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The
Water Trail
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Walking around Paris can make anyone really thirsty. There are many wine bars and bistros to discover excellent vintages. But following the water trail can also be a wonderful and original way to discover the city built around the great river Seine. En route!
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can start your day with a visit to the amazing Bon Marché
food emporium. In the old department store, it was revamped just a few years
ago and has become one of the best and most spectaculars épiceries
in the city. No need to go to Fauchon or Hédiard. Here, you can stop
to chose the water most suited to my mood. The Grande Epicerie offers
no less than 50 brands of water: the Corsican water Saint-Georges, with
its Philippe Starck designed bottle and label; Cloud Juice, an Australian
water made, according to the label, with "7,800 drops from the purest
rain" ; Yma, especially its rose/lychee flavor; the exotic Alpenrose,
Caledonia Clear, straight from Scotland. You might want to try Montigny,
a water from a spring outside Paris which belonged for a long time to the
monks of the Saint-Denis abbey. 38, rue de Sèvres. 7th. Tel: 01 44 39 81 00. Métro: Sèvres Babylone |
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Stop
at one of the 800 "fontaines Wallace". The water is the
same as the one you can drink at the tap but these lovely green fountains
with their little ladies decorating them are so elegant that the water tastes
much better. Starting in September, the city will start installing all over
Paris three new models of water fountains. The Fontaines de l'An 2000 have
been conceived by the coolest French design collective, Radi Designers.
Or you can go to the fountain of the Square Lamartine, in the elegant 16th arrondissement. It comes straight from a water table 600 meters under the city. Métro: Rue de la Pompe. |
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you want to stop at the Galeries Lafayette. The famous department
store also has a huge food emporium, Lafayette Gourmet. Go there for just
one thing: ice cubes made with water from the Irish spring of Glenlivet.
If you want, you can stop at the "kiosque à bulles", the
bubble bar on the 5th floor. You can have either sparkling water or
Champagne. 48, Blvd Haussman. 9th. Métro: Chaussée d'Antin. www.galerieslafayette.com |
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THE
"in" place for design and for water is the super hip Colette. Have lunch at its "bar à eau". You can chose amongst 96 mineral waters, no less. The boutique is a sort of Barney's, but in even more trendy. Very elegant and sometimes suffocating, but really worth the detour. 213, rue Saint-Honoré. 1st. Tel: 01 40 15 63 60. Métro: Palais Royal. www.colette.tm.fr |
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| The mineral water that experts, water lovers, gourmets, rate above all the others is called Chateldon (7F at the Grande Epicerie). Extremely pure, Chateldon has been bottled since 1650. It carries the symbol of the Sun King, Louis XIV. The king loved mineral water so much he has created a special corps: the "officiers du gobelet à cheval" (literally: the officers of the gobelet on horse). Its members would ride to Forges, in Normandy, to bring mineral water to the builder of Versailles. You can also try the Chateldon in a restaurant from its native region, Auvergne. Chantairelle. 17, rue Laplace. 5th. Tel: 01 46 33 18 59. Métro: Maubert-Mutualité |
Les Thermes d'Enghien-Les-Bains. This most amazing spa will make you feel like you have stepped into Fellini's masterpiece, 81/2. The spa is just a few miles north of Paris by the beautiful lake of Enghien and its neo-resort architecture style is in itself worth the trip. You can have the full treatment -perfumed bath, shower. 87, rue du Général de Gaulle. 95880 Enghien-Les-Bains. By train: Gare du Nord, direction Val Mondois. |
| Galion. You can end the day on a boat moored along the Seine, the very chic Galion. The decor is pleasant, the food good and affordable. If the day is hot, it is a perfect place to catch the cool winds from the river. 10, allée du Bord de l'Eau. 16th. Tel: 01 40 67 08 20. |
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