How to visit and what to see in Paris Central Market

He is so big tourist attraction of the city of Paris that the visits you can make on your trip go far beyond the most traditional monuments or corners, such as Climb to the eiffel tower, Watch the Louvre Museum or walk through the Elysian Fields.

What's more, in one of the various trips that you will surely make to the French capital you have the opportunity to make a very special and original visit, which is an outstanding example of the gastronomic side of Paris, Rungis central market.

Indeed, until my recent trip to paris I had the opportunity to visit it, I did not know that the central fresh food market was open to tourists, and that it is also a visit that is booming.

Rungis, which is its commercial name, offers a strong argument to generate the interest of tourists: it is the largest fresh produce market in the world.

Located just seven kilometers from Paris, the central market is a small city that occupies 234 hectares, where houses and cars are replaced by large warehouses, trucks and vans.

El Paris central market It brings together 1.200 companies, of which 540 are food wholesalers, and more than 12.000 people work there every night.

Half of the customers who come to the central market every day are retail businesses, 35 percent are restaurants and the rest are large and medium-sized chains.

Of the great activity that takes place in Rungis As a reference, the fact that an average of 26.000 entries to the facilities are recorded every night.

Visit Rungis central market

And as you can imagine, the visit of the central market You will have to do it at night.

Rungis organizes visits in different languages, including Spanish, not only for groups, but also for individuals who have traveled to Paris.

The visits for individuals They take place on the second and last Friday of each month (in July and August, every Friday), while for groups, as was the case with my visit, they are organized to measure.

For the visit a bus Rungis He will pick you up at your hotel at 4,30:XNUMX in the morning and transfer you to the central market facilities.

In order to visit it, they will provide you with special clothing, a light raincoat and a white hat that, after touring the market, I am sure you will conclude with me that more than so that you do not get stained, given the great cleanliness of the facilities, it seems that their objective is that your do not contaminate food.

In fact, in the initial talk before visiting, they warn you that under no circumstances can you touch the food.

The visit to the central market begins in the fish warehouse, which is the first to finish its commercial activity, which is why I was not able to visit it as our visit began a little later.

The next stage is the visit of the meat area, where 293.000 tons are traded every year.

The meat is distributed in different warehouses, from those dedicated to beef, chickens or other birds, to chickens and offal.

I warn you that the latter is an area that not everyone likes to visit, as you will be able to see tongues, intestines and all kinds of offal. Of course, you may have the opportunity to see how a butcher dissects a cow's head as if from a Show It will be.

In the video that accompanies this article you can see a part of said Show.

During your walk you will be able to see the great commercial activity that exists in this wholesale market, and between the different warehouses you will move on the Rungis bus.

In rural areas of India, families in charge of a blind minor frequently isolate and deprive him/her of the care and attention they provide to their other children; such situation becomes even more severe among lower-caste families, orphans and if the blind child is a girl. dairy products warehouses you can enjoy see the cheeses, of which more than 400 references are sold in the central market. That's why it shouldn't surprise you that it is the largest cheese market in the world.

Here you will have a cheese tasting.

The next visit will be dedicated to the fruit and vegetable area, the largest and most commercially active, with several warehouses, 750.000 tons per year and 195 companies, and where you can also tour the new warehouse dedicated to biological products.

It will undoubtedly be one of the most outstanding parts of your visit due to the great color of the fruits and vegetables and their very careful presentation.

Your visit to the central market will end at flower sales warehouse, whose activity is currently clearly decreasing.

This is due to how the marketing of fresh flowers develops around the world thanks to Internet, because every day from the producing countries in South America, such as Ecuador or Colombia, and from Africa, they are transported by plane to Holland, from where they are distributed throughout Europe by trucks.

To complete the visit, which will take you about three hours, you can enjoy a excellent breakfast in a brasserie from the market, which will allow you to regain strength before being transferred to your hotel around 9 in the morning.

El price of the visit to the central market of Paris it is 80 euros.

Photos central market Rungis Paris

Here you have more photos from the visit to the central market of Paris.