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Le Carré des Simples
Few things in life can compare to the small luxury of cupping your hands around a warm mug of fragrant beverage, taking tentative sips while you wait for it to cool down to the right temperature. This is best enjoyed on a porch, looking out onto a blossoming garden on a sunny spring morning, but any place and time will do, as long as you have the right gear.
And this is where Le Carré des Simples comes into play: this small store, pretty and bright, opened in the Grands Magasins area just a few months ago. The name refers to the garden patch where people used to grow medicinal herbs in the Middle Ages, and the idea is to provide you with everything you need for the perfect herbal tea experience.
Lined up on shelves all around the boutique are big jars of their herbal tea blends, mixing flowers, plants and spices. The sales attendant will open them for you if you wish, give them a shake to bring out the scents, and let you take a whiff. The products used are selected with care, and grown in the French areas of Anjou and Provence. Hence, just like fresh produce, the price of each blend can vary seasonally and depending on the harvest.
You can choose blends of simple herbs, like verbena, lime blossom, lavender, lemongrass, mint... or more elaborate blends with poetic names that evoke a theme, a place, a memory, or a writer : Fleurs de Colette, Veillée Alsacienne (with grapes, almonds and cinnamon), Tisane des Enfants (with marshmallow, rose petals and poppy), Jardin de George Sand...
The store also offers a variety of little toppings, spiced sugar, dried fruit and candied fruit, that you can add to your mug, or nibble on while you drink. You will also find of course pretty mugs and cups, as well as different kinds of tea balls and filters. An array of essential oils and natural beauty products round up the selection, with yet more ways to be good to yourself.
Le Carré des Simples
22 rue Tronchet
75008 Paris
Métro: Havre-Caumartin or Madeleine
01.44.56.05.34
In her column "A Parisian Home Chef," native Parisian Clotilde Dusoulier happily shares recipes, food shopping bonnes adresses, entertaining tips and restaurant recommendations. Read more of her writing on her gastronomic blog, Chocolate & Zucchini.
