A Delicious Parisian Experience: Wine And Oysters At Le Baron Rouge

For those who follow my blog, you probably know that I love to run when I am travelling in France. I also love wine. So, I decided to combine the two when I was recently in Paris. I had heard about a great wine bar called, “Le Baron Rouge”. It is located just east of the Bastille and one Sunday morning I decided I wanted to visit this place.  But, I also wanted to get a short run in. What would I do? Have you heard of the movie, “Run, Lola, Run”? This is my version: “Run Drink Eat Run To Le Baron Rouge”. It’s a unique experience I think everyone should try. Let me explain.

Sunday Run

When I woke up that Sunday morning I ran from my apartment located south of the Seine River in the 5th arrondissement to three markets. The first was only two kilometers away and not a difficult run as one has to keep stopping at traffic lights (aka. “rest time”). It was a cloudy day, around 0 degrees C so it was good for running.

Run To Marché des Enfants Rouge

• small with food stalls. There wasn’t much exciting there but the area was interesting. It had lots of shops and restaurants.

Run To Marché Bastille

• located 1.3 kilometres away
• it is one BIG market with lots of stalls and people. As it is one of Paris’ biggest, it was also very crowded but for good reason.

Run To Marché d’Aligre

• located less than a kilometre away
• a new one on my list and it became my favourite for the day
• there was an organic bakery where I bought my beloved chaussons aux pommes. I figured it was a good place to buy it as there was a line up to get in

Le Baron Rouge

After munching on a chausson aux pommes, I ventured across the street to Le Baron Rouge. It was my “reward” for my little run. Just in front of the wine bar, there were a few tables set up and two staff were preparing plates of oysters and told me that I choose my oysters and then go inside to choose my wine.

It was very amusing to watch the staff shucking the oysters with her contraption. It reminded me of a paper cutter and it did the trick without cutting or stabbing herself. This video will show how fast she was.

Oysters and Wine

I chose some oysters from the list (I am not a connoisseur so I just picked the middle one on the list). I was given a plate with my oysters, bread, butter, and lemon and proceeded inside where I was overwhelmed with hundreds of bottles of wine and casks of wine.

I spoke to the owner who was behind the bar and he recommended a delicious white wine to go with my oysters. I stood at the bar, amongst the crowds (very popular place) and enjoyed my treat for the day, speaking to some other clients. I don’t THINK I got any weird looks as I was in my running gear. I think they just accepted me as another person who loves oysters and wine. I then ran back home.

This was one of my most pleasant runs (exception: Marathon du Medoc——22 wines over 42.2 kilometres) and although you may not want to  take up running, I highly suggest you check out Le Baron Rouge for a great experience.  By the way, the price for a glass of wine and 5 oysters?  10.5  Euros. Distance run? 8.8 kilometres.

Marché des Enfants Rouge: 39 Rue de Bretagne (3rd arrondissement

Marché Bastille: at Place de la Bastille

Marché d’Aligre: at Place d’Aligre (12th arrondissement)

Le Baron Rouge Paris: 1 rue Theophile Roussel (12th arrondissement)