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| L'Opera Garnier - which inspired the Phantom of the Opera |
This afternoon was spent exploring the area near L'Opera Garnier in the 9th and la Place de la Madeline in the 8th arrondissment. As part of my pre-move into the apartment shopping, I decided to find the Zwilling J.A. Henckels shop in the 9th. Since a good knife is invaluable, I thought this would be one splurge I would allow myself to make. This shop had every imaginable knife made by Henckel and most professional quality. They also carried other basic kitchen utensils - whisks, peelers, etc and even pots and cruets. As you can imagine they all came with a hefty price tag. The first knife I picked up was a carving knife priced at almost 300 euros. OK. Every professional needs their tools. I am not a professional chef, so I put that particular knife back on the display shelf and looked for the everyday/ordinary people knives. After browsing a bit, I was relieved to discover that even the Zwilling JA Henckel store was having a semi-annual sale. I found a chef's knife at a price point i could justify to myself. After an hour (getting to the store, browsing, then buying), I had knife. Living in Paris, you have to really want to buy something to make this much effort. There isn't a Target where you can go and buy everything you need in one outing. Here, there is the Henckel store, the Boddom Shop, the shop that sells ceramic dinner plates and glasses, the linen shop. You want to know why French women are so thin, it's because they have to walk everywhere and lug around their purchases. I feel my glutes strengthening as I type.
This area was pricey. It has the items that I need, but I spent as much on that one knife as I did last Thursday when I bought my linens that included a sheet, duvet cover, and two pillow cases. My hood was more budget friendly. You still have to go from shop to shop and hunt around, but I think this is where most Parisians do their shopping. I only saw tourists at the JA Henckel store.