What a food tour feels like

A peek at our celebrated Paris food & wine experiences

If you’re reading this email, there’s a good chance that you already know what our Paris food tours are like. A huge number of our subscribers have already joined us for a tour, or are looking forward to one in the near future. That’s partly because we offer a newsletter subscription to everyone who books one.

Still, some of you who have come for the restaurant reviews might not know about this other thing we do. For more than a decade, we’ve been offering (very) small-group food + wine tours led by local experts.

Read about the origin of our food tours

We don’t go to restaurants. We focus on what France does brilliantly, better than almost anybody, outside of restaurants. Namely, the unparalleled cheese (read more about brie and goat cheese)… the very special breads and croissants (read about the Parisian obsession with baguette), the profoundly delicious chocolate, the beautiful rendered pasty creations, the wine - so much wine! - and sometimes charcuterie.

We visit incredible shops - sometimes homey and family run, sometimes prestigious and a little snooty - and purchase an array of yummy things that reveal something about French culture. We’re using some of the most delicious things you might ever taste as teaching tools. We want you to understand why these products are different, what makes them special, all of the labor that went into that gooey thing you just popped into your mouth.

Our guides are legit food and wine professionals, not twenty-somethings reciting a script. Many of them have been perfecting these tours with us for close to a decade. We keep our groups small so that you can ask all of your questions, so that it feels intimate and convivial, and so that we’ll be allowed into those small and special shops.

A lot of people have said nice things about our food tours over the years. We’ve been pimped twice by the New York Times. Food heroes like Ruth Reichl and Dorie Greenspan and David Lebovitz have kindly recommended us. But the best reflection of what we do is our TripAdvisor page. Our guests have bestowed more than 3,400 five-star reviews, making us the #1 food activity in Paris for more than a decade.

Recently, our collaborator Jaíne Mackievicz captured some images that I think really convey what a food tour feels like:

This is our Left Bank food tour, which on this day was led by Marion. What I hope you can see from this video is the very small group size, the intimate setting, the interactivity between guide and guests, the incredibly special food and wine.

You might also notice the absence of kids. Our tours feature complex flavors and a long seated tasting inside a wine shop. We think it’s fun to talk in detail about runny cheese and wine terroir, but youngsters tend to disagree. For that reason, we don’t recommend our food tours for children under ten. That might upset some parents, but it’s what works best for our guides, the shops we visit, and our other guests.

If you’re thinking about joining us for a food tour, you probably have a lot more questions. Visit our food tour page to learn more about the tour price & length, the various neighborhood options, to see our calendar of availability, to ask about allergies and aversions, and to book directly online.

You can also send any questions to parisbymouthtours@gmail.com

Thanks to those who have shared kind words, thanks to our incredible guides, and we hope to see you soon!

p.s. I’m leaving you with just a sampling of the TripAdvisor reviews that were published this month. Between watching the video above and reading a few of these comments, I think you’ll have a pretty good idea of what a food tour feels like.

The Left Bank food tour

• Learned so many new things! Awesome food tour with our wonderful and knowledgeable guide Diane. She was extremely thorough with ever part of our tasting experience and followed up with a recap email outlining what we did and where we went. We learned so much while enjoying the company of another family only to learn we had friends in common. So enjoyable…a treasured memory of our Paris trip. (written March 30)

• Best thing to do in Paris! Carefully tailored, intimate and interesting! Our guide, Aurélien, was professional, kind, entertaining and certainly knowledgeable!! Probably our favorite experience in Paris! (written March 23)

• Could not have been better - a great food tour! My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our Left Bank food walking tour with Isabelle on a Saturday in March. To say that Isabelle is delightful and an excellent teacher would be a huge understatement. We learned a lot about baguettes, croissants, cheeses (800 +/- in France), chocolates, and, of course, a bit about wine. Highly, highly recommended. (written March 20)

• Highly recommended!!! We HIGHLY recommend Paris by Mouth tours. Our guide Marion was excellent! Her knowledge was impressive and she enthusiastically shared it with us. The quality of the food at the places she took us was exceptional. Soooooo mouthwatering. We were really full after the tour; the portions were generous. Very good value. We went back to the chocolate shop she brought us to and bought gifts to bring home. The chocolates are gorgeous AND absolutely delicious. Wish we'd bought more. We also went back to the cheese monger and bought a terrific cheese that Marion introduced us to. This was our second tour - our previous one of the Marais was a few years ago - also fantastic. We can't wait to go on another tour or two when we are next in Paris. I've recommended Paris by Mouth to several friends and they all loved it. Merci beaucoup Marion et à la prochaine!!! (written March 7)

• A great time and learned so much! We have taken food tours in cities all around the world and this is one of the best ever. Aurélien was fantastic: friendly, approachable, extensive informative, and happy. He worked hard to make sure we were having a great time. We had delicious food, wine, and great conversation, and left with a deeper understanding Parisian culture and life. (written March 4)

The East Saint-Germain food tour

• Definitely a tour to try! I went on the Taste of East Saint-Germain tour. Our host, Neil, was great! He was very relaxed and friendly, and extremely knowledgeable about the stores we visited and the food and wines that we tasted. I particularly enjoyed the delicious and interesting cheeses Neil selected for us to try. (written March 24)

• Excellent experience!! Our tour of East St Germain with Neil was excellent! Our guide was articulate, informative, personable, and enthusiastic. The tour was extremely well organized and covered a lot of ground; it also felt leisurely at the same time. Well done!! (written March 15)

The West Saint-Germain food tour

• Tour of West St Germain - Our tour of West St Germain with Isabelle was so amazing! Isabelle was so knowledgeable, informative, enthusiastic and funny. The tour was the perfect amount of walking around + leisure time to try all of the different foods and wines. I love that it is a small group and you don’t feel overwhelmed. Highly recommend! (written March 18)

• Highly recommend! Delicious food and wonderful guide - great combo!! Fabulous West St Germain tour with Marion. She was so knowledgeable about everything we tasted - and there was plenty - cheese, chocolate, charcuterie, baguette, pastry and wine! She was fun and we learned so much! (written March 8)

The North Marais food tour

• A "do not miss" opportunity So interesting and so delicious! What makes the best croissant? How are a baguette tradition and a baguette blanche different? Do some bries really taste of celery? Our guide, Aurélien, was professional, kind, entertaining and certainly knowledgeable. One of my favorite experiences in Paris! (written March 24)

• Bread, Cheese, Wine and Chocolate! Great tour by Faye in North Marais! We learned a lot about the basic French staples: bread, cheese, wine and chocolate. Faye was an excellent guide with a lot of knowledge and very friendly. We enjoyed all the history of the types of shops and about the regulations and awards that owners have. The food was amazing. We tried some baked goods that were amazing. Then went to the deli and cheese shop to pick up food to bring to the wine cave. There we ate multiple types of cheeses and sliced meets paired with great wine. Afterwards we went to a chocolatier that had some of the best carmels and chocolate ganaches that I’ve ever had. This is one of our favorite things we’ve done on our week to Paris. I highly recommend it to anyone that likes food! (written March 12)

• Fabulous culinary experience! I cannot overstate how wonderful the food tour of the North Marais was! Mathieu, our guide, a former restaurateur, current food "influencer" (he hates the term, though!) and resident of Paris for more than 30 years, was incredibly knowledgeable, personable, funny, and charming. Our group of 8 (the biggest they do) enjoyed award-winning baguettes de tradition and croissants, plus chouquettes (a new delight for me!) from a boulangerie; award-winning quiche Loraine (so much better than the American versions!) and pate croute canard from a charcuterie; six different amazing cheeses from a fromagerie; two different wines from a wine shop (where we also sat and ate the cheeses and the pate croute with the wines); and, for dessert, two different chocolates, a pate de fruits (jellied fruit candy), and a fruit caramel from an exquisite chocolatier. We basically went from breakfast to lunch -- I can't speak for everyone else, but I was full by the end and did not need lunch afterwards, but was fueled for my afternoon at the Carnavalet Museum nearby. Along the way, Mathieu explained the histories of all the food (so many had delightful stories!), details about their preparation and what qualifies them or their makers to have the names they have, what qualities an excellent version of each item should have, and also history about the neighborhood, its geography, its buildings, its cultural and political history, and its people. He also talked about food and restaurant culture in Paris at the moment, and other things of interest or note. And our group was a very friendly bunch of food lovers -- it's nice to be "on the same page" with a disparate group of people and especially to have some company over food when one is traveling solo (as I and another group member were). All of this for a very reasonable price, given all that's included. My only complaint is that it had to end! And bonus: you get a free one-year subscription to their newsletter, which I used for recommendations of where to eat at other times on my trip. The two recommended places I went to were *terrific*! If I visit Paris again, I'll do another of their tours! Paris by Mouth knows what they are doing! (written March 7)

• Awesome food tour of the Marais! Faye took us on a delicious stroll through the Marais, stopping at a top notch boulangerie, a world class chocolatier, an artisanal cheese shop, a charcuterie shop, and then to a table in a market to enjoy the spoils of the shop visits. The best part of the tour was how well Faye knew the subject matter at each shop and the fact that her knowledge went as deep as any of the questions we could ask. An absolutely wonderful few hours of a food tour in the amazing city of Paris.

The South Marais food tour

• Wonderful food and amazing guide! Stephen gave us a wonderful tour in Le Marais! We enjoyed everything we ate. Not only did we learn about the food, but Stephen gave us information about the city and buildings in the area. He is extremely knowledgeable! We highly recommend this tour and Stephen as a guide! (written March 26)

• Walking Marais Our tour guide Victorine was the best! She was so thoughtful and full of so much information. She clearly, loves her job. She treated us to some tasty treats right from the start.

  —Pastry (check)
  —Bread (check)
  —Cheese (check)
  —Wine (check)
  —Cultural Insights (check)
  —Anytime Q&A (check)

  Victorine took the time to explain lots of wonderful insights into the area we explored. Don't hesitate, just book the tour and let Victorine do her thing! Wonderful experience. It was a great day 1 activity!

• Amazing tour of the South Marais - We did the South Marais tour with Victorine and had an absolute blast. We ate the most delicious croissants, baguettes, pastries, chocolates, cheese, and wine. Victorine was full of knowledge. I've done food tours in several other cities, and this was one of the best! (written March 7)

• Absolutely phenomenal! Incredible experience on the South Marais tour with Faye, we loved every moment of our time together! Her in-depth knowledge, sense of humor and insight made every moment memorable. We ate so well, learned so much, and cannot wait to return and experience another Paris by Mouth experience. HIGHLY recommend! (written March 5)

French Cheese Explosion

• Delicious Cheese Explosion! Fabulous afternoon with Jennifer experiencing the Paris by Mouth Cheese Explosion tour! We learned so much about cheese and why certain cheeses taste the way that they do. Jennifer was very knowledgeable and able to answer all of our questions. The wine pairing with the cheeses was excellent! And best of all, the whole experience was fun! (written March 8)