The mecca for lovers of Mariage Freres tea – their flagship store in Paris’ 4th arrondissement. Actually two shops across the street from each other; one sells pre-packaged tins of their tea, as well as tea jelly, tea chocolates, and tea making paraphernalia, the other sells tea in bulk in addition to their other branded items, and also features a wonderful tea room. The tea room is small and crowded, and not cheap – but a fantastic place to have a big pot of whatever kind of tea you like along with light fare which often features tea in the preparation (tea-crusted chicken, that sort of thing). If you like their tea, give yourself a limit on how much you want to spend before going in there, and then be prepared to spend a little bit more than that. Their linen-suited employees will uncover the massive tins of bulk tea behind them for you to sniff out your favorites. Unless you really want to build up your collection of Mariage Freres 100g tea tins, always go for buying tea in bulk – they use old brass scales to weigh their wares and always put in an extra scoop before sealing up the bag.
Heaven on Earth!
