A Prime Route for Fine Teas

The rue de Lévis is the foodie street for the upscale and mostly residential 17th arrondissement. It is a splendid Paris Market Street. Excellent charcuteries, fruit and vegetable shops, boulangeries, patisseries, cafes, a fine cheese shop and..... great teas! La Route de Thé is an attractive small shop presided over by Olivier, an engaging young man with a passion for fine tea. There is an excellent collection of
'grands classiques', the renowed pure loose leaf teas from China, India, Ceylon, Nepal, Japan... all over the tea-growing world. And there are tons of choices for blended teas for any mood or time of day. I found an Oolong flavored with chestnut that I adore and plan to return for more.

Add a good selection of herbal teas, many unusual such as bamboo leaves for brewing, a range of attractive tea pots and tea pharaphernalia and you have a shop worth plotting out your best route to visit. Open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10-7:30, Sundays, 10-6. 77 rue de Lévis. Metro: Villiers.

And, just in case you buy far more than tea along this street and a picnic shapes up, the verdant Parc Monceau or the Parc de Batignolles are within an easy walk.