Cemeteries get a lot of cinematic attention on Halloween, but in France they don’t really consider that American import anything more than a commercial holiday for stores to sell candy to kids. The real holiday is actually Toussaint, or All Saints’ Day, on November 1st. On this bank holiday families traditionally visit the cemeteries to [...]

This year the French government released the official list of French palaces. The “Palace” label, one step higher than the five-star rating, denotes excellence among the most prestigious French hotels. Out of the 7 historical Parisian palaces, only 2 made the new list : the Plaza Athénée (right) and the Meurice. Since the results were [...]

Exposed beams, an ancient door and a cave dating to the Middle Ages: this seems like an unlikely setting for a Paris restaurant serving ultracontemporary Franco-Japanese fare, yet somehow it all works. Upstairs is an elegant, classic dining room, but downstairs in the “salle japonaise” you’ll be asked to remove your shoes for a seat at one [...]

The Musée des Vampires is a small private museum (near the Mairie des Lilas) dedicated to vampires and the study of their place in folklore and modern culture. Located just on the outer edge of Paris, it can be a bit complicated to visit for non-French speakers, but it’s totally do-able and absolutely worth the [...]

I love to dance but I don’t like earsplitting music and have never seen the point of standing in line to be looked over by what, in France, are called physionomistes. They’re the guys whose job it is to make sure a club has a good mix of people, preferably with lots of pretty, stylish [...]

Last weekend marked the 17th annual Salon du Chocolat, and the first annual chocolate hangover for me. Held in a huge pavilion in the Porte de Versailles, it is a chocolate trade show dedicated to the cocoa bean: its growers, chocolatiers, and consumers. I had been warned that there would not be a lot of [...]

Last Saturday we decided to go to Candelaria which is a bar/taqueria here in Paris. When we walked in the first thing I noticed was how tiny the eating area is but one look at the menu and I thought “well this looks promising although it is pretty pricey.” 2 tacos for 5,50€ is ridiculous especially [...]

I have already taken you to the eccentric home of François Hennebique, France’s first king of concrete, but the Paris offices of his company on the Rue Danton are equally deserving of investigation. Built by the architect Emile Arnaud in 1901, it was one of the first buildings in Paris to use only concrete in [...]

There are six sculptures of bronze hands laid on granite stones in Jardin, hand sanitizer, germs, public art, des Tuileries by Louise Bourgeois. A friend entwined her hands in the cold bronze as tens of thousands before her. Then she quickly pulled out the hand sanitizer.

I have some new neighbors in the hood. A young couple that have obviously never had a “vis-a-vis” (neighbors that can see into their windows). How do I know this you may ask? WELL. Let me explain. Not to put too fine a point on it, I’ve seen them regularly making out on the bed, [...]