Paris's Place d'Asia

The Olympiads, a residential complex in Paris's Chinatown, houses a pair of Buddhist temples and is near a slew of Asian stores and restaurants. (Seth Sherwood)

At the other end of the spectrum, the huge Kawa store (89-97 Ave. de Choisy) was stocked to the rafters with nicely boxed tea sets ($30), carved wooden rice bowls ($4), bamboo sushi boxes ($8.50) and other housewares.

For exotic and unusual foodstuffs, I found that nothing beat Tang Freres (48 Ave. d'Ivry) -- really a complex of indoor and outdoor markets -- where the pickings included everything from jackfruit to litchi wine to cuttlefish-flavored chips.

Simply walking the streets was often the most rewarding activity. Interesting details abounded: stone lions guarding a supermarket; a McDonald's with Forbidden City-style architecture; a community center offering courses in English, French, kung fu, Oriental cooking and Dragon Dancing.

In the area's largest housing complex, the Olympiads (best accessed by the stairs next to the main Tang Freres outlet), I uncovered two unusual Buddhist temples. At one, in the complex's outdoor shopping promenade, I witnessed elderly immigrants taking a country-music dance lesson. At the other, hidden in a parking garage (37 Rue du Disque), old men chatted in a corner while young women lit sweet incense and muttered quiet prayers.

A few weeks later I returned to the neighborhood, disappointed at first to find the Ping-Pong games washed out by a summer rain. There was nothing to do but walk the boulevards, poke around the superstores and chew sesame-coated nougat.

And that was fine with me.

-- Seth Sherwood

To get to Chinatown, take the Metro to the Tolbiac station. For general info on travel to France: French Government Tourist Office, 410-286-8310, us.franceguide.com.