Mint tea with me...

Turkish tea & treats

Just 5 minutes from our house is the Paris Mosque. I have recently discovered

that it is the perfect place to go on a warm sunny day. Walking into the Mosque is

like walking into another world... the sights, the smells, the sounds.  There are

beautiful mosaic tiles everywhere, and on a warm day the courtyard and terrace

is filled with people. There are kids running around, people smoking shisha,

women chatting.

The few times I have been there with the ladies, we have sat outside and ordered
mint tea, which the waiters carry around on trays ready to hand out to people as
they order it, assuming it is the reason that most people are there. It is such a
beautiful sweet tea, I could drink it all day!

Not to mention their selection of Turkish sweets, for 2 euros a piece!!

The mosque is also where I had a ladies date at the hammam, a turkish
communal bath. Whilst a little nervous before hand, (so you wear cozzies...? or
undies...? or nothing???) luckily one of my gal pals had been before, so she knew
the ropes. We entered and paid our money, got changed and then entered the
spa area. The hammam is made up of rooms which gradually get hotter and
hotter. The main room, is like a big tiled area with buckets of water and steam
rising around you. It was such a cool spot to sit in your cozzies with your ladies,
rubbing turkish olive oil soap all over you, waiting for it to sink in, then scrubbing
it off! The sauna was unbelievably warm, but a cold pool in the middle of the
room made it so relaxing! The hammam was filled with women of different
shapes, sizes, ages, backgrounds, all sitting around scrubbing and chatting away.
To finish the afternoon on the terrace with a mint tea was perfect. It was so
lovely.. I will definitely be back.

Inside the mosque. Image: http://www.deedeeparis.com/blog/hammam-mosquee-de-paris