Category Archives: Paris Wanderings

If you’re in Paris March 3-April 15

20 Monday Mar 2017

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**PRESS IMAGE - USAGE MUST BE CLEARED**

If you’re a b+w fan and gravitate towards reading the celebrity news while waiting in the grocery line, don’t miss the Paparazzi photo exhibit at Galerie ArtCube, Rue de Furstenberg {metro Saint-Germain-des-Prés}.

On tap: Ron Galella, Jean Pigozzi, Sébastien Valiela, Christopher Makos and Alison Jackson, the outlaws who have been looking for the ultimate shot of a rock star, movie idol or socialite for the past 50 years. You’ll recognize quite a few. Sometimes seeing them framed and grouped is something special.

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Irreverent, cunning and intrusive as well as experts in mise en scène, the gaggle end up shining as documentarists of their time.

**PRESS IMAGE - USAGE MUST BE CLEARED**

Photos courtesy of courtesy of Galerie ArtCube

The Rooftop Igloos at Galeries Lafayette

15 Sunday Jan 2017

Posted by in French food and wine, French holidays, Paris guide, Paris tips, Paris Wanderings

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Paris is very cold in January and it would be unheard of to venture to the open-air top floor of a department store for tapas and a cocktail. BUT, Paris’s innovative department store, Galeries Lafayette has come up with a unique idea by plopping a few heated see-through geodesic domes over the rooftop bar.

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The concept, brilliant, the view, magnifique. They call it a “cocooning vibe where serenity and tranquility reign supreme”.  Who wouldn’t want that?

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Here’s the menu:

Champagne, cocktails
Soft drinks, fruit juices
Hot drinks
Savoury and sweet tapas
Oysters
Foie gras
Regional French products
Seasonal dish of the day

Continuous service from 11.00 am to 8.00 pm. When they will be removed to make way for spring, I’m not sure.

Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann, 40 boulevard Haussmann – 75009 Paris

No Waiting: Make a Paris dinner reservation online

03 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by in French food and wine, Paris guide, Paris nightlife, Paris tips, Paris Wanderings

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Not a new concept, but not everyone is aware that you can book ahead at certain restaurants all over the world. Paris is no exception and the options for each restaurant vary. A very slick service that has a very comprehensive list of establishments is thefork.com (lafourchette.com). They make it easy, just fill in the date and time you’d like to arrive.

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Il était un square, 54 Rue Corvisart, 75013 Paris

reservations: https://www.thefork.com/restaurant/il-etait-un-square/36296 or https://module.lafourchette.com/fr_FR/module/36296-5d91d/9283-1da?tracking_id=WGrn9QoQHHcAAKLPSckAAABP#/1042543/dhp

Lunch: de 12h à 15h (sauf dimanche)
Dinner : de 19h30 à 22h30 (sauf dimanche)

Charolaise beef, cooked or tartar, cheeseburger Montagnard, artisanal buns and original recipe small plates.bougn

Au Bougnat, 26, rue Chanoinesse 75004

reservations: http://aubougnat.com or http://aubougnat.com/reservation/

Wednesday – Sunday, 12h à 22h. Monday – Tuesday de 8h à 19h.  Located on the île de la Cité.

Bougnat’s burger is served on homemade bread.  Charolais beef, bacon & Cantal cheese, homemade fries
Panfried beef fillet (7oz), potato galette, foie gras sauce
Roast duckling fillet, sauted mushrooms
Sauteed tiger prawns with pesto sauce, creamy parmesan risotto

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Plaisir Gascon
16 Rue Grégoire de Tours 75006

reservations: http://plaisirgascon.com/reservations-plaisir-gascon.html

Small, cozy, intimate. Beef from Gascony is their specialty.  Superb croustade de pomme with more than a splash of Armagnac

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Boutary
25 Rue Mazarine 75006, metro: Odeon
reservations: https://module.lafourchette.com/fr_FR/module/200520-47ce4#/1337910/pdh

Puréed and smoked potatoes, seaweed butter, cream, caviar.
Crispy basmati rice with Comté , prawn kadaïf, Vermouth Carpano sauce.
Wild cod, seaweed butter & green peas, apricots, verbena-infused foam.
Rib-eye steak, home-made crisps, shiitaké powder, peppered cherry paste.

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Le Versance
16, rue Feydeau 75002
reservations: https://www.thefork.com/restaurant/le-versance/3388

Think lobster curry, calf’s sweetbreads and spiced pears. Elegant dining room.

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Le Christine
1, rue Christine 75006, 33 1 40 51 71 64
http://www.restaurantlechristine.com
reservations: http://www.restaurantlechristine.com/reservations/

Located between Saint-Michel and Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Excellent seasonal produce. Indulge in foie gras cooked au torchon [in a cloth], accompanied by delicious stewed red onions with grenadine or fillet of beef. Don’t miss the sweet notes of the tiramisu, a real treat!

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Bel Canto
72, quai de l’hôtel de ville 75004
http://www.lebelcanto.com/en/
reservations: http://www.lebelcanto.com/en/bel-canto-restaurants/booking-for-the-bel-canto-restaurant/

Opera is invited to your table at Le Bel Canto. Every evening, a quartet of young opera singers (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone), accompanied by piano, participates in the service of the restaurant by interpreting great arias of opera. The opportunity for you to have dinner with Verdi, Mozart, Puccini, Rossini… You’ll either hate it or you’ll love it.

Dinner & show, without drinks: 85 € fixed price.

Under the category named “cabaret”,  the Paris tourist office recommends the Bel Canto as one of the best live venues for a night out in Paris: a unique show combining opera and French haute cuisine.

The restaurant is located on the banks of the Seine in the 4th arrondissement. Magnificent view from the dining room of Notre-Dame la Seine, île Saint-Louis. Inside, the decor with warm red and gold colors, is dedicated to opera.

After all the eating and drinking you’ll be ready for a nice long walk: No Worries Paris, your best friend.

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Paris’s independent hotels with pizazz

01 Thursday Dec 2016

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A few good Parisian hotels to consider. We continue to get good feedback on these four.

NO WORRIES PARIS

If you’re tired of impersonal hotel chains or super deluxe swank with “over the moon” prices, look no further. Here are a few that have been renovated by architects and stylists with color, style and contemporary decor. Vitality, glamor, customer satisfaction and reasonable rates are the key elements of these properties.

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Hotel Fabric
31 rue de la Folie Mericourt, 75011    http://www.hotelfabric.com

Occupying 4 floors, the hotel boasts 33 ultra-comfortable rooms in a resolutely contemporary setting drawing decorative and ornamental inspiration from the industrial past of the Oberkampf district. The brick walls, plentiful space, unconcealed supporting structures and immense windows admit plenty of natural light. On a very quiet and quaint street with shops and restaurants very close no matter which way you turn. Honor system happy hour.  Starts at $240.

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Hotel Regent’s Garden
6 Rue Pierre Demours, 75017 Paris,  www.hotel-regents-paris.com/en/

The former private mansion that is now the Hotel Regent’s Garden…

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Paris Up My Sleeve

10 Thursday Nov 2016

Posted by in Paris photos, Paris travel, Paris Wanderings

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With visions of Paris Fashion Week still rolling around in my brain I find myself spotting a blouse trend as I laboriously edit my photos. The late Bill Cunningham used to call out such peculiarisms in his New York Times column, so Bill, “here’s to you.” You were truly missed at the parade of fashion on and off the catwalk this year.

Fashionistas, make sure your blouse sleeve is voluminous and proportionally way too large for your figure in 2017. Oversize is “in.” Tip: buy them in the men’s department if you want to save $$$. Or check your local thrift shops where I’ve seen jillions of ironed Brooks Bros. striped models lined up and ready to snatch.

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And by all means watch those cuffs when eating your spaghetti.

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Be sure it’s tucked.

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Not terribly comfortable, but soooo cool!

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And what this has to do with promoting our guidebook, No Worries Paris, I don’t have a clue. Just thought you deserve a little extra entertainment from the fashion world now and then. A bientot!

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Merci: a cool concept store

31 Monday Oct 2016

Posted by in Paris shopping, Paris tips, Paris travel, Paris Wandering, Paris Wanderings

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Take a little trip to my newest discovery. You’ll enter through what looks like a cafe/bookshop, walk a few steps down a narrow passageway and Voila….it opens to a two story boutique full of items and ideas you will want to bring home.

After you get your fill, which could be hours and hours, finish your shopping day in their wine bar just next door.

MERCI

111 BOULEVARD BEAUMARCHAIS 75003 PARIS

MÉTRO – LIGNE 8 – MÉTRO SAINT SÉBASTIEN FROISSART
BUS – LIGNES 20 ET 65
Lundi 10h – 19h
Mardi 10h – 19h
Mercredi 10h – 19h
Jeudi 10h – 19h
Vendredi 10h – 19h
Samedi 10h – 19h

What to bring back from Paris

19 Wednesday Oct 2016

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It used to be you could buy an article of clothing, accessory, delicacy or souvenir that had the label “Made in France”. I tried my best to hunt down such gifts only to find almost everything is made in China, Morrocco, Bangladesh, and India. Even the Chanel lotion I bought at the airport on my way home was made in New Jersey. And strict new rules forbid bringing back cheeses, pates, sausages, most everything edible. Wine and chocolate are okay.

I don’t go to Paris to shop. I have other things to do that are more important. BUT, when the days dwindle down to departure time, I develop guilty feelings and break down. Friends and family deserve a little something, and I mean LITTLE.

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Tea pleases most everyone and packs light. Galeries Lafayette gourmet and the Bon Marche have great selections.

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Macarons are traditional. Laduree are some of the best and there’s an outlet at DeGaulle.

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All purchased at Monoprix on the Champs Elysees.  1. Caudile hydrating cream $13; 2. LaRoche sunscreen $15; 3. Chocolate, $2-$4;  4. Eiffel Tower postcards $1.20 each; 6. Nuxe Huile Prodigeuse (the best), $20

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Paris bracelet, Galeries Lafayette, $7;  2. Traditional silver coated almonds; 3. Nuxe honey lip balm, $10; 4. Nuxe oil (again, because I like it); 5. Art postcard on thick matte paper, $1.50; 6. Melvita rose water, $15; 7. Hydrating face masks, 3-5 euros. 8. Vogue Paris accessory, $8.

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Light tote from Grand Galerie de L’Evolution (Jardin des Plantes), 4 euros) 2. No Worries Paris, one of Paris’s best walking guides; 3. hat, $12, Au Printemps; 4. paper goods, Merci, (111 boulevard Beaumarchais, 75003); 5. Necklace, Au Printemps; 6. Lait-Crème Concentré – Embryolisse, $16; 7. Petite notebook, Merci, 3 euros.

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Scarf, Galeries Lafayette, 17 euros; 2. Selection of trendy, cleverly packaged medallion bracelets ranging from 3 to 12 euros, Merci,  a must-see concept store in trendy 3rd arrondissement (with 2 restaurants).

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Alas, it will be time to depart and your leftover euros are burning a hole in your pocket. Take caution when it comes to the cosmetics vendors at the airport. Your aim was to return home with French products, non?

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I didn’t check where these were made and hoping not China or New Jersey. This is the Chanel display at DeGaulle. Irresistable. I’ll take the black pair. Put it on my Visa (just fantasizing, of course).

 

Diary from the Paris Fashion Week trenches: day 6

04 Tuesday Oct 2016

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I promised myself to take a day off, however, as I scurried to the Apple store to buy a new external hard drive replacement, there they were, the guys in black with their cameras and tripods on the stairs of Opera Garnier. I couldn’t refraid and joined the mob.

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The Stella McCartney show was just ending and Carine Roitfeld, former editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, stopped a few moments for comments.

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Not much security for the models once the show is over.

 

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And the grand finale: Kristin Scott Thomas, the actress and Parisian resident practicing her invisibility.

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Word on the street: The Kardashian robbery is taking it’s toll already. Security at the fashion houses tight.  Guards barricade the doors and purses, shopping bags are routinely examined before entering. The YSL showroom on  Avenue Montaigne not so busy, Chanel on the other hand full of clients. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out in the coming months.

Saturday’s work. Paris never sleeps.

02 Sunday Oct 2016

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parisdreamjob

The dream job . . .

And how I ended the day.  The start of Nuit Blanche, an event of various manifestations (performance art) taking place all over the city and lasting until 7 am.

 

 

Paris catwalks. They’re habit forming

30 Friday Sep 2016

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Can’t get enough of Fashion Week. Here was the scene at Jardin des Plantes, the Christian Wijnants show. Rain threatened but all was rosy for the stunning event.

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And then there were the spectacular plants for dessert.

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