By:\u00a0Katie Petersen<\/p>\n
Professor Elaine Sciolino seems to know everyone on the rue des Martyrs, and she has to say hello to them all.<\/p>\n
La rue des Martyrs is Sciolino\u2019s home turf and the subject of her 2016 book\u00a0The Only Street in Paris.<\/em>\u00a0It also happens to be historically rich, authentically quaint, and increasingly gentrified at once.<\/p>\n As she leads the group of Princeton students, intensely jet-lagged but propped up by caf\u00e9 au lait, Sciolino stops in to say\u00a0bonjour<\/em>\u00a0to virtually every shop-owner.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the rule, she explains. \u201cStop in for a chat even if you\u2019re not buying; never, ever be rude,\u201d she prescribes in\u00a0The Only Street<\/em>. Naturally, \u201cthis means I cannot be rushed. It can take thirty minutes to walk a few hundred feet.\u201d<\/p>\n Or more than half an hour, if you\u2019re not only catching up with a friend but also introducing a group of students to Paris. Sciolino takes the time to share with the owner of a produce stand that one of her prot\u00e9g\u00e9s is writing about tomatoes in Paris. Without hesitation, the man grabs a knife and selects a small, lumpy, red and green tomato from a pile. He carves pieces for the whole group to try that are so sweet they taste like candy.<\/p>\n The tour makes another stop in a small Italian market, where a printout of Sciolino\u2019s book cover hangs prominently as one of the shop\u2019s claims to fame. \u201cThis is my favorite place on the rue de Martyrs, because it\u2019s a little bit of Italy in Paris,\u201d says Sciolino, who hails from Buffalo, lives in Paris, and is of Sicilian origin.<\/p>\n The owner is \u2013 no surprise \u2013 delighted to see her. \u201cYou see how it\u2019s different than Princeton?\u201d Sciolino asks, turning to the students. \u201cYou come in, they know your name, you say\u00a0bonjour<\/em>. This is the spirit that I want you to take back to Princeton\u2026so that you come in here and you feel at home.\u201d<\/p>\n That is the spirit that the street is fighting to retain. A law dictates that small shops like these that close down can only be replaced by other artisanal businesses.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say that new businesses don\u2019t pop up. Some, like the carefully curated olive oil shop Premi\u00e8re Pression Provence, are more recent additions and feature a steeper price tag. \u201cThis is an example of the new artisanal rue de Martyrs,\u201d the owner says. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of little shops specialized in one thing, and a trend of people looking for something real, something special.\u201d By:\u00a0Katie Petersen Professor Elaine Sciolino seems to know everyone on the rue des Martyrs, and she has to say hello to them all. La rue des Martyrs is Sciolino\u2019s home turf and the subject of her 2016 book\u00a0The Only Street in Paris.\u00a0It also happens to be historically rich, authentically quaint, and increasingly gentrified at once. … <\/p>\n
\nIf they\u2019re looking for things real and special, the only street in Paris is a good place to start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"