“My gosh, what a city. Why live anywhere else? That is the question!” So wrote Julia Child (1912-2004) to her friend Avis DeVoto. And indeed, for her, Paris was the city that changed everything. Before she arrived in the City of Light, she had never worked in a kitchen professionally. It was there that she found her calling: bringing French culinary tradition into the American kitchen.
Child arrived in France with her husband, who was part of the American diplomatic corps, for the first time in the late 1940s. The two of them sailed into the port city of Le Havre and stopped for lunch in Rouen. Her very first meal in France, a Sole Meunier, left an impression she never forgot, and that is how her love affair with French cooking began. Julia started cooking to save money, but quickly discovered she loved it. Before long she had become friendly with every food merchant in her neighborhood and picked up French along the way. The vegetable sellers taught her how to pick the best produce and how to prepare it, and the owner of the neighborhood cheese shop taught her how to judge when a cheese was ripe (he could predict ripeness down to the hour).
When she decided it was time to study more formally, she enrolled at the famous culinary school Le Cordon Bleu. After finishing her studies, Julia Child teamed up with two French friends, and together they opened a cooking school for American expats in Paris, where she taught classes in English.
Eventually, her friends asked her to help write a cookbook aimed at an American audience, and she threw herself into the project with her usual intensity. She refused to compromise on anything and obsessed over every small detail. She would spend entire days perfecting a mayonnaise, or several days in Marseille tracking down the perfect bouillabaisse recipe, tasting every possible variation along the way.
It took nearly a decade for the book to get published, but once it did in 1961, her whole life changed. She became a celebrity, and before long she had her own cooking show that turned into a television hit. There’s no question that Julia Child, by bringing French cuisine into American homes, sparked a massive shift in American cooking, which up to then had been mostly about quick, convenient meals. Julia Child died two days before her 92nd birthday (her last meal was French onion soup). The final words she wrote in her last book sum up her life and her philosophy perfectly: “The pleasures of the table, and of life, are infinite. Toujours bon appétit!”
In place of a map: under the heading of each stop you’ll find its address, and every address is a link. Click it and the spot opens right up in Google Maps.
Rue Cler
rue Cler (Le Café du Marché: 38 rue Cler)
Start the route at the École Militaire metro station, continue on Avenue La Motte Piquet, and turn onto rue Cler. This was Julia Child’s shopping street, and even today you’ll find traditional pâtisseries, boulangeries and charcuteries here. It was in shops like these that she learned that great food starts with great ingredients. If you’re hungry, Le Café du Marché at number 38 is an inexpensive option, and not a bad one at all.
Bellota Bellota
Turn right onto rue Saint Dominique, then left onto rue Jean Nicot. Walk to number 18 and step into Bellota Bellota, a shop specializing in Spanish cheeses and cured meats.
Julia Child’s Home
Head back to rue Saint Dominique and turn left onto rue de Bourgogne, where Julia Child used to do her shopping every day. Turn right onto rue de l’Université and walk to number 81. That’s where she lived with her husband, Paul. It was in the kitchen of this apartment that Julia began experimenting with French cooking, which went on to become the love of her life.
A Walk Along the Seine and the Food Shops of Les Halles
quai Anatole-France, and E. Dehillerin at 18 rue Coquillière
Continue on rue de Bourgogne and turn right toward Quai Anatole France, where Julia Child loved to walk, pop into the different shops, and learn from the merchants about the secrets of French ingredients. Continue straight and cross the Seine via the Pont des Arts. Cross the courtyard of the Louvre until you reach rue de Rivoli, turn right, then left onto rue du Louvre, then right onto rue Coquillière.
There, at number 18, you’ll find E. Dehillerin, the kitchenware shop Julia Child loved. Here you can buy kitchen tools of every kind: baking molds, pots, pans and more. A must for anyone who loves to cook. And if you’re looking for more kitchenware shops in the area, feel free to check out this post.
Once you’ve finished shopping, head to the restaurant Au Pied de Cochon, at number 6. Julia used to tell the story of coming here with her husband after a night out, and how a steaming bowl of onion soup greeted them as the sun came up. Feel free to go in and order that same famous onion soup, because this is where our walking tour ends.
And of course, we can’t finish without a movie about Julia Child
Done walking and want to relax a bit while getting to know Julia Child’s story even better? If so, I highly recommend the film “Julie & Julia,” a charming comedy about two things I personally love: blogging and cooking.
Looking for more walking tours in Paris? Click here.
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