A visit to one of the five (count ‘em) IKEA store around Paris is as imperative to expats as a Carte Orange. Mike of Mike and Rion made his first trip recently and offers some observations:
1. The pillows they sell are almost exclusively square. They are 65cm x 65cm and vary in thickness and firmness […]

One of the big advantages of living in a city like Paris is that there is always something going on, even in the middle of the summer. Precisely, today I went to this incredible exhibition in Le Grand Palais in which you can see in action about 100 of the weirdest machines I have ever […]

I went to le Verre Volé last Thursday night following an apéro on the rooftop of Printemps. This was my second visit to “the Stolen Glass,” and I continue to love it.
The very young and adorable Nicolas will tell you anything you wish to know about the wines lining the shelves of this shop/bar. […]

I arrived on Tuesday morning at the 3-star Parisian restaurant I cook at not in my usual chef’s whites but in high heels, a form fitting business-sexy dress, hair blow-dried, full maquillage, and a splash of Marc Jacob’s nouveau perfume (Blush Intense, so yummy!).
Why? I was asked by the administration to do some publicity photos […]

The robust air-conditioner at Corcoran’s on Blvd. Clichy could inspire anyone to become permanently affixed to a bar stool. The place is an Arctic refuge. But, just as high petrol prices help to deter unnecessary driving, the price of a pint of Guinness at Corcoran’s prevented me from becoming a serious drinker.
Life for the expat […]

A lot of us own our Paris homes or are saving up to buy one. The crappy exchange rate on the dollar right now has made it a bit tougher, but Susie Hollands, a contributor to this blog and a real estate consultant, has a tip on one way to get a place on the […]

Last Thursday night GoGo Paris kicked off a series of weekly soirées on the rooftop of Printemps.
For the uninitiated or shopping averse, Printemps is one of the grands magasins on the boulevard Haussman. While making my way through the first 8 floors of the store, I noticed that with the summer soldes a 750 euro […]

You remember the Mickey Mouse exhibit a couple of days ago? Well today, thanks to my colleague Coralie Donas who took this picture, I’d like to show you the exhibit of another monument in the American (world?) culture: Marilyn Monroe. If your happen to be in Paris until the end of October - and if […]

My husband’s granny surprised me yesterday morning when I got up: “Jennifer, we are all going out and I have this envelope that I need to hide in your house in case anything happens to me. It must be someplace secure.”
Not having had my morning coffee yet, I stared at her dumbly. Trying to rub […]

Dead of summer in the hôtel de police, all of us foreigners resembling a bunch of rejects from a Benetton casting call, not a single Pepsi pretty among us; the heat causing some of my fellow sufferers to emit a pungent odor– some the cumin thickness of sweat, some the dark suggestion of badly irrigated […]