Paris Discovered

The poissonnerie — the French fish shop — operates on a different logic than the refrigerated fish section of a supermarket.

The fish are whole, laid flat on crushed ice, visible from the door. You can see the clarity of the eyes, the brightness of the skin, the stiffness of the body — all reliable indicators of freshness that disappear the moment a fish is filleted and wrapped. The handwritten price tags are in euros per kilo. You tell the fishmonger what you want, how many, and how you'd like it prepared: whole, gutted, scaled, filleted, or cut into steaks.

This counter shows mackerel (maquereau), rouget (red mullet), sole, dorade (sea bream), and what looks like a turbot in the center. All labeled, all priced, all caught recently enough to be here.

**Local tip:** Fresh fish in Paris is generally better and cheaper on Friday mornings, when the weekly delivery cycle peaks before the weekend. The best covered markets for fish — Marché d'Aligre, Marché Saint-Quentin, Marché Beauvau — get their best stock Thursday to Friday. Ask the fishmonger what came in that morning. They'll tell you.