chinese caterer on the right, and so on. Every restaurant has its own charm. It would take a while to try them all. An apartment on this street needs top-quality sound insulation. Because the street is busy day and night. Some businesses are part of large chains, others are one of a kind. This place sells happy little flower bouquets, as the name implies. This “nano-bouquets” are a nice idea. It’s not all food and restaurants. There are other types of shops, too. Shoe repair and keys, chocolates … … tobacco and cigarettes, a tiny café, a pharmacy with its green cross. This restaurant specializes in snails. It’s almost 200 years old. It was closed when I recorded this video, but it’s usually crowded. Legally, businesses must leave five feet of free space on the sidewalk. But a lot of them ignore this law. Look closely. The menu of the day, handwritten. Of course, there has to be a Starbucks on a street like this. The man behind the green baskets sells fresh (live) oysters. Looks like it’s about time for garbage collection. And I see the garbage truck in the distance. Because the restaurants block the sidewalks, pedestrians and vehicles can conflict. And here are the men and women in green, who keep the city clean. The street is less than half a kilometer long, but it seems a lot longer. This is the north end, technically the rue des Petits Carreaux. Well, that’s about it. It’s a great place to visit. Thank you for watching my video.