Paris

Ahh Paris. What can I say? I am one of the multitudes that loves Paris, with its low skyline, the old magnificent buildings, abundant sidewalk cafes - a city brimming with juicy history. There are health food stores, vegetarian restaurants, good coffee, and wonderful treasures to be seen and had.
Velib is the citywide cheap bike-rental system similar to Bicing in Barcelona. Velib stations were plentiful!
• Bio Saint Germain, supermarche Bio – lovely, bright store filled with bio food at 30 Blvd St Germain, Paris, Tel: 44 07 3484; www.biosaintgermain.com
• Phyto Bar, 47 Blvd St Germain, Paris, Tel: 44 07 3699 is a restaurant serving organic food with a sister health food store next door. They offer an array of fresh squeezed juices –the grapefruit/kiwi is an especially refreshing combination. I also recommend the seaweed “caviar” made with a variety of greens from the sea.
• Naturalia is a chain of health food stores, with 25 throughout Paris plus 3 stores dedicated to natural beauty products – www.naturalia.fr.
A truly unique experience is a visit to the Grand Mosque in Paris, built by the French government in the early 1900s as thanks to the North African Moslems that helped defend France. The mosque itself is beautiful in its simplicity with tiled and whitewashed walls and gardens. On one side is a beautiful restaurant and tea room with indoor and out door seating. The outdoor seating is like stepping into another world with blue and white tiled tables amongst trees, plants and birds. I recommend the infusion menthe (mint tea), which is made with a handful of fresh mint leaves in a clear glass of hot water. La Mosquee, 39 rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Paris – restaurant, Salon de The, Souk (gift store), Hammam (steam and hot baths with massage); Tel: 43 31 38 14; http://www.la-mosquee.com. Across the street you can walk through the Jardins de Plantes, the first public garden in Paris which is filled with medicinal and decorative plants.
For inexpensive clothing check out the “fripe” (that is second-hand store), Eileen, 53 rue Monge, within walking distance of the Mosque. It is a tiny, crammed-with-rummage store with clothes piled high and spilling onto the floor, but good prices and a definite adventure. I found a fabulous French jacket there and some shirts – I was looking for “made in France” and I found it at affordable prices ranging from .50¢-25 euros and up.
Bonjour ☺