Paris has so many lovely little boutiques, cafes, shops, and galleries that we feel somewhat selfish not being able to share them with you, give you our view on the best the city has to offer.
Yes, we’re wedding planners and we want to keep our topics on this blog relevant to that. But come on, we’re also living in one of the best cities in the world!
We’re truly madly deeply in love with Paris. So in the spirit of spreading the cheer, we’ll be adding a new Post Series that will be focusing on the best of paris by arrondissement, quatier and types of places and activities called PARIS JE T’AIME.
Our first post in this series is from luxury French Tea Makers Mariage Freres.
When many people think of France they imagine the French sitting on terrace at sidewalk cafes, drinking a tiny espresso, smoking a cigarette, and looking fabulous. While this is actually quite often the case, it must be said that the French love their “thé” and “tisane”. They are are among the principal tea consumers in the world, alongside the Chinese and Japanese, with the average French person drinking about 100 cups a year.
In the best high-end Cafes and Tea Shops ( salons de thé) you will see that good tea that is synonymous with the name Mariage Frères.
A little History
In the 17th century, when European traders began to venture to India and the Far East, two Frenchmen, Nicolas and Pierre Mariage, decided to join along with the expeditions. On their trips with the French East India Company, they visited India, Persia, and Madagascar. These experiences led them to be involved in the international tea trade and consequently to establish a wholesale tea shop in Paris. Tea became the family business, as Nicolas and Pierre passed on their knowledge of the trade. More than a century later, Nicolas’ grandsons, Henri and Edouard Mariage, started the company Mariage Frères in 1854, specializing in wholesale teas and doing business exclusively with hotels and teashops in France. It was only recently in the 1980s that they decided to switch over to retail.
Mariage Freres Today
Today, Mariage Frères boasts an international reputation for producing some of the world’s best quality teas. With over 500 different varieties of tea grown in over 35 countries, the company truly has some spectacular brews to offer. There are only a few Mariage Frères tea salons in France, and three others in Japan, with several vendors in France, Germany, and Japan. Paris’s main department stores, such as Galeries Lafayette, Le Bon Marche, and Printemps, carry a large selection of the teas, which are all distributed in a charming apothecary style display.
The In-store Experience
You may purchase pre-packed tins or you pick out your teas on location and have them weighed and placed into sachets.
While in Paris, you may visit and enjoy a cup of tea at any of the following locations:
- LE MARAIS 30 rue du Bourg-Tibourg, Paris 4e Tel. : +33(0)1 42 72 28 11
- THÉ FRANÇAIS 35 rue du Bourg-Tibourg, Paris 4e Phone. : +33(0)1 44 54 18 54
- PARFUM DU THÉ 32 rue du Bourg-Tibourg, Paris 4e Phone. : +33(0)1 42 72 57 25 Tuesday to Sunday
- RIVE GAUCHE 13 rue des Grands-Augustins, Paris 6e Phone. : +33(0)1 40 51 82 50
- ÉTOILE 260 Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris 8e Phone. : +33(0)1 46 22 18 54
- LOUVRE Carrousel du Louvre Place de la Pyramide inversée 99, rue de Rivoli, Paris 1er Phone. : +33(0)1 40 20 18 54
- MADELEINE 17, Place de la Madeleine, Paris 8e Phone. : +33(0)1 42 68 18 54
American tea aficionados can purchase a variety of Mariage Freres teas on their website or at stores such as Williams Sonoma, Barneys NY and Dean & Deluca. :
Wedding TIP
Are you having a French themed wedding?
If you want to give a wedding favor that is truly French, Mariage Frères teas are the way to go. The most well known of the collection is called Marco Polo, a delicious, aromatic black tea explained on their website as “a variety of Chinese and Tibetan fruits and flowers.” It is a tea that’s pretty much perfect. The combination of the high quality black tea with sweet flowers creates a remarkable experience to be relished in the afternoon or as a dessert tea. A lesser-known and arguably more delectable variety is Pleine Lune, which is a blend of “fruits, rare spices, and the sweet taste of honey.”
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