Tag Archives: travel

In Paris this summer? Celebrate Rodin.

14 Sunday May 2017

Posted by in Paris guide, Paris museums, Paris News, Paris tips, Paris travel, Paris Walks

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To mark the centenary of his death, the Musée Rodin and Réunion des musées nationaux Grand Palais are joining forces to celebrate Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). The exhibition reveals Rodin’s creative universe, his relationship with his audience and the way in which sculptors have appropriated his style.

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Featuring over 200 of Rodin’s works, it also includes sculptures and drawings by Bourdelle, Brancusi, Picasso, Matisse, Giacometti, Beuys, Baselitz and Gormley, shedding new light on this giant of sculpture.

Where: Grand Palais, Paris, France
Metro: Champs-Elysées Clémenceau (Lines 1, 13)

Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays from 10 am to 8 pm / Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 am to 10 pm / Closed on Tuesdays

And if you’re looking for things to do after the show consult your No Worries Paris guide.

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“I literally read it cover to cover, which should be an indicator of its goodness. I really like this guide– it is detailed enough to provide weeks of new and exciting things to see, even for an extended stay.”  – J. A. Phillipi

 

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Five upscale Parisian hotels: new kids on the block that shine

01 Monday May 2017

Posted by in Paris luxury accommodations, Paris travel, Paris upscale boutiques

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Hôtel Maison Souquet
10 Rue de Bruxelles, 75009 Paris
Phone: +33 1 48 78 55 55, around 337e/night

Set in a neoclassical building in the Pigalle district, this ultrachic hotel designed by Jacques Garcia is a minute’s walk from Moulin Rouge, a two minute walk to a metro station. Featuring a mix of exotic and Second Empire–style furnishings, the opulent rooms come with free Wi-Fi, smart TVs and minibars. The 1- and 2-bedroom suites add plush sofas. In-room massages, butlers and 24-hour room service are available. An elegant lounge offers a library, a fireplace, and a bar that serves meals. There’s also a courtyard. A spa has an indoor pool and a treatment room.

“The Madison Souquet is a great hotel. The decor is second to none and creates a brilliant mood.  It’s got tons of history and makes for the perfect romantic break.”

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L’hotel Panache
1, rue Geoffroy-Marie, 75009 Paris – France
Tel: +33 1 47 70 85 8, http://hotelpanache.com

The Panache falls in love with Art Nouveau, adapts to the tastes of the day and adds its own flair.  207e/night

“Nicely designed well located hotel with great, helpful and friendly staff! Fantastic experience. Rooms with artsy maritime touch. Great restaurant with a well priced and elegant kitchen.”

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Le Narcisse Blanc
19 Boulevard De La Tour Maubourg, 75007, +33 1 40 60 44 32. Around 364e/night. http://www.lenarcisseblanc.com

Between history and modernity, romance and comfort, the hotel-spa offers a unique change of scenery, a plunge into the culture, the art, and typical Parisian well-being.

“Excellent service, beautifully designed rooms, a top end spa and they’ve invested in really high quality fixtures and fittings. To top it all, the restaurant provides exquisite fine dining without a silly price tag to go with it.”

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Hotel Adele & Jules
2 et 4bis Cité Rougemont 75009 Paris, Around 250e/night
http://www.hoteladelejules.com

A family secret revealed with the greatest discernment, Hotel Adèle & Jules scores double points… Set in twin low-rise buildings, on a quiet private road, the place beckons peace and relaxation, close to yet sheltered from the buzzing hub of the Grands Boulevards.

“They are all the best! Young, helpful, kind and very very smiling staff! The hotel is clean and the quality of services is good! The area around it is nice and the hotel is close to the metro.”

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Hôtel de Jobo
10 Rue d’Ormesson, 75004 Paris
Phone: +33 1 48 04 70 48, around 275e/night
http://www.hoteldejobo.paris

Named for Empress Joséphine Bonaparte, this swanky boutique hotel in the 4th arr. built at the site of a 17th-century convent is a 3-minute walk from Saint-Paul metro station. It’s also 2 km from Musée du Louvre.

Individually furnished in Directoire style, the opulent rooms and suites provide free Wi-Fi and flat-screens. All have minifridges, tea and coffeemakers, and eclectic wall prints, as well as mosaic-tiled bathrooms with rainfall showers.

Don’t forget to take this with you:

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Paris: an open book

09 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in French holidays, Paris guide, Paris museums, Paris photos, Paris tips, Paris travel, Paris Walks

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No Worries Paris, a photographic walking guide brings the city to life. A look inside:

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“So many memorable walks at our own pace. Good maps, directions,  and the accompanying text is concise enough to read while on the walk.”  

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“A great help for me to plan my trip. I’m glad I’m prepared for what’s in store in the next two weeks.”

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“We had four full days to spend in Paris in September. We had never been there and wanted to make the most of our time. We decided to use the No Worries Paris guide, and it was a very good decision.”

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“Everything was beyond amazing!! I will never travel to Paris without using this guide again. Especially loved walking tours through the neighborhoods of the Marais and Latin Quarter.”

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“The experience, sights and information provided by our NWP was first class. I would happily recommend reading it cover to cover before your stay.”

Illustrated by hundreds of color photographs, NO WORRIES PARIS takes readers on a visually luscious journey along the city’s striking monuments, as well as into crannies of its villages and the full-on glamour of the fashion districts. Virtually all of Paris is covered in 10 Walking Tours, each with its own map. Walks take from a half-day to a day to complete, starting at one Metro stop and ending at another. The tours are complemented by 10 Walk Arounds, which are shorter in length, taking in the sights of a single attraction more on the fringes of the city’s arrondissements.

Practical travel tips and get-around information is included. Newcomers will most likely want to begin with monumental strolls. Francophiles may choose something more edgy and out-of-the-way. The common thread is that each walk is along a visually aesthetic pathway that has a story of its own to tell. Readers who want to get to know Paris by seeing it on foot—pausing occasionally for a gourmet taste, park bench timeout or perfumed sniff along the way— have found the right book.

No Worries Paris is available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Powell’s Books,  directly through the publishers (signed + discount) at Trailblazer Travel Books as well as your friendly independent bookstores nationwide.

Paris March events: a dynamic duo

17 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by in Paris museums, Paris News, Paris Walks

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With the arrival of spring in Paris, a rush of rousing museum events burst forth and this year is no exception. I’ll start with a show that is off-the-beaten track and very worth your time.

March 2-July 23

Musée Maillol will be hosting an exhibition bearing the same title as Anne Sinclair’s autobiography, 21 rue La Boétie (published in 2012). In the book, the well-known journalist describes the life of her grandfather Paul Rosenberg, one of the most influential art dealers of the 20th century. The book inspired this exhibition of around 60 masterpieces by great artists such as Picasso, Braque, Matisse, Léger and Marie Laurencin.

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Musée Maillol
59-61 rue de Grenelle – 75007 Paris

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March 14-June 25

Second on my hotlist is the Musée d’Orsay’s nature-themed exhibition with a mystical focus: Au-delà des étoiles. Le paysage mystique de Monet à Kandinsky  (Beyond the Stars. The Mystical Landscape from Monet to Kandinsky). It gives visitors an introduction to depictions of nature in paintings by Gauguin, Denis, Hodler, Klimt, Munch and Van Gogh, and Canadian painters like Tom Thomson and Emily Carr.

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“Connecting with an order beyond physical appearances, going deeper than material realities to come closer to the mysteries of existence, experimenting with losing oneself in perfect unity with the cosmos: these quests are all characteristic of mysticism, the spiritual phenomenon that exists alongside all religions, in all continents. Why not, then, acknowledge its presence in Western Symbolist painting, which, at the close of the 19th century, precisely sought to elevate art to the medium of the ineffable, and the artist to the rank of initiate?”

Musée d’Orsay
1 Rue de la Légion d’Honneur, 75007 Paris

After taking in an exhibit or two you will want to take a refreshing walk. Consult your No Worries Paris for ideas in the neighborhood.  Happy spring!

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What do Madame de Sévigné, Victor Hugo, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and Colette have in common?

03 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by in Paris photos, Paris sidetrips, Paris travel, Paris Walks, Paris Wandering

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Answer: they all lived here at Place Vosges, in my opinion, the prettiest square in Paris. It is ringed with 36 redbrick-and-stone houses—nine on each side, a salute to early urban planning. To love it is to know it’s history. Definitely a place to bring your sandwich (it’s okay to sit on the lawn), take in the sunshine and feel very far away from the traffic on nearby rue de Rivoli.

Four centuries ago this was the site of the Palais des Tournelles, home to King Henry II and Queen Catherine de Medici. The couple staged regular jousting tournaments, and Henry was fatally lanced in the eye during one of them in 1559. Catherine fled to the Louvre, abandoning her palace and ordered it destroyed. In 1612 the square became Place Royale on the occasion of Louis XIII’s engagement to Anne of Austria. Napoléon renamed it Place des Vosges to honor the northeast region of Vosges, the first in the country to pony up taxes to the Revolutionary government.

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Place des Vosges is structured around two pavilions, that of the Queen at the north part of the square, and that of the King at the south part both built deliberately higher. They are not open to the public; however, you can still visit the house of Victor Hugo, author of “Les Misérables”, which is now a municipal museum. It is free and open daily from 9am to 6pm every day except Monday. To preserve this unity, the place has been protected since the 1960s by the “plan for the preservation and enhancement of the Marais” and no intervention, especially on the façades, can be made without the architect’s agreement.

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Chic restaurants, boutiques and art galleries fill the arcade surrounding the park. A small private door, open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., will give you access to the garden of the stately Hotel de Sully, headquarters of the Center for National Monuments. Be sure to visit their well stocked bookstore. Unfortunately they don’t carry No Worries Paris, but you, of course, hopefully already purchased it before your trip to Paris. Place Vosges and all there is to do and see in the area starts on page 93 and is marked on the walking map.

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Hungry?  Here are some recommended restaurants

Au Bourguignon Du Marais, 52 Rue François Miron, 75004. Regional dishes from Burgundy.

La Tartine, 24 Rue de Rivoli, 75004

Chez Janou, 2 Rue Roger Verlomme, 75003

Les Cotelettes, Cafe Martini, Cafe Hugo

Paris restaurants for nightowls

31 Friday Aug 2012

Posted by in Paris Wanderings

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All you foodies who prowl the Paris streets after dark, some refueling stops for you:

Au Pied de Cochon
5pm to midnight
6, rue Coquillière, 75001 Paris
01 40 13 77 00
http://www.pieddecochon.com

Le 39V
39, av George V
Paris, France 75008
http://www.le39v.com
01-56-62-39-05
A private elevator whisks you up to this rooftop address just off the Champs-Elysées, where chef Frederic Verdon is cooking in a sleek, black and chrome setting

L’Aromatik
French (New) | 09th arrondissement
7, rue Jean-Baptiste Pigalle
Paris, France
+33-1 48-74-62-27
http://www.laromatik.com
Josephine Baker succumbed to this restaurant’s charm

Le Saotico
French (New) | 02nd arrondissement
96, rue de Richelieu
+33-1 42-96-03-20
http://www.saotico.com

Bar du Central
99 Rue Saint-Dominique
75007 Paris
01 45 55 90 75
www.http://barducentralparis.com

Frenchie my favorite
5-6 rue du Nil
75002 Paris
01 40 39 96 19
http://www.frenchie-restaurant.com
Make reservations weeks in advance.

Le Chateaubriand
129 ave Parmentier
75011 Paris
01 43 57 45 95
http://www.lechateaubriand.fr
Among the 50 best restaurants in the world. Dinner is unique, even in a city teeming with creative young guns: behind the spare descriptions are bold, sometimes austere combinations.

Le Comptoir du Relais
6 Carrefour de l’Odeon
75006 Paris
01 44 27 07 97
Bourgeois Left Bankers are packed elbow-to-tweed-elbow here for good reason.

La Closerie des Lilas
171 bd Montparnasse
75006 Paris
01 40 51 34 50
http://www.closeriedeslilas.fr

Le Cinq Mars
51 rue de Verneuil
75007 Paris
01 45 44 69 13