Traveling Naturally
&
green earth guides
Beyond Ecotourism • Ethical and Green Travel around the Globe
Traveling to France? Don’t go without the
and be sure to check the
for all sorts of additional information for France
Recommended in
Rick Steves’ France 2010
Green Earth Guide: Traveling Naturally in France
Updates and Corrections
Corrections:
On page 114 there is information for one of the ochre stores, Les Ocres de
France, in Apt. The correct days and hours are as follows: For most of the year Les Ocres de France is open from Monday to Friday
9am-12pm/2:00-6:30pm. In July and August the hours are extended from Monday to
Friday 9am to 12:30pm/3:00 to 7:15pm, Saturdays from 10:00am to 1:00pm/3:00 to
6:15pm.
A more accurate rendering of the general directions of the French routes to
Santiago de Compostela can be found on this map updating the map on page 111 of
the Guide:
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Additions and Updates:
France GreenWays:
For a map showing the Greenways (reclaimed rail trails made into biking and hiking routes - no cars allowed) in France visit www.voiesvertes.com.
Travel Tip:
The French love exact change – they hate making change. So it is handy, especially when buying small items
like postcards, to have your pockets full of euro change.
Food and Accommodations:
La Vie Saine, a Green Earth Guide Favorite, full service natural foods store in Montpellier
(see page 43 of the book), has ten stores throughout France in Burgundy,
Savoie, Bordeaux and Languedoc Roussillon. See www.laviesaine.fr for all store locations.
For a local dinner - but not for vegetarians - try Le Petit Canard (Canard means Duck). This is where locals go to eat and while they have a little variety on the
menu (like a salad with goat cheese), it does remind me of the old Dudley
Moore/Peter Cook comedy routine about the Frog and Peach restaurant, where you
can order Frog a la Peche, or Peche a la Frog, because at Le Petit Canard it is all about duck! But you will be in heaven if you like
duck. Le Petit Canard, 19, rue Henry-Monnier, 75009 Paris, 01 49 70 0795 – open 7pm to 2 am every day for dinner. Metros: Pigalle or St Georges a few
blocks from the rue des Martyrs within walking distance of Sacre Couer.
For organic crepes try the BREIZH Café in the quartier Marais - not to be missed. Breizh Cafe, 109 rue Vielle du
Temple, 75003 Paris; Tel: 01 42 72 1377; www.breizhcafe.com
The Gentle Gourmet – The Vegan Place in Paris, is a bed & breakfast with a restaurant serving vegan, local and organic foods in the 16th
arrondissement. Room with vegan breakfast is 130 Euros/night for 1 person, 155
Euros/night for 2 people. Dinner is 50 Euros/person, and Sunday brunch is 25
Euros/person. They are open 7 days/week and you need to book ahead for all
meals. Rooms have wifi and organic terry bathrobes. The Gentle Gourmet, Rue Duret between Avenue Foch and the Avenue de la Grande Armee, a few minutes
from the Arc de Triomphe; Metro: Argentine.
For Fabulous Local and Natural Food and Wine in Paris the web site More Than Organic is a must - this link will bring you right to the page where you can find wine
shops, restaurants, bistros and wine bars serving natural wines. The web site
offers information about wines and wine-making: http://www.morethanorganic.com/natural-wine-in-paris .
La Cremerie is a wine store and bar specializing in natural wines, a couple of blocks north
of the Luxembourg Gardens. Housed in an old creamery - hence the name - it has
been a wine store for sixty years. La Cremerie, 9, rue des Quatre Vents, 75006
Paris; Tel: 01 43 549 930; Metro: Odeon; open 10:30 am to 10:00 pm Tuesday to
Saturday with special times for tastings; Web site: http://www.lacremerie.fr
For more information about ecological wines in France see the Traveling Naturally Ecological Wine Guide - http://ecologicalwineguide.blogspot.com
To find Organic Places To Stay around France search the France listings on the wonderful Organic Holidays Web site
Chez Teresa is a two-bedroom bed & breakfast almost due east of Nantes in Fontevraud. They serve vegetarian meals
by reservation only, and have a little shop selling some vegetarian items plus
conventional UK foods. They also offer writing workshops. Room range from 49-55
euros/night. Fontevraud is about equal distance from the sea and the mountains.
It is 13km from Saumur where there is a great Saturday market. Chez Teresa, 6,
Avenue Rochechouart, right by the ancient abbey of Fontevraud;
http://www.chezteresa.fr
Books - Fact & Fiction about or taking place in France
Of Men and Plants, Maurice Messegue. Macmillan, 1973. Messegue was an herbalist
and natural healer from a small village in France who went on to treat famous
people and be persecuted by the authorities. Includes appendices on his herbal
preparations and growing tips for herb gardens.
The Vintner’s Luck, Elizabeth Knox. Farrer, Straus & Giroux, 1998. One of my favorite books, it takes place in France, and follows a
vintner and his annual interludes with an angel.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery. Europa editions, 2008. This is a
beloved book to me. The novel, set in Paris, is about a wonderful and
intellectual woman who works as a concierge in an apartment building and tries
to conceal her smarts.
The Flaneur: A Stroll through the Paradoxes of Paris, Edmund White. Bloomsbury,
2008. An insiders view into the back streets and best of Paris.
The Waitress Was New, Dominique Fabre. Archipelago, 2008. A novel about the daily life of a French waiter.
A Year in The Merde, Stephen Clarke. There are four books in Clarke’s Merde series - very light, comical reading about living in France.
Go Lightly...... leaving small footprints wherever you go