Best Drinks Tourists Should Try in France

Hey there fellow thirsty travelers, Mark here with Walters World, and today we're here outside the Louvre in Paris. And today what we're going to talk about are some of the drinks, or boissons, you should have when you come here to France. Because there's a lot of tasty drinks, and no, it's not just the vin, the wine, it's also the juices, there's special sodas, there's cocktails you're going to love as well. And I think if we're going to talk about the drinks in France, we should start with what we start with, the aperitif. And if you're not sure what an aperitif is, that's the before-dinner drink to help get your tummy ready, get your appetite ready for the fantastic foods you're going to have. And some of the really popular kind of aperitifs you're going to see, and you should really try, well one is pastis. And pastis, if you get it, I will tell you this, it's kind of like a thick, viscous, black licorice flavored alcohol. And the thing is, if you don't like that thickness of it, you'll notice they'll bring water with it so you can actually mix water and ice with it if you want, and it gets kind of cloudy when the water gets together to make it kind of murky and mysterious, like a French lovely man or woman would be. But it's one of those things that you really should have. But that flavor, that anise that's in there, gives it that black licorice kind of flavor. That's one of those things. But, but pastis is definitely one to have. Another kind of anise flavored one is ricot, which is very similar. That's another aperitif you could try. Another thing you might see on the menu is akir, or akir royale. So akir, it's white wine mixed with creme de cassis, and cassis, it's kind of like a black currant liquor. You have that. If you want to be a little bit more fancy with the akir royale, the akir royale is again that black currant liquor, the creme de cassis, but it's with champagne this time to make it a little bit fancier. You can do that. And of course, you can start with a glass of champagne if you like to get the bubbles, the effervescence going and getting you hungry. Another aperitif you could try, Pinot de Charentes, which is a fortified wine made with grape juice and cognac. You could go with Dubonnet, which is another sweet fortified wine you can try. So there's a lot of aperitifs you could have to get you started before your fantastic meal here. Honestly, the akir, the Vin Blanc with white wine, it's so refreshing and smooth. This is, this is probably my favorite one of the drinks, the aperitifs, the cocktail stuff. Can't go wrong with akir. Now let's talk about what you're going to drink while you're having your fantastic food. And of course, the most important drink to have here in France is vin, the wine. Oh my gosh, the French wine is incredible. All over the country, you have so many different varieties, so many different just flavors and bouquets of just amazing wine loveliness, whether it's the red, the white, the rosé. You're going to have great wine when you're here. And I mean, I could literally just have a page, just all the wine just going by right now. But I think what's important to mention about the wine here in France is make sure when you're ordering your wine, if you know what you're going to eat, ask them, hey, which wine goes well with this dish? Because believe me, your waiter will know which wine goes best with a rabbit or, or with the intracote, or which one goes best with the fish or, or whatever you're eating. Like they'll tell you which one works best. So make sure you use that because having the right wine with the food really can accentuate the wine and the food. Okay? So you want to make sure you're like asking around. Another thing when it comes to the wine with your food, make sure you're drinking the regional wine. So if you're in Loire, have the Loire wines. If you're in Bordeaux, drink the Bordeaux wines. Yes, you can drink them all over the country. That's fine. But I really find it's having the local wines with local food really just brings out so much more of the flavor of the food and the wine that you're really enjoying. Okay? Now, when you're going to get the wine, you can get it by the glass, okay, or by the pot, which is like a smaller amount, or by the bottle. Do make sure you look because there'll be different prices there because you don't want to get surprised when you thought you're getting a glass. They bring the bottle and the price is like five times as much. So be aware of that. Okay? Now, another beverage you might have when you're out with friends is the beer. Yes, that's right, beer in France. There are a lot of domestic beers here that are actually pretty good, you can enjoy. And one thing I would say, if you're in Strasbourg, or you're around in that area, maybe get a piquant beer, where they put a shot of piquant in with your beer, and it gives us more of an earthy, sweet flavor. It is so good. But sitting down and having a beer with a friend in France, it's not quite as good as in wine with your friend in France, but it is something that you actually do, and you will see the locals having that as well. So go and order that beer too, or with your buddies, because it's not just the wines. And if you're out with friends, yeah, wine, beer, but also cocktails. Another drink you can grab when you're here is cider or cider, which is basically like cider. It's, it's alcoholic cider. It's really good, especially from Normandy. That's where it's really kind of famous. You have that and, and speaking of apples, I guess I should kind of talk about the digestives or the digestives, the after dinner drinks and Calvados. Calvados is an apple brandy, very popular from Brittany and Normandy, that you can have to help the digestion afterward. It's very helpful. Oh my God, it's also super good. But probably the most famous like after dinner drink you've probably heard of is Cognac, which is this brandy, which is from the Cognac region. Or you can get a Marnac, which is, I know I'm butchering the names, my French sucks. But basically, it's just Cognac brandy from that region as well. So you have those, those, those brandies, the Cognac is just so good to have. Also get eau de vie, which is a brandy. Notice there's a thing, the brandy kind of stuff made with pears or, or maybe with plums or you know, other berries, like you can have fruit in there as well to give it a little bit less burny flavor when you have that. And here's the eau de vie, the Mirabelle. Brandy made with the Mirabelle, those golden plums they have here, is a great after dinner drink. Don't miss it. There's Chartreuse if you want a more like herbal liquor flavor. This is one of those things if you like kind of like your Jägermeister or Unterbeger from Germany to help with the food digestion kind of stuff, that Chartreuse, that really does help a lot. So that could be a good after dinner digestive to have. But if you want something sweeter, you can always go with Grand Marnier, which is a sweet orange liqueur you can grab and that'll be a nice like sweeter finish as well, but really good stuff. And the thing is, it's not just alcoholic beverages here in France, there's also a lot of other things you can have as well. And I think if we look at non-alcoholic stuff, we start with the hot drinks, obviously, café. Coffee here is very popular. Have your café au lait, which is coffee with milk, or your café crème, like there's a lot of different kind of coffees you can have when you're here. And you'll notice people just sat and have a coffee in the morning with it, you know, some people say, oh, it's a coffee and a cigarette. That's a French breakfast, maybe. But like coffee is a thing you have any time of the day. Tea is also very popular. But for me, the chocolate chaud, the hot chocolate here in France. So good. You're gonna love that when you're here. So there's a lot of warm drinks if you're here in the wintertime. For the Christmas market, you have the vin chaud, the hot wines that you can have, the really the mulled wines kind of stuff is really, really enjoyable. And if we move away from that, let's think about like, soft drinks. I'm coming here with my kids. They're not drinking yet, right? So what are they gonna have? Or maybe you don't drink, you want to mark what are some of the drinks that can have that aren't alcoholic? Well, one thing I want to tell you are juices are big here. And you'll notice the fruit stands around. A lot of them have a machine with a bunch of oranges on top and a little chute, like a little roller coaster for it. And that is actually fresh made orange juice. You can get it anytime, anywhere. So good to have, so good to have. You definitely want to do that if you get the orange juices that are here, or any of the juices, lemonade. But like when I say lemonade, don't think lemonade like lemon and sugar and water together. Think of like a less sweet carbonated soda kind of stuff. That's their lemonade kind of things that way. Like if you're Sprite family kind of stuff, you have those. But if you want like an orange soda, Orangina, that is the orange soda to get here. You'll see it all over. That's what my kids drink all the time when we're here in France. That's a go to one there. The water, yes, you can drink the tap water when you're here. When you go to restaurants, they'll ask if you want water, if you want still or sparkling, you can ask for that. Obviously, you got your Perrier if you want your sparkling water kind of stuff. But there's all kinds of waters here. Bottled water is fine, but tap water works as well. You can do that. Another kind of non-alcoholic beverage you'll see kids drink are the syrups, or I guess it'd be like, at the US we call it Italian soda, where they put like some kind of flavored syrup in with some water, bubble water, and make it a little like light effervescent kind of thing. And you'll have those maybe with menth or grenadine, you know, grenadine, like cherry flavored, you can have that. Probably for kids or people with kids at heart, people that don't want to drink. There are those things there. Honestly, these syrups just get like the grenadine one, it's so refreshing, or the menth one, so refreshing. I mean, you can't pass these up. It's a hot day, or a cold day, any day, it tastes so good and so refreshing. But honestly, there's so many great drinks to have when you're here in France. And people just think of the wine, and they think of the food. But honestly, there's so much more to enjoy when you're here. So whether you're here, grabbing a cocktail with your buddies, having some of the wine, or maybe chocolate chaud, hot chocolate, I hope you have a great time here in France, drinking your time away. So a thing I think I need to mention, when you go to restaurants, they're going to ask you, would you like some water when you start, and they're going to ask you if you want mineral water, or you want bubble water. Well, here's the thing, mineral water, that's bottled water, you're going to pay for that. Bubble water, you're going to pay for that. If you want free water, just ask for tap water, you'll be fine. They'll take care of you that way. And they know they're not gonna be upset or anything. But just know that they're asking what kind of water you want. Just ask for tap, you'll be okay. Another thing I think is important when we talk about wine, maybe you're here by yourself, like I'm here in Lyon, all alone, just little me. And I can't really do a bottle of wine by myself. So maybe you want to get a glass. But sometimes a glass is enough. So you can get what's called a pot, a P-O-T, looks like pot when you see it. It's just kind of like, I'd say like almost like a half bottle, that might be what you want to do. So you do have other options. So just look on the menu, and I'll have it by glass, by pot, you know, or by bottle, you can do it that way. So when you're thinking about your drinks, it does make it a little bit easier. But honestly, you're gonna have fun drinking and enjoying the food and everything here in France, anywhere you go. So you'll have that. But anyway, back to the video. Anyway, I wish you all the best. If you want to learn more, maybe traditional French foods you should have or what you should eat in different cities around France, we have that out here on Walter's World Eats. So subscribe and learn more about what to eat and drink around the world. Bye from here in Paris.