A tour of the Galeries Lafayette foodhall

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at Printemps and Galeries Lafayette, two giant department stores crouched alongside the Boulevard Haussman. After doing a little research on French fashion at Printemps (conclusions: French fashion is fun! French fashion has the potential to do extreme damage to my bank account! French shoes are wacky and beautiful and I want all of them!), I noticed a door leading into the “Gourmet” section of Galeries Lafayette.

The initial entryway opens into a small Valrhona chocolate shop and a sandwich counter. Stupidly I thought, “This is it?? This isn’t very exciting, nor is it particularly gourmet!” Stupid, stupid me. Then I saw the escalator. Up I went, and in a matter of seconds was immersed in what I can only describe as a food and wine wonderland. Imagine an entire level of an enormous department store filled with nothing but exotic and gourmet foodstuffs from across the globe. Imagine limitless kiosks filled with lovely cheeses, beautiful meats, creative breads. Imagine display cases filled with Japanese pastries, dim sum, Moroccan couscous and tagines, endless varieties of cured meats, tiny eggs from birds you’ve never heard of, and precious boxes of wild strawberries, stems still attached.

Also imagine that everybody in the entire city has come to shop here at the same time as you on a Saturday afternoon.

I was so overwhelmed by this cornucopia of riches that I just kind of fluttered around, ineffectually pawing at things that interested me and then replacing them when I saw the pricetags. I tried to keep my mouth from hanging open, but I’m not sure how successful I was. I didn’t even know where to begin, really. How can you decide what to cook when you can basically buy any ingredients you want in the entire world? I couldn’t choose anything. It was too much.

Actually, I did want to make some dumplings, and tried to locate a package of wonton wrappers. I didn’t find any, but that certainly doesn’t mean they weren’t there. Instead, I bought a baguette assas (which was flatter and wider than a typical one, and maybe named after Rue d'Assas?), a brioche au sucre (which turned out to be on the stale side, but it was late afternoon…), a Belgian chocolate bar with silky cognac filling, a small disk of cheese called Demi Lunois that had marc (the dried bits of grape skins and stems that remain after winemaking) pressed into its exterior, and some “pêches sanguines” – presumably a rosy variety of peach, but I haven’t tried them yet. I’m a sucker for any kind of “blood” fruit.

The cheese and chocolate and bread were all lovely, especially the cheese. That was dinner, along with a glass of cheap rosé. Welcome to my new four food groups.

Please note that my pictures are not great, and certainly do not convey the fabulousness of the place.


Dinner.


Olives.


A wall of pork.


A small shot of a very large food emporium.


More jars of things.


Fish.


When I said they have everything, I meant it.