This article has been written on 31.08.2020
After moving to Paris, one of the major changes in my lifestyle was to spend most of my time walking the streets. I used to not like walking very much, and after 6.5 years working long hours in the restaurant and the office, I had actually become very lazy physically. Luckily we moved here and I could finally put an end to my physical expansion. Since I was already walking back and forth from all the French lessons, school runs with my daughter and house chores, I decided to walk all of the arrondissements of Paris in my free time, both as something to do for myself and to keep walking. That was how the idea for my instagram account parisbywalking was born. As soon as I printed separate maps for each arrondissement, created an appropriate Spotify playlist and had my orange marker, I was invincible. Noone; the yellow vests, strikes, rains, even the snow of 2018, nothing could stop me. I walked with every chance I got. I loved being on the street. Until now, I have finished 14 arrondissements and have 6 more to go. I had aimed to finish walking these after schools started, however it will not be as easy as I had hoped because as of August 28, wearing masks have become obligatory in the street as well. And taking long walks while wearing a mask is not very appealing to me. It seems it will take longer than I anticipated to reach my goal.
As someone who had been constantly outside for the past 3 years, staying at home for 2 months after March 16 was not very enjoyable. Of course I was very grateful to get through this period physically and mentally healthy, with my family, however the longing to be on the street, on a garden, even a balcony became unbearable both for me and my wife. Eventually, when domestic travel was allowed, we started looking for a house to rent with a garden that would also accept our cat. We thought it would be enough to at least be out on a garden, however small, keeping away from the crowds. Our 15 day search had a happy ending, though now we know all of the airbnb listings there are from the west to the east, from the north to the south of the country. Eventually we found dear Éric’s house in Grimaud, which had a garden where tomatoes, zucchinis and herbs grew, the terrace had an electric barbeque, and most importantly, our 5 year-old cat who had not set foot outside before was accepted. We had not heard of Grimaud before. Most of our friends hadn’t either. The modern and tasteful decoration, the garden and the location, only 5-25 minutes from public and private beaches were what affected our speedy decision. Our only mistake was the day we decided to set off. The 8.5 hour drive took 12.5 hours. And it wasn’t because there were accidents on the road or anything, there was nothing of the sort. Only the whole country decided to drive south that day and we didn’t know that. Plus, as someone who had very recently shown an amateur interest in biking, I decided to take our three bikes by car, but had no idea how to attach the car kit which caused a 2 hour delay on our departure, making everything worse. I would like to use this chance to apologize to my wife, my daughter and my cat once again.
Mino @ Éric’s house
Grimaud
Grimaud is a beautiful village set on a hillside in the bay of Saint-Tropez, full of stone houses with colorful shutters and doors, adorned with flowers. It is named after its landlord at the end of antiquity era, however its actual history is a lot older. There was a time, with 1.000 residents, it was the biggest village in the region. Even what we know today as Saint Tropez bay was once called Grimaud. This beautify commune doesn’t only consist of the village, but has a Unesco heritage harbor too. Until 1960s this area was a swamp used for agriculture and hunting. In 1964 architect François Spoerry started planning the area as an harbor town. He designed what all seamen dream of, a town where you could deck your boat in front of your house. He built more than 2.400 homes, 1.100 of which are independent villas, and more than 7 km of canals, turning the place into a touristic harbour which today attracts more than 500.000 visitors every year. Though seeing the boats docked at the harbour, it doesn’t look like a lot of fishermen live here anymore. But don’t assume that tourists can roam anywhere in the facility, they are allowed access only to certain areas. However you can rent electric boats to wander through the canals. I must warn you though; because the boats can be rented out by anyone, possibly totally inexperienced, they are extremely slow. Don’t do it if you cannot spare the time, because it’ll be a while to go out and come back. There is a farmer’s market at the harbor every Sunday and Thursday, from 8.00 to 13.00 . Honestly, it wasn’t as good as I’d imagined it to be, however we could find green and black olives that are not easy to come by in Paris, and we were happy. The tomatoes were very good too, although they couldn’t compete with the tomatoes of Canakkale. However when later we found a nice feta at the market in the village, we were almost able to recreate a traditional Turkish breakfast. I have two more places to mention at the harbour. One is a fish restaurant called La Table du Mareyeur. It was opened in 1989 by Caroline and Ewan Scutcher. The minute you enter, you feel that this is a family restaurant; you are greeted with a warm smile, accompanied to you table on the terrace over the water and the service through the lunch is comfortably rhythmed to make you feel at ease. There is a permanent menu and also daily fresh fish from the fish market. I had a chance to taste the fish both with and without sauce because my daughter prefers it so, both was very well cooked and delicious. You can also order the shellfish platter as a starter but I would recommend you to save yourself for the fish. Are you one of those people who can have ice cream after dessert? If yes, have your dessert at the restaurant, but I would recommend a nice romantic walk and an ice cream place in the harbour: J’aime les Glaces (meaning I love ice cream) My daughter repeatedly tested and approved the artisanal ice creams and sorbets of Madame Dumontier.
View from La Table du Mareyeur at Port Grimaud
The location of our house in Grimaud was so good that we didn’t have to get stuck in traffic at all. It is apparently horrible around St.Tropez. And because there was no traffic, we could easily do our grocery shopping from nearby small gardens that grow fruits and vegetables. The best of them was Jardin de la Piboule.
They supply to the kitchens of a lot of chefs around Saint-Tropez. The creators of these 8 hectars of nourishing gardens are Yann Ménard and his team; they grow healthy and delicious fruits and vegetables with sustainable methods. It makes him very happy to share healthy produce with his visitors and believes that it is essential to inspire youngsters to continue the habit. Therefore he employs as many young people as he can. I was very impressed to read that he is also working on a law draft to be brought into force in 2022. The law will require school cafeterias to serve 50% local and 20% organic produce. The benefits of good nutrition on health cannot be denied and he especially underlines the effect of healthy nutrition on increased concentration, listening and reasoning levels in children. I’m talking about children and youngsters, but Yann is only 40 years old himself. He advocates for natural farming, permaculture, doesn’t use pesticides, uses natural fertilizer and chipboard, and let’s nature flourish on it own terms. He tries different methods to prompt microbic life-forms and mushroom growth. He says on his website that “the richer soil will encourage productivity, the vegetables will be equally fruitful as the soil is rich” You can see how much he respects the soil from the fact that he actually plows it with his beloved horse Traviata. He claims that Traviata can work as quickly as a tractor. We cooked all our olive oil dishes with his vegetables. I already missed visiting him every 2-3 days to buy fruits and vegetable.
Another location we bought groceries other than fruits and vegetables was La Halle de Grimaud. It is an organic market where most of the produce comes from local producers. I must admit that shopping all our charcuterie, meat, bread and wine at the same place made life really easier. There was a fish stall at the entrance as well but we preferred to go out to a restaurant when we wanted to have fish. If you love fresh goat cheese as much as I do, the many varieties available from local producers will make you very happy. A lot of charcuterie have also accompanied our rosé wine at sunset dinners in the garden. Yes I’ve said that we bought our bread here, but I must also mention the tempting Le Pâtissier du Château in the village. You can buy bread here as well. The bakery was founded in 1973 and today Chef Olivier Etchart and his wife have taken it a step further than his parents’ days without compromising on the quality. Oliver’s grandfather was one of the chefs of the Spanish King and therefore inherently it was impossible for him to have another job. They have modernized many traditional recipes, using local organic produce and have caused me to regain all the weight I had disciplined myself to lose during the quarantine. They have a tart made of regional herbs that resemble our ‘borek’. Ayca, my wife had to take the last two slices from me by force so that she could have lunch too, it was that good. If you know me, you know how much I love sharing normally. Each morning this magical shop entices its customers to line up in front of it to buy sweet or savory tarts, homemade foie gras and terrine, local olive oils, mustards, artisanal marmalades and many other delicacies. I would advise you to go early especially on Sundays because most of the items are sold out by noon. Dear Christel Etchart reminded me of my best friend’s mother during these busy hours. We lived in the same neighbourhood and therefore eating at each other’s homes was a part of our daily routine. Aunt Sevinç look so serious while she was cooking for me as well as her two sons that I would be scared to ask for anything until the food was served. I felt the same reservation when I had to order from Madame Etchart. Hesitance was out of the question when you were ordering. It took me 3 days to manage to buy mustard. On the first day I made the decision, second day I was scared because I might pronounce it wrong, but victory came on the third day, I had the mustard in my bag. J But on our last day I told her I loved her produce, “J’adore vos produits” in exact words, and she looked at me and smiled. I still don’t know whether she smiled at the clumsiness of my French or the fact that a foreigner loved her produce, but she smiled anyhow, I made her smile.
Another place we enjoyed in the village was Restaurant Apopino. Contrary to many restaurants in Paris, in the south you are always welcomed with a smile. Although at first we were surprised, we got used to it really quickly. This was also how dear Victoire welcomed us to Apopino. They have two terraces and we were seated on the terrace at the entrance. This was an ideal table for someone like me who loves to watch how the restaurant is run. The restaurant is located in a square away from the crowds of the village center, known only by locals. Because there are no other restaurants, cafés or bars on the square, it is very quiet. The square is called Pénitents. It was a perfect location for my daughter and her friend who joined us for the last week of our vacation. After having their grilled fish without sauce, they had the whole square to themselves to play as much as they liked, lost in their own world. The restaurant was opened towards the end of 2016 by Jacopo Brunero (an old financier educated at the culinary institute of Paul Bocuse), Dominique Calcerano (chef by occupation) and Victoire Silvant. It serves mainly French and Italian dishes made with local produce. The décor of the restaurant reflect the elegant, understated southern coolness. The real surprise is the window at the back overlooking an infinite green. We were really sad that we were late to discover this restaurant. Well, am I not writing this so that you will not make the same mistakes I did?
View from Restaurant Apopino