The Cafe du Marche is on the Rue Cler in Paris. This is not a criticism of the Cafe. It is a place recomended by travel guru Rick Steeves. He also stays at and recommends the Hotel Champs du Mars which is across the street from The Cafe du Marche. My wife and I stayed and the Hotel Champs du Mars. The rooms are small but it is cheap and usually fully booked and it is hard to get a room there.
We decided to eat dinner at the Cafe du Marche. It is very popular and always very crowded in the evening.
We sat down and ordered one of the specials. I was watching the people and saw a young man come in and sit down. When the waiter brought his food he tasted it and then complained to the waiter. They got into a loud argument. The customer demanded to see the owner or the chef. This was all in French but I could get the drift without understanding all the words. The hand gestures and exclamations and pointing at the food told me he was a very unhappy customer.
I have been told French people take their food very seriously. I was about to find out just how seriously.
After yelling back and forth with the cook or chef the customer stood up and leaned over and spit in his food and walked out.
I felt we had just witnessed a real Parisian moment.
The video below is a visit to the Rue Cler. It has a link to a more interesting street market in Paris.
Click on the title of the video to go to YouTube and read the comments to find the link.
