Flâneries in Paris: Explore the Jewish Quarter

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Flâneries in Paris: Explore the Jewish Quarter
This is the 34th in a series of walking tours highlighting the sites and stories of diverse districts of Paris. Two things struck me as I arrived at the Rue des Rosiers in the 4th arrondissement, the heart of the Jewish Marais. Charmingly, strings of roses were hung above the entrance and annoyingly, there was a massive queue outside l’As du Fallafel, the kosher restaurant at number 34. Such is its reputation that falafel connoisseurs throng the pavement outside at almost any time of day. Unless it’s Friday evening or Saturday, of course, when it’s shut for the Sabbath.    Another little crowd was gathering around a bearded man in a black brimmed hat who stood out because he was carrying a lemon in one hand and a sheaf of leaves in the other. “It’s Sukkot,” said someone in explanation and I googled it. It’s a week-long Jewish holiday, a kind of harvest festival, when both these items form part of a prayer ritual, a thanksgiving for the fruitfulness of the land. What I thought was a lemon might in fact be an etrog, a related citrus fruit.  The little scene was a reminder that in parts of Paris, Jewish culture is an everyday, living thing.    Celebrating Sukkot in the Marais. Photo: Marian Jones Just opposite the falafel restaurant stood a pastry shop, Florence Kahn, where the engravings on the window promised Gastronomie Yiddish from central Europe and Russia. It’s been there, said decorative text underneath, since 1932. I wondered whether the original owners, starting their business in hope and expectation, survived the Holocaust. “Consult us,” said the sign in the window, “for your cocktail parties, receptions and bar mitzvahs.” This cultural mix was also reflected in the goods for sale: Jewish matzele’h, East European strudel and vatroucka, cheese pasties, sold under their French name – chaussons au fromage – and a pairing which could come straight out of a New York deli, namely “bagels and cheesecakes.” A road sign explained that the nearby Rue Ferdinand Duval was called Rue des Juifs (Jew Street) for 400 years, between 1500 and 1900 and just across the road from Florence Kahn’s bakery an histoire de Paris plaque added to the story. Because this was an area settled by Jews over the centuries, it was here that the wave of Ashkenazi Jews fleeing eastern Europe – Romania, Russia, Austria-Hungary – in the late 19th century also chose to settle. The area became known as the plezl, a Yiddish word meaning neighborhood. 
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Lead photo credit : Roses at Rue des Rosiers. Photo: Marian Jones

More in Flâneries in Paris, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jewish Paris, Jewish Quarter, Marais, rue des Rosiers

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After a career teaching Modern Languages (French and German), Marian turned to freelance writing and is now a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers, specializing in all things French and – especially! – Parisian. She’s in Paris as often as possible, visiting places old and new, finding out their stories and writing it all up as soon as she gets home. She also runs the podcast series City Breaks, offering in-depth coverage of popular city break destinations, with lots of background history and cultural information. The Paris series currently has 22 episodes, but more will surely follow when time allows!