Ets Lion

To get off at Anvers metro station in Montmartre is to see the Parisian tourist industry in full force. On one side a young man bellows at a group of boisterous British teenagers to form an orderly line and make sure they have metro passes handy, whilst on the other a long-suffering fifty-something woman rattles off pieces of mundane historic knowledge to nobody in particular, as she holds an umbrella in the air and attempts to lead her group of 20 middle-aged Spaniards up the teeming streets to the fabled Sacre Coeur. Ah, yes, beautiful Montmartre.

So here's an idea: when you want to go to Montmartre, don't get off at Anvers. Instead, try Abbesses. It's strange that the two metro stops are so close - essentially on the same slope of the same hill - and yet have such an entirely different feel.

The rue des Abbesses community is a tight one: here a sense of neighbourhood really exists, much like it did over 100 years ago when Ets Lion opened their doors. There are still the same picturesque landmarks along the street that would draw the approving eye of any seasoned traveller, but instead of tourists overpopulating the charming bars and shops and bistros, the collection of people is a somewhat multicultural community of people who call Paris home. And it is to this crowd that Ets Lions largely caters.

At first (slightly kitsch) glance the store appears to be a kind of makeshift gardening store, with an array of plants sprawling out of the front section of the shop and onto the footpath. But once you are inside a world of culinary goodies is unveiled.

Herbs and spices measured by scales, great drums of olive oil, candied fruits, wines and champagnes, tea, conserves, old-fashioned sweets and finely crafted chocolate overfill the charmingly decorated barn-like structure. These are all artisan products and represent some of the finest produce France has to offer. Should you be searching for the most delicate ginger-laced chocolate or a rare spice to add to your pilaf, this is your destination. Forget that the place looks like it was designed to lure tourists: it has been a mainstay of the rue des Abbesses community since 1895.

Go, rummage, buy something you've never tried before and discover a little corner of Montmartre that you might otherwise have missed: you'll be experiencing a slice of Paris in much the same way as the locals have been doing for over a century.