The Good Life France Magazine




The Good Life France Magazine brings you the best of France - inspirational and exclusive features, fabulous photos, mouth-watering recipes, tips, guides, ideas and much more...


Published by the award winning team at The Good Life France

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2 years ago

Issue No. 14

From Paris to the Loire Valley, and everywhere in between, how to live like a millionaire in Nice on a budget, French island hopping, a fairy tale chateau and Monet's Garden in Giverny. Everything you want to know about France and more.

In two minutes, he

In two minutes, he reduced it into various delicacies all wrapped and ready to be sold to the restaurants and butchers shops of Paris… it was enough to make me want to turn vegetarian. The meat pavilion was wall to wall with carcasses of pork, lamb and venison. There were crates and crates of poultry and game. Huge joints of mouth-watering ribs of beef caught my eye making me forget my vegetarian musings. Rungis is a working market and you get the impression that for some who work here, visitors are to be tolerated rather than welcomed. No surprise, these people are working their socks off while everyone is at home sleeping. You need to keep on your toes to avoid being run over by a horn blowing mini truck or worse still - falling into a bin of pigs entrails. cheeses of all shapes and sizes from mouth size portions of Cabachou to wheels of Ementhal weighing 175 kilos. You can taste some, though at 5.30 in the morning it takes a bit of getting used to. Next up, fruit and veg. Stunning produce from all over the world including stuff that I have never heard of and one fruit that looked positively frightening. A bit of French humour was on show at a stall of French beans from a producer whose name was “Larry Cover” , a clever play on “Le haricot vert” (French beans). Organic fruit and vegetables also now have a place in Rungis albeit a smaller pavilion but with over 40 different operators. There’s also a Fresh Flower pavilion where a truly stunning kaleidoscope of colours and perfumes from all over the world wowed. If you’re a fromage fan you will love the cheese pavilion, it’s the world biggest cheese shop. Everywhere you look are

After looking at some of the best produce in the world it’s time for food and, it’s part of the tour. Rungis has many restaurants and cafés within the market and whilst it may be breakfast for us visitors, it’s lunchtime for the market workers. Tables groan under the weight of pastries, cheeses, saucissons, hams, fruit and many other foodstuffs that you don’t’ see at a breakfast table every day - including an excellent Bordeaux and a very quaff-able Sancerre. Paris is a magical city with much to tempt. From Notre Dame, Sacré Coeur, the charm of the Eiffel Tower that never dulls, taking coffee and people watching But, if you have an interest in food and where it comes from then Rungis, the new belly of Paris, off the beaten track for sure, should be at the top of your list of must dos. Find the details for booking a tour on the Rungis market website: /www. rungisinternational.com Tours are by coach from Paris and cost €85 per person www.SAS-Stockloc.com