Bonthés et Accessoires teashop was one of the first places I discovered in my neighborhood when I moved to Paris, and I’ve been going there ever since. When my parents came to visit, did they want to go the Sacre Coeur, or through the quaint streets of Montmartre ? No, practically as soon as they landed my mom started asking: “when do we go see Morad?” Morad is the owner, warm host and tea connoisseur extraordinaire of Bonthés, a shop on the more residential side of Montmartre, rue Marcadet.
Le magasin de thé, Bonthés et Accessoires a été une de mes premières découvertes quand j’ai déménagé à Paris, et depuis j’y vais régulièrement et j’y amène tous les gens qui me rendent visite ! Ma mère est tombée tellement amoureuse de ce petit endroit chaleureux que lorsqu'elle traverse l’Atlantique pour venir à Paris, elle ne veut voir ni le Sacré Cœur, ni la Tour Eiffel, avant de passer rue Marcadet voir Morad, propriétaire passionné de Bonthés.
Bonthés sells tea, of course, but also teapots and cups of all shapes and sizes, its own brand of (organic!) honeys, jams, cakes, spices and all kinds of tea accessories.
Comme vous voyez sur les photos, Bonthés et Accessoires vend non seulement du thé, mais aussi des théières de toutes les formes, boules de thé, épices, ainsi que des confitures, miels, gâteaux marque Bonthés et souvent biologique ! Miam, miam.
When you come in, Morad offers you a cup of tea: morning tea, afternoon tea, or evening herbal tea after 6pm, Christmas tea in December, Easter tea for Easter, etc., and to go with it, an assortment of tea chocolates to taste! (You’re hooked already, no?)
Dès que vous entrez, Morad vous propose une tasse de thé selon l’heure ou la saison (thé du matin, de l’après-midi, sans théine après 18h, thé de Noël en Décembre ou thé de Pâques), et des chocolats à déguster avec !
Morad can recommend a good tea for any taste and budget, tell you its story, or, if you’re not in a hurry, why not the whole history of tea in the world? :-) His joy and passion are totally contagious and I always end up staying much longer than I intended. So there you go. I sound like an ad campaign, but I swear I don’t work for him – although I keep trying to convince him that I should!
Les thés sont tous bons, mais aussi les histoires qui vont avec, que Morad prend un grand plaisir à raconter. Si vous avez le temps, il vous ferait peut-être tout l'historique du thé dans le monde, qui sait ? ;-) C’est difficile de ne pas être touché par sa passion (et non, je ne suis pas son agent de presse, - mais il devrait peut-être m’embaucher !).
15 comments:
I'm going to have to check that out! Love tea, much to my dentist's chagrin!
Même moi qui ne suis pas une fana de thé, je craque pour Morad et sa boutique magique : y rentrer, c'est découvrir un autre monde. Allez-y !
A great place! Thanks for the interesting post...
Cheers,
Rosa
Camille - I know, I think I'll be a very yellow-toothed old lady with my collection of teapots, offering tea to everyone who comes to visit ;-) If you go, do tell Morad you were inspired to come from my blog - he'll be happy to know he was right to let in the paparazzi (i.e. me)!
D.K. - Effectivement, il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde, (sauf les gens qui n'aiment pas être heureux) ;-)
Rosa - Thank you for coming to visit!
The tea shop looks like a great place to hang out in! I love trying different teas.
The shop keeper can make so much difference. We have a place we visit called Clayburn Store. The people that run it are British. He brings all kinds of candy in and his counters and shelves are lined with all kinds of goodies. It is so fun listening to him sell his wares ... his enthusiasm is so infecting ... you want to try them all! It is also a little luncheon spot and the man makes the best of soup ... one is never disappointed. The wife makes very good desserts etc. A nice place to go.
Cicero - Me too! And Clayburn Store sounds absolutely charming. I wish I wasn't so far away - that's my kind of place :-)
Bonthés is indded my favorite place to visit in Paris! The tea is extraordinaire, and Mourad is such a gracious host, offering freshly brewed samples of his teas and stories about it. He spoke to us in English to complete the perfection of his hospitality. What is so delightful is that he enjoys sharing his shop, his teas and his knowledge so very much. His happiness is infectious. I think we stayed for about 2 hours, sipping tea, chatting and browsing. In the end, I couldn't purchase enough in my effort to bring it all home with me!
Wow looks great, I thought tea shops were an English thing. We English love our tea!!
I'm sick right now and this post just reminded me that the thing I need to make me feel better is tea! Of course! Thanks, Hope!
Mom - you said it! He's a great host.
Sam - actually there are a number of nice specialty shops in Paris for tea, but those are the only hope of getting a good cup of tea in the city because in a French cafe or restaurant, it's almost impossible! No, nothing beats England for teatime ;-)
Anthony - i'm sorry you're sick! If I wasn't so far I'd come over and make you a nice cup of tea (blueberry?). Hope you feel better soon.
Bien sur, Hope à raison. To enter Morad's shop is to enter a delightful short story (or perhaps a novel -- it all depends how long you stay!) full of unexpected plot twists, beguiling locations and colorful characters -- none, of course, more so than the man telling the tale.
Who can make tea more fascinating or tantalizing? Morad is part raconteur, part global tour guide, part sommelier du thé, part healer, part elf (though an exceptionally tall one), part comedian, and entièrement le gentilhomme. Every minute in his shop is as memorable as one of his bonbons du gingembre enrobé au chocolat. Mmmmmm.
What a beautiful description! And all true ;-) You should submit that to a tea travel guide - I'm sure they have those...
Oh ! Mais cette boutique semble terriblement belle et alléchante ! Merci pour l'adresse ! En bonne thémania que je suis, je vais m'empresser d'y faire un petit tour ;) !
Bises
Sabine
Eh bien, de rien ! Il faut être solidaires entre thémaniaques et partager les bonnes adresses :-)
Bonthés & Accessoires a maintenant un site internet. Pour emporter partout avec vous l'univers de Morad...: www.bonthes.com
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