For those planning to be in Paris to see in the new year, note that the Champs Elysées is very crowded, and not a particularly pleasant to be on that evening (on most evenings in truth…), and that there will be no official firework displays in the city. If you’re looking for a venue therefore [...]
It’s always a bit depressing taking down the Christmas tree and packing away holiday decorations, but it’s even sadder when you have to plop your tree by the garbage bin and wait for it to be carted off to the landfill, droopy branches and all. But, just like last year, the city of Paris can [...]
Since opening its doors a little over a year ago, LMDW Fine Spirits has established itself as the premier spirits shop in Paris. Always a good bet for hard-to-find alcohols, it is one of my favorite stops for a bit of boozy shopping. And, now it’s got something new to boast about with their recent [...]
Most people in Paris have heard of Hidden Kitchen. It’s an underground restaurant that serves dinner out of the chef’s home twice a week. They serve a 10-course tasting menu for about 100€… or… well, they did. Hidden Kitchen closed down in October, just after a friend secured us a reservation. Alas, it was not [...]
There has been much said about the gaudy interior of Notre Dame de Lorette, a church in the 9th arrondissement, but I find it elegant, with its 19th Century art and a Cavaille-Col grand organ. The painter Eugene Delacroix lived nearby and was christened here in 1840. The other stories of this large church refer [...]
It seems like everyone who visits Paris has a story about the extraordinarily high prices they encounter: “It was lovely,” a friend exclaimed to me recently after a weekend away, “but the beer was €10!” High prices are indeed typical of a trip to Paris, but there still are some bargains to be found. Here [...]
AlJazeera World, and English arm of the Al Jazeera news network, has produced a fascinating documentary called Muslims of France. “As issues of immigration and integration raise Europe’s political temperature, this 3-part series examines the history of Muslim immigration to France – a country where debate continues to rage over how to reconcile a long-standing [...]
Two apartments available for short or long-term rent by owner. Minimum stay 2 months. No max. Both apartments have high-speed wifi, free international phone calls to most countries, and kitchens equipped for cooking at home. In the lively, safe, and classically Montmartre neighborhood of Lamarck, this studio apartment features a high ceiling, a marble fireplace, [...]
The noted “monotony of a Haussmannian street” is illustrated here in this famous painting by Gustave Caillebotte. Why are the streets of Paris created under Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s direction considered monotonous? In 1853, during the period known as the Second Empire, Napoleon III gave him the job of modernizing Paris. Haussmann carved out wide boulevards in the heart [...]
George Whitman, the founder of the famous Shakespeare & Company Bookshop, passed away at the age of 98 on December 14th. Originally from America, he opened Le Mistral Bookshop in the Latin Quarter in 1951, changing the name to Shakespeare & Company to honor of Sylvia Beach’s original shop near Odéon, which closed during WWII. [...]
