Everyone's tastes are different, which is why each Edible Paris tour is custom-designed to satisfy your specific cravings. I created the one-day itinerary below for Roisin, a medieval history professor from Canada who was visiting Paris in June with her husband and two-year-old twins.

Dear Rosa,

I really like everything and have no food allergies at all. But I prefer salty to sweet things, although I do like chocolate, especially dark chocolate. Because I live in Winnipeg and have small kids, I don't get a chance to indulge in some things—seafood and great cheese—as often as I would like. But while I really love luxury, I also have to watch my budget a bit. I can imagine setting aside about 200 euros for a memorable day of eating and food shopping, but not much more than that.

“I don't get a chance to indulge in some things as often as I would like”

I really like to nibble, and so would love to be able to visit some places that would let me taste a variety of things. Are there any good places that serve interesting cheeses and good wines, too? It would be fun to nibble on some cheeses while drinking a good glass of something... (I'm thinking of wine bars I've visited in Italy as a model for this).

I'd like to have a really wonderful lunch somewhere, but since I might have the kids with me, I'd like somewhere th at wou ld make them feel welcome, too. (They don't need high chairs any more, so that makes it a bit easier). A couple of café recommendations would also be great—especially a place to have a very good aperitif (a negroni??) before lunch. I always love cafés that are a bit off the beaten path—especially if I can sit outside and take in some street life at the same time.

And I might want to spend part of an afternoon shopping for food I can take home to Canada safely. Any suggestions about what to take back and where to find it?

Also, I really love north African food, and I know that Paris is of course a place to try such things. Are there any neat places that sell spices and cooking pots, etc., that would be worth checking out?

And just wandering around a market might be a fun morning—especially with the kids, and especially if there was something close by to eat a good picnic after that (I could save the restaurant lunch for the following day). What good fruit or vegetables should we look for at this t ime of year? And I shouldn't forget my love of all cured pork products—good ham is a big favourite in our house!

Best wishes,
Roisin

Dear Roisin,

Since you're visiting Paris with children, I don't want to make your perfect food day too exhausting. I've designed two easy Saturday walks: one for the morning and the other for the afternoon, allowing for a rest at your hotel in between and some fun interludes for the kids.

Morning

To indulge your love of cafés, you can start with breakfast around 9am at Le François Coppé (1 boulevard Montparnasse, 6th/01.47.34.72.70), a lively corner café near your hotel. Settle into the wicker chairs on the sunny terrace for some great people-watching, plus croissants and café crème. From here, it's a leisurely 10-minute walk to the Saxe-Breteuil market, surely the most beautiful in Paris with the Eiffel Tower rising up in the distance. On the way, be sure to stop in at Le Moulin de la Vierge (166 avenue de Suffren, 7th/01.47.83.45.55) to buy the bread for your picnic—baker Basile Kamir is famous for his naturally-leavened loaves, formed into baguettes and boules (round loaves).

Being in the chic 7th arondissement, the Saxe-Breteuil market along the avenue de Saxe has some of the most pristine food you'll find in any Paris market. It's open only on Thursdays and Saturdays from about 9am to 1pm. In June, you can expect to see the first French cherries, the last of the asparagus (slightly bitter-tasting white asparagus is the most popular French variety, but you'll also see green, violet-tinged and perhaps wild asparagus), bouquets of Provencal artichokes, French strawberries (smaller and more flavourful than the big Spanish ones), and juicy apricots. Look out, too, for Mme Nochet, who grows dozens of apple varieties, many of them rare these days. She'll be delighted to talk to you, in perfect English, about her favorite subject.

When buying fruit for your picnic, tell the stallholder that it's to eat right away ("pour manger tout de suite") and he or she will select the ripest fruit. It's not unusual for stallholders to make a distinction between fruits which are to be eaten at noon or 4pm! I prefer to buy from market gardeners, identified with the sign "producteur" or "maraîcher," as their products are guaranteed to be seasonal and are usually grown on a small scale, which means more flavor.

At this market, you'll also enjoy feasting your eyes on the many fish stands, overflowing with gleaming sea creatures in shades of silver, pink and orange. Probably the most impressive is Jacky Lorenzo's where blue-aproned fishmongers scale, gut and fillet at lightning speed to satisfy the throngs. You might want to buy some cooked shrimp, which comes in various sizes, for your picnic.

Cheese is a must for any French picnic. In June goat's cheeses are at their best, as the animals have been munching on spring grass. Mr and Mme Joncheau sell "crottins" from their own goats in Normandy at their small stand at the Eiffel Tower end of the market. Choose from creamy, fresh goat's cheese or potent, aged specimens that stick to the roof of your mouth. The children might enjoy some comté (similar to Swiss cheese), France's most popular cheese—look for the label AOC (Appellation d'origine contrôlée), which guarantees quality. If you like blue cheese, why not try a bleu d'Auvergne instead of roquefort, which you can easily find outside France? It's always a good idea to ask for recommendations from the cheesemonger, who will be happy to cut your selection into convenient slices. An other outstanding stand at this market is that of Arnaud Molard, who specializes in traditional cheeses.

You mentioned your love of pork products, known as charcuterie in French. At this market, head straight for the charcutier Michel Feltin, who works uniquely with naturally raised farmers' pork. Try his big rounds of Lyon sausage, the viande de Grisons (similar to Italian bresaola), and his unusual quail terrine made with spice bread.

You might also drop by a stand called "Delicatessen" to samp le savory cakes with flavors such as cheddar and sausage or eggplant and olive—these could be a great addition to your picnic.

Armed with your shopping bags, you're ready to find the perfect picnic spot—and what lawn could be better than that of the Champ de Mars facing the Eiffel Tower? First, though, it's time for some chocolate. Jean-Paul Hévin, one of the city's finest chocolatiers, recently opened an original chocolate shop, Hévinter (16 avenue de la Motte-Picquet, 7th/01.45.51.77.48), that brings new meaning to the term "fast food." It's near the rue Cler street market, which is a 15-minute walk (or five-minute cab ride) away from the avenue de Saxe. At this small but seductive boutique, Hévin has designed chocolates to be eaten on the run, such as finger-length bouchées filled with bitter ganache, raspberry or delicious pistachio paste, and chocolate "leaves" flavored with orange or cumin. He also has a more classic shop at number 23 of the same road.

All that chocolate has made you thirsty? The lively rue Cler has a couple of good spots for a pre-lunch drink—the buzzy, see-and-be-seen Café du Marché (38 rue Cler, 7th/01.47.05.51.27), or the quieter and more local Brasserie au PTT (54 rue Cler, 7th), named after the post office acros s the street, where you can order the typically French (despite the name) Americano, made with campari and red vermouth. It's similar to the negroni you mentioned, minus the gin.

The Champ de Mars is just a short walk away. The kids will be thrilled to see the Eiffel Tower close-up, and after lunch you can treat them to a ride on the old-fashioned merry-go-round—the children are given sticks with which to catch hoops as they swing by. By now you'll probably all be worn out from so much excitement and good food, so I suggest that you rest at your hotel until about 3:30pm (you can take the Métro from La Motte Picquet Grenelle to Vaneau). If you're an extremely energetic family, you could go up the Eiffel Tower instead!

For your luxury meal—at a reasonable price—it would be hard to do better than the bistro Le Troquet (21 rue Franço is Bonvin, 15th/01.45.66.89.00), a few minutes' walk from the Saxe-Breteuil market. Chef Christian Etchebest trained in the kitchens of the luxury hotel Le Crillon, and his time in haute cuisine boot camp shows in his polished takes on food from the French Basque region. Expect dishes such as a giant tureen of soup with melting foie gras, and seared tuna steak wrapped in cured ham. His lunch prix fixe menus cost 22 or 24 euros and the dining room has a laid-back family atmosphere which should appeal to th e kids.

Afternoon

The Ile St-Louis, the island behind Notre Dame where Paris was founded, is a lively spot for an afternoon walk. It's also an ideal place to stock up on food memories of Paris. You can take cheese back to Canada if it's vacuum-packed; staff at the picturesque cheese shop La Ferme Saint-Aubin (76 rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Ile, 4th/01.43.54.74.54) will do that for you. Meat is a more complicated matter, but you might be content just to admire the old-fashioned Boucherie Gardi l (44 rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Ile, 4th/01.43.54.97.15), where poulets de Bresse and gleaming rib steaks are artfully displayed in the window. Oliviers & Co. (81 ru e Saint-Louis-en-l'I le, 4th/01.40.46.89.37) nearby sells only the freshest olive oils from all over the Mediterranean, selected by an expert taster. The shop I can't resist, though, is L'Epicerie (51 rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Ile, 4th/01.43.25.20.14), with its jewel-toned bottles of vinegar and j ars of mustard and jam in every flavor imaginable, and more.

On the rue St-Louis-en-l'Ile, you'll notice an enormous queue in front of Berthillon (31 rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Ile, 4th/01.43.54.31.61), easily the best-known ice cream shop in Paris. It's probably worth the wait, but several other cafés with smaller line-ups along this street also sell Berthillon ice cream. Among the exceptionally intense flavours are fraises des bois (wild strawberries), cocoa, passion f ruit and nougat. Your kids will never look at ice cream the same way.

From here, it's a scenic 15-minute walk across the Seine to Izraël (30 rue François-Miron, 4th/01.42.72.66.23), an Ali Baba's cavern of spices, dried fruits, oils and condiments, mostly from the Mediterran ean, where you can also buy a colorful, cone-shaped Moroccan tagine. The shop can get a little cramped when it's crowded, but it's a great place to stock up on ras-el-hanout spice mix for your couscous and tagines.

Near Izraël is a bus stop where you can catch the number 7 6 (or a taxi) to your last destination, the Jacques Mélac wine bar (42 rue Léon-Frot, 11th/01.43.70.59.27). Each fall, the colorful Jacques hosts a celebration of Parisian wine—an association of vine-growers (some with just a couple of plants on their bal cony) presses its grapes to produce a cheerful, if not prize-winning, blend. Walk through the kitchen to the non-smoking back room, ask Jacques to hack you some cheese of a giant chunk of Cantal, and choose from the wines displayed on the shelves. Paris doesn't get much better than this.

Bon appétit!
Rosa