Your Local Street Market – Maubert Mutualite in the 5th

Not the biggest of markets but certainly a relatively high quality one, Maubert Mutualite is half food/ half flea market. I took these photos last Thursday 25th Nov 2010 (it takes place on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning). The cold day meant it wasn’t crowded and the busiest stand was the one selling sheepskin hats !!

Maubert Mutualite would be your local market  if you were renting an apartment in the 5th, near or on bld. Saint Germain and on the border between the Latin Quarter and Saint Germain. The market sets up right above Maubert Mutualite Metr0 (line 10).

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Brasserie Lipp – yes, it was worth it !

I got to try Brasserie Lipp sooner than I anticipated following my post of Sept 8th about it’s 130th anniversary this year. It lived up to expectations both on the place/atmosphere and food/service fronts.

I have just returned to my studio – 11am Mon 20th Sept – having thought Mondays might be a little quieter there, but not a bit of it. It was hopping and though on my own, 2 hours flew by as I witnessed the comings and goings of the waiters and diners.

My wonderful meal began with a Lipp beer and a plate of sardines with bread to mop up the oils. This was followed by a glass of Bourgogne, recommended by my friendly and impeccably presented and behaved waiter, to accompany the house roast chicken. I shouldn’t have but I did have their famous Mille Feuilles to finish and it was worth it. At €65, the bill wasn’t cheap but you could not fault the food, the service or the atmosphere.

I could write for another 20 minutes about my waiter, the idiosyncrasies of the place etc but that might spoil it for you – just one quirky thing then: the big clock hanging from the middle of the ceiling runs 7 minutes fast and has done so for as long as anyone can remember. Why? - it takes 7 minutes to walk form Lipp to the National Assembly so Parliamentarians can leave there at the prescribed time for a vote and still be in time to cast their vote!

Brasserie Lipp is located at 151 bld St Germain which is across from Place Saint Germain de Pres, opposite Les Deux Magots and Cafe Flore and beside the Metro station.

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Brasserie Lipp – “Les Gouvernements tombent a la Chambre et se font chez Lipp”

Brasserie Lipp was originally named Brasserie des Bords du Rhin

Over it’s 130 years, Lipp has become more than a simple brasserie. Located on bld. Saint Germain in the 6th, it has always been seen as an annex of Parliament. They say that French Governments have risen and fallen over it’s tables.

Brasserie Lipp today

Politicians, actors and writers lives cross in this unpretentious eating house. I love the story about Bill Clinton who a year after he left office, arrived without reservation and had to wait for a table to be seated!

Interesting fact about Lipp – Originally and to this day no woman has ever waitressed there. Apparently in the late 19th century when it opened it was common in brasseries to employ women who were charged to drink with and make drink the clientele. Writers of the time talk about these women being able to down up to 60 halves of beer and 30 absinthes a day !! The original landlady of Lipp decided her establishment would not condone this practice and still today, 130 years later,  all the front of house staff are male.

And what of today’s dining experience in Lipp. I intend to eat there in the coming months and will let you know how I fare, but in the meantime, there are more than enough reviews on TripAdvisor.

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