The Mariage Fréres Salon de Thé in Paris is my personal definition of luxury. When I’ve spent all morning navigating the Louvre or wandering down cobblestone streets, a nice, long break to savor the flavors of Paris is exactly what I need. It’s the most wonderful tea shop in Paris and a feast for the eyes!

The Most Wonderful Tea Shop in Paris

Stephanie and I first discovered Mariage Fréres tea at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, where we were looking for an escape from the city. We had been living in Bangkok for months, and while we thrived on the city’s chaos and excitement, we needed to treat ourselves to occasional peace and quiet. It was there that our obsession with fine teas began.

Mariage Fréres is a French tea company that began in 1854 and served as a wholesaler of fine teas until opening its first Salon de Thé on Rue du Bourg-Tibourg in 1983. The company currently has brick and mortar stores only in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan, but you can order anything from 100g of tea to a $2,000 gold-plated teapot on their website. I’ve visited their Japanese store in Ginza and their Parisian stores at the Louvre and in the Étoile neighborhood.

During my time in Paris last week, my mother and I dined in the Salon de Thé at the Louvre while my husband searched for his perfect Tour de France viewing spot in the rain. We had different goals for the day.

The ivory-suited waiters took wonderful care of us, providing us with a menu of their tea selection, which is so vast that they also handed us a book that cataloged each tea. A large catalog of options can be overwhelming, so you can always count on their recommendations. I can be a creature of habit, so I chose my absolute favorite tea, their Marco Polo black tea and a delicious tiny canelé cake. My mother ordered the Paris Breakfast tea with a scone. Our teas arrived in their Art Deco tea pots, which went wonderfully with the beautiful white marble tables and vintage decor of the store.

It was the perfect mini-vacation from our exciting day in Paris. The most difficult part was deciding what to bring home from the shop! No, I didn’t splurge on that lovely gold camel teapot, but I did bring home the matching tea spoon and a few canisters of tea!

This is the first of many posts on our Tour de France. Click here to read other great posts, and see our favorite pictures here.