Oysters in Paris!

We walked over there a few years ago on a Sunday morning, but it seemed like it was mostly a drinking crowd. So we passed.

We had oysters at Baron Rouge on a Sunday morning in 2018. The oysters were good, but it wasn’t my favorite seating/surroundings.

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I certainly wouldn’t turn Wellfleets down!
B & G Oysters in Boston has an oyster shucking “course”, but it turns out it’s also a tour of oysters from the Canadian Maritimes to Virgina. It’s fascinating to follow the changes in mineraility and sweetness as you go from north to south.

I regret that we don’t have choices of Laughing or agreeing faces on the response button.

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Pleine Mer is indeed very likeable, but the oysters are single-sourced (from Bretagne and I seem to remember specifically Cancale). With a few exceptions like the much praised I’Ilot (oysters from Normandie and, more specifically Isigny) which, for me, has a more enjoyable ambiance and location as well as an excellent small plates menu, I prefer places with multi-sourced oysters from Normandie, Bretagne (both north and south), La VendĂ©e, Charentes Maritime, Arcachon etc so that I can compare and contrast. They all have their differences and the differences change from week to week.

Sorry, Deluca, pet peeve time. “Block”. It’s so peculiarly North American and, as an indication of distance, a mystery to us Europeans because here a “block” in the American sense could be 10m or 200m and indeed there is no literal translation of “block” as a measure of distance in French or even in British English. In fairness our very common “deux pas”/ 2 steps to indicate nearness (is that a word ?) is probably just as confusing to Americans.

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Baron Rouge only does (or did) oysters Sept (or maybe Oct) to April. With so few tourists in Paris, it seemed a bit forlorn when I passed by recently on a weekday.

There are better options in the Aligre quartier i.e. Sea Bar annex of the Paris PĂȘche poissonnerie (but not as cutesy as Le Baron Rouge).

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Absolutely true. Your culture does need to get a grip on this! But/and equally confounding to us rational Yanks is your system describing address by BUILDING # rather than its position in a , yes, BLOCK. A building might take up an entire “block”, resulting in frustration, blisters, angst.

Mme Mangeur, have you been serving Mariage Frùres Earl Grey French Blue tea to impoverished residents of social housing complexes to raise their aspirations and sensitivities again ? Bñtiment #A etc is pretty rare except for large housing or office developments, hospitals, university campuses or business parks in the suburbs. But it’s the same in San Francisco, no ?

I will concede that finding individual, often unnumbered apartments can be a challenge in Paris.

We agree! C’est tres simple ! A “block” is that distance between two “rues”. See how easy your charitable routes would be if you could know beforehand exactly where your recipients lived?

Before anyone worries, Parn and I are very old friends. We banter like siblings.

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The distance between two rues is xx mùtres, not block. I suppose you exceptional Americans could use feet or yards if you want. Which leads to another question
 why is the US one of the very few countries (just 3, I think) in the world that does not use the metric system ?

Sigh
I am always compelled to reply; we use the metric system more than many realize. Certainly it is used in medicine and engineering.


But I do love Oysters in Paris.

Blocks are one thing. Getting Americans to use metric parallels quantum theory. It was supposed to be taught and phased in some 60 years ago. In both public and elite schools. Somehow, never caught on.
But I can’t cook/bake/weigh/measure in anything other than metric. So maybe baby-steps beginning with me?

As much as I enjoy bantering with Mme Mangeur aka Pilgrim, bed beckons


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In baking, the metric system is a necessity for weighing and measuring. No matter the country.

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As with many others who grew up in the '60s, my knowledge of the metric system for weight measurement was crucial to my lifestyle.

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Welcome! I’ve noticed I have grown accustomed to thinking about both. My measuring cups, scales, thermometers, bottles, cans, etcetera, give both.

Ah, Istr was on my to go list for our May 2020 visit to Paris. Alas, global pandemic got in the way.

Istr did in fact reopen after the pandemic - I know because I went there each of the last two years - but sadly I see that it is now permanently closed! It was my go-to in this area.

Fortunately, I still have L’ilît close to the place that we are staying, and in fact have already been there once already, and it was indeed quite good. But I’m hoping to find at least one alternative, for variety. And also because L’ilît is not open for lunch.

Sadly, the “Paris Oyster Map” no longer seems to be available via Google search. I did save the Paris Oyster Map link, so here it is posted for others. It’s clearly a bit out of date, last updates before a couple of mine just now [to note several in the area that have since closed] were in April 2024.

Ones still open on the map include Le Collier de la Reine (an upscale relatively expensive new restaurant that serves oysters; I tried it a couple years back), the fishmonger inside the Marché des Enfants Rouges, Le Mary Celeste and Sur Mer.

Does anyone recommend any of these, or have any other places they enjoy for oysters within, say, a 15 minute sojourn (walking or metro) of the 11th/Haut Marais? Our apartment is quite near the Oberkampf metro stop on Blvd Voltaire.

Check out Comptoir des Mars at 1 rue de Turenne, at the corner of rue Saint Antoine, in the Saint Paul area. We visit there at least once a week, usually when we’ve had a multi-course lunch. We’ve sat outside, at the bar and at a table. All good.

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In 2019, we enjoyed Pleine Mer, a bit west of Gare de l’Est, so within your 15-min MĂ©tro limit. Nothing fancy, but pleasant, informal service, and a good price for just straight oysters and Muscadet.

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