Paris 3

I realized after completing a two-day itenary that I forgot two very important things. One, summer sales in Paris start on June 24th. There are two sales a year, mandated by law, one in June and the other in January. Second, Paris has started a fantastic new Velo intiative. These are bicycle stands where you can rent a Velo by paying at the kiosk and then you can return it to any of the stands which are dotted around the city and at tourist destinations. This initiative was to encourage tourists to see Paris the old-fashioned way, on a bicycle and to enable them to get around Paris quicker and still sight-see. Very fun thing to do with older kids or friends but if you have a host, ask them to help you with the purchase as the kiosks were a bit sticky with international credit cards.


Day 3 for me in Paris is always Left Bank day! La Rive Gauche (The Left Bank) is the southern bank of the river Seine in Paris where the river flows roughly westwards, cutting the city into two, the right bank to the north and the left bank to the south.


The Left Bank also stands for a different kind of lifestyle, or outlook. Unlike it's richer, schmancier brother, this part of Paris was a bit like cheapside, attracting artists, writers and philosophers like Picasso, Matisse, Jean-Paul Satre and Ernest Hemingway. Their cause was always to democratize art, fashion or philosophy, of course, today, the Left Bank can be equally commercial.


In the morning, I would head in a different direction first and go to the Marais (just because this is diversity day in Paris). The St Paul station opens into the streets Rue de Rosiers, otherwise known as the Marais, a quaint, pedestrain, Jewish quarter of Paris. It's like vistiing the set of Fiddler On The Roof, amongst the tight, narrow cobblestone shophouse lanes and the throng of young boys in their
yarmulkels and rabbis in full black costume, you will find the best bagels!

Not that I come all this way for a good sesame and poppy seed bagel (I lie, of course I do), the trays of baklava, with their green almonds and pistachios soaked in honey and braided challah is also very yummy. All the shops here are coloured a picturesue and cheery blue, greens and yellows and one in particular, Sacha Finkelsztaju Traiteur, has mounds of plump bagels and large bowls behind the counter, filled with home-made creamy peach tarama, aubergine dirt coloured hummus. You can get a tarama bagel with fish eggs (lumpfish caviar) on one half and the other half slathered in tarama with dill. Authentic gastronomic heaven for 3 Euros. If bagels and hummus aren't your thing, then Chef Bernard Pacaud's world famous restaurant, Ambroisie is at Place des Vosges in the Marais. Their set menu has 5 desserts...

After that, head north on Rue du Temple and find, at the cross junction of Rue des 4 filles, one of Paris's best kept shopping secrets- the stores that do wholesale import-export, entire shops that ship in heavily beaded clutch bags, hats,
accessories and the best, leather bags. Try Hexagona or Fredelin for pebble grain calf-leather, in classic designs and at a fraction of the retail cost. Further down, there are shops that deal exclusively in accessories, long strands of beaded and vintage rope necklaces and earrings. These shops usually sell in the hundreds, by merchant trades but they do cater to walk-ins.


This area also has many lovely stores, like Neila, a design and vintage shop and my personal favourite, Artwist. This was my favourite art gallery, they are more contemporary in style and showcase young regional artists, selling the works in the center of Paris at the same price as available at their studios. The curator has an excellent eye and most of the pieces have a heavy slant toward modern themes and strong motif. It is reasonably priced and unlike the more high-end galleries, that, like everywhere else in the world, seem to exclusively showcase modern (violent) chinese pop-art and more abstract pollack-esque pallate paintings.

From here, you can turn and walk west, heading toward St Eustaphe church and Les Halles. You will pass two great shops, one is the furniture shop Itineraires, with their funky and inexpensive tables and fixtures. The last time I was there, they had this awesome old-school, slightly scuffed and discoloured french picnic table. The second is Mora, or as its advertised "L'equipment au service de la gastronomie, maison fondee en 1814". While its not the oldest kitchen shop in Paris, it is an enchanting warren of copper canele tins, pots, single-use baking shapes and all manner of tools for precision baking. If you're still hungry, you can stop for a crepe at Creperie Suzette around the corner.


If you don't feel like walking or the St Eustaphe, then you can take the metro from Etienne-Marcel or Rambateau directly south, across the river to St Germain in the Left Bank. You can also walk it, using the opportunity to cross the Isle de Cite and see the Saint Chapelle and Notre Dame but you might get exhausted before you've reached the other side.

On benefit of walking across the river is that you can pop in at Mariage Freres at Rue de Grand Augustine, possibly the greatest tea shop on earth, to stock up on their iconic black tins for souvenirs or gifts. If you don't get your fill there though, you can always exit at the St Germain station and linger to drink coffee at a pretentious sidewalk cafe like Cafe de Flore or Cafe Les Duex Margot partly so you can say you’ve done it. Don’t miss a lovely little art gallery called Triode round the corner.


While most people shop along Rue St Honore or the Champs Elysees, it is actually in the little nooks of the Marais and in the St Germain area that the best and more interesting shopping is to be had. True, there are no Adidas or Hermes but there are proper local brands where you can get something different. Vanessa Bruno, for example, the celebrated Queen of Bohemian Chic has a store in this area, selling her beautifully cut jersey dresses and her slogan "Easy clothes for difficult girls".

Two of my favourites in this area are BGN, opposite Vanessa Bruno and Maje, two fairly unpretentious stores. BGN has these fussy, summery wedding-type dresses and versatile bermuda pants, sort of vintage without the harshness and typical of a fashion society that is forever in love with black herringbone, cobalt blue, red lipstick and biege tulle. Maje has slightly retro takes on new fashion items, like an apolegetically balloon-hem, scoop-necked white dress and a billowy white short-sleeved, hot pants jumpsuit with a silk tie belt, like one of those immortalised 1950's posters. The best thing is that they have three slightly different versions of each pant and dress so you can find your favourite in pleat, folded or button fashion.


This area also has the epitomous french mass fashion, like sonia rykiel, paco rabanne, even pierre cardin that cut these almost 1980s, primary coloured assymetrical outfits but there are also unique and value-per-piece stores, like Carine, for beautifully cut simple dresses and tops, Stella Forest
for quirky colourful seperates, LOLA for older, more
classic ladylike, black and white sheaths, jackets, ruched short dresses
and some Italian brands like Stefanel (affordable) and Patrizia Pepe (pricey).

The area near Saint Sulpice is very white-urban surburban, a little shabby-chic like High Marylbourne Street in London, filled with boulongeries and clever homeware stores like Madura. Cross the road to Pierre Herme, a cunning slice in the wall that always has a queue to sit in the lap of the Father Christmas of dark chocolate ganache and seasonally flavoured macarons.

This is the reason I eat a bagel for lunch, so that I can fill myself with more sweets throughout the afternoon! One of my favourite places in Paris is Sadaharu Aoki, the pioneer of melding Japanese and French pastry- he is the source
of all those Rive Gauche shops around Asia, selling delicate chocolate
confections in plastic wrappers, he is also the predecessor for all the fusion
and green tea bitterness and chocolate pairings at restaurants like Nobu.

His store at the end of Rue di Varigard, near Boulevard Rasputil is very minamalist and looks disappointingly plain. The pastries though, are absolutely masterful, from his yuzu and green tea eclairs, coated with cheerful yellow and green tea glazes, to his macha dome (a dome of green tea white chocolate with a baby macaron adhered with chestnut cream, within which lie layers of azuki beans, green sponge and praline).

One place you mustn't leave out in this visit though, is the awesome department store Le Bon Marche and Le Grand Epicerie. From Saint Sulpice, it is a short south-westernly walk but be prepared to spend some time browsing the massive fresh produce section and food hall of the store! These stores are less of an institution than Galleries Lafeyette but their focus is different, they are noveau- catered to the needs of the modern, well-heeled and food conscious Parisienne.

Afterward you have two options, you can leave the shopping and head north to Rue de Seine where you will find the Gallery for Jacqueline Vladimir Pavlowsky, who is well-known for Pollack-esque work, dense, complex and dark. The other one I liked was the nearby PLA Galerie. The whole street is filled with galleries and gourmet stores, I visited each one on a slow walk back north toward the river. Or, you can continue to walk west on Rue Grenelle and head further west in the 7th toward Christian Louboutin, always a fun visit if just to gawk at the sexy designs and prices.


No musuems today, just a walk that will make your feet fall off! By dinnertime, you will actually be hungry and if by now you are a little tired of duck fat, then head to Al-Mounia in the 16th for some excellent cous cous and harissa. In Paris, the second most easily available food is probably something of Arabic-Morrocan origin, given the sizable population that seemed to have skipped over from Tangiers and Lebanon. After many days of steak and duck and pastries, I find their tomato-based tagines, vegetable-laden cuisine a welcome break. Chubby Hubby's website suggests L'Atlas, which is actually in St Germain but the cous cous there is not half as juicy.

If you are not tired of French cuisine, then also in the 16th is this great 3 generation, family run restaurant called Les Caves Petrissans, run by Marie-Christine and Jean-Marie Allemoz. The last time I went, it was so good, we went back the second night (travesty). If not, then you could also try Truly August, an
intelligent modern restaurant (with a great contemporary art collection) helmed by Gael Orieux, who's just won a Michelin star and apprenticed at Hotel de Crillon, Taillevent and Le Meurice. This restaurant was very new when I went so I don't know that it is still there but I do remember that the lunch set is definitely a better deal than dinner.


I know I said 4 day itenary but I'm going to cop out and say that on Day 4 you should rest a little from Day 3 and visit Sacre-Cour, Monmartre, the Moulin Rouge and the cheerful flea market behind the Sacre-Cour which takes place daily. In the afternoon, make time to go to a "puces" or proper flea market, or to get to the sights and shops that you have not seen to buy a gift for friends of helpful colleagues (hint).

I've had very bad luck with flea markets so I shan't advise, my own experience with the Saint-ouen Flea Market was a gorgeous old SNEF train station clock, a custom pair of Roger Vivier satin red shoes, neither of which I bought and many big black men walking around with trash bags, broken stereos and fake Prada and Rolex collections. If you want to do a proper market, visit Umami's blog, she's an absolute flea market queen.

If you have a Day 5 or an entire week, I would suggest a day trip to Versailles or, as France is actually very compact, you could take a 2 1/2 hour drive to Brittany and the sea at Mont St Michael. Don't go to Normandy, even for a WW2 buff, there's nothing there- the French are not particularly proud of that part of their history and there are few markers along the unwieldy, rough stretch of beach.

Have a great trip!


Ambroisie
9 place des Vosges
Phone: +31 42785145

Fredelin
84 Rue de Haugettes

Neila
28 rue du Mont Thaber

Artwist
32 Rue de Michel le Comte

Itineraires
120 Rue Rambuteau

Mora
13 Rue Montmartre

Creperie Suzette
24 Rue de Francs-Bourgeois

Mariage Freses
13, Rue des Grands-Augustins, 6th
Phone: 01 40 51 82 50

Cafe de Flore
172 Bld Saint-Germain, 6th,
Phone: 01 45 48 55 26

Cafe Les Duex Margot
6 Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés
75006 Paris

Triode
28, Rue Jacob, 6th

Madura
66 Rue de Rennes

Vanessa Bruno
25 Saint Sulpice 6th

Pierre Herme
72 Rue Bonaparte, 6th
Phone: 01 43 54 47 77

Maje
24 Rue Saint Sulpice

Carine
4 Rue Jacob

Stella Forest
66 Rue Bonaparte

LOLA
6 place St Sulpice

Sadaharu Aoki
35 Rue di Varigard

Jacqueline Vladimir Pavlowsky
53 Rue de Seine

PLA Gallerie
32 Rue Jean Mermoz

Christian Louboutin
8, rue de Grenelle, 7th,
Phone: 01 42 22 33 07

Le Bon Marche
24, Rue de Sevres, 7th,
Phone: 01 44 39 80 00

Le Grand Epicerie
38, Rue de Sevres, 7th,
Phone: 01 44 39 8100

Al Mounia
16 rue de Magdebourg, 16th arr,
T: 01 47 27 57 28

L’Atlas
12, Boulevard St Germain, 5th,
Phone: 01 46 33 86 98

Les Caves Petrissans
30 bis avenue Niel
750157 Paris
Phone: 01 42 27 52 03

Truly August
54 Rue de Bourgogne, 7th arr

Paris, Day 1

Paris, more than any other city in the world, makes me feel ambivalent. I've had the most splendid and the most horrid times there- I took my first black-and-white photo in Paris and ate my first mille-feuille and duck confit in Paris. I backpacked for the first time to Paris and climbed all 668 steps of the Eiffel Tower in a giggling group of pre-collegiate girls. I've made real friends in Paris and fought with and left loves of my life in Paris.


I don't know that there is another place that equals it, in both beauty or artifice and perhaps for the same reason, I've never kept a real journal of what happens in Paris, just squirreled away receipts, cards, memories. These are just some some suggestions for what to do and see, so please take them with a pinch of salt! The photos are taken from trips to France and some by my very talented friend Amy Long, who's unfortunately pursuing a further degree in the US, rather than professional photography- I think you can see what an amazing eye she has and her ability to bring the city to life.


First, the basics, where to stay in Paris. This is really up to you. The city of Paris is divided in 20 arrondisements, or what used to be municipal districts. They are arranged in a circular pattern around the right bank of the Seine (aka the river that runs through it). My favourite places are 7,8,9, 1 and 2 but of course, the closer you are to the center, the more expensive the accomodation. For me, I think there are budget acccomodations available in the center and would rather stay there then further away in more spacious accomodations just because travelling in the metro over long distances is no fun and wastes precious time. (For example- one of my favourite Australian budget-boutique hotel chains, Eight Hotels, just sent me their Arr 2. site in Paris. 99 euros or 200SGD for a brand-new, fully equipped apartment for 4pp. http://www.eighthotels.com/Content_Common/pg-ParisAp.seo )


Also, when I am in Paris, I don't actually train much. I walk. I walk for hours. It is the only way (and not even) to keep the calories off and really, Paris was built, with it's wide pavements and gorgeous tree-lined boulevards, for walking. So rather than buy a stored-value card, I tend to buy a book of single-use tickets, again, up to you and available at every metro station in case you change your mind.


What is most indispensable, is a map and by this I don't mean the crappy hotel one-pager but a proper Le Petit Parisienne that lays out every borough, street and area in two languages. This is like the A-Z London booklet and without it, you won't be able to find a particular shop, even if you are in the right area because Paris, much like an ungridded New York, is a very complex network of sidestreets and alleys. Imagine a big knot in your hair- that is what most Paris arrondisements look like.


One thing that I think is also very true about Paris, is that like most big cities, if you try to squeeze too much into what you will do and see, you will become very impatient, crabby and somewhat frustrated. So many people hear about the romance of Paris and never really understand why, I think to really imbue what the city has to offer, you have to contemplate Paris. You have to make time to sit in the sidewalk cafes, to appreciate the ebb and flow of noise and quiet and to really people-watch and Paris-watch.


DAY 1
On the first day there, take advantage of your jet lag to get up early for a farmers market. My favourite one (and there are many other excellent ones in the city) is the one along Avenue de President Wilson, open on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, (between the metro station Iena and Trocadero). The most brilliant stores here are the bread shop (buy a loaf of sourdough or a wheel of french bread), the olive oil shop (their Tonda olive oil is the most sweet and flowery aromatic salad oil), the cheese lady (try the compte and goat's cheese especially) and the heaps of fresh vegetables, like french chanterelles and white asparagus. The reason this market is particularly good is that you are near to Embassy Row, so the quality of the stalls here is regulated.


As you walk down the avenue full of rotisserie chicken and crepe, there are two directions to walk. By now the shops would have opened, so you can walk up Avenue Marceau toward the Arc de Triomphe or you can walk diagonally up Avenue George V and you would be behind the Champs Elysees, the main retail drag. (As you walk down Ave de President Wilson, you will pass I think the Musee de Petit Palais, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower-I have bothered to look at a map but you of course, should not be so cavalier).


Personally, I would rather drive around the Arc de Triomphe than walk to it (it is, after all, just an Arch) but the advantage of wandering deeper into Embassy Row (the whole area that borders Avenue Foch is where all the state buildings are), is that you get to see beautifully preserved examples of Haussmann architecture. Georges Haussmann was the chief civil engineer and urban planner of Paris and fought to protect many of the block marble stone buildings that are now used for state purpose. Even now, certain districts in Paris require you to use a very specific kind and colour of stone to renovate, which explains the imposing uniformity of their boulevard-lined terraces and the difficulty of urban renewal in Europe!


However, if you are more into shopping then sidewalk history, then cross over to the front of Champs Elysee and get your retail kicks out. You can shop from the top of the street, at Nespresso (buy a nifty coffee machine for 140 euros, a steal compared to their $600 machinese in Singapore) and traverse all the way down to the bottom of the street with Sephora and Adidas. This is the "high-street shopping". If you are bored of these brands, stop at Laduree, the famous macaron-house, for a couple of bites.


When you end Champs-Elysee, again, you have two choices. If you are not weighed down by purchases, you can continue sight-seeing, walking down the Concorde metro station into the Jardin de Tulleries and toward the Louvre. If you really want to kill yourself, you can keep walking past the Louvre toward Les Halles, then down slightly to the Isle of Cite and wind up near Notre Dame before crossing the Seine to the Left bank art galleries but woah nelly, will your feet hurt!


If you are similarly empty-handed and you want to do more damage, cross back over the Avenue George V and turn into Avenue Montaigne. At the crossroads of these two great streets, you will find the grand Four Seasons Hotel George V, where you can gaze up at the carnellian flower covered balconies and pretend that you are Audrey Hepburn or Sarah Jessica Parker. No, seriously.

You can walk into my favourite shop in all of Paris, Montaigne Market. As the first multi-marque in the city of lights, the store engineers a confluence of current and classic styles from the fashion capitals of the world into a 4,000 square foot space. The buyer, Liliane Jossua selects collections that move in an integrated mix of designers and price tiers but trust me, that doesn't stop you from wanting to buy the whole shop! The airy, well-lit store layout is designed to be, like the undulating colors and textures of the clothes, minimalist but not austere.

After walking out, you can carry on down the happy street of Chanel (you must, it's Paris), Miu Miu, the most chic branch of Max Mara in the world, then loop back to Hermes and Louis Vuitton if you like that sort of thing. There are two great places to eat around this area, for lunch, you could go to Jabugo & Co, a great unique little sidestreet shop for spanish hams. I'm not saying this place isn't a bit ridiculous but this is Paris, what else are you here for otherwise? These hams have the Bellota-Bellota label, meaning that the pigs have been allowed to feast on acorns, they also carry the elusive Jambon Iberico Pate Negra, which is really hard to find and yes, you can taste the difference.


The other place is my favourite upmarket restaurant, Taillevant. One of my good friends used to be a food critic during her university days in Paris and when I asked for her list, I asked specifically for her to compile her top hole-in-the-wall bistros and eateries. As a result, I don't actually eat particularly expensively in Paris but there have been one or two exceptions! I would definitely advise that you try this gastronomic institution (and at all costs, avoid eating anywhere that has the name Robuchon on it). You can make a reservation for lunch, which at 70 euros (including wine) is a really good treat or you could splurge and go for dinner. Opened since 1946, Taillevant is a place for an understated, modern, perfect food experience, complemented by their rare and friendly service.


For the first day, I would not perhaps push myself too hard, the farmer's market, retail areas around Champs-Elysees and then the Jardin Tulleries and the Louvre in the heat of the afternoon (the Louvre does have free musuem days and is also free for the hour preceeding closing but I try to use the afternoons to see musuems in summer). In the late afternoon, I would have a cup of coffee at Le Cafe Marly along Rue de Rivoli (next to the Louvre) and walk across the footbridge to the Isle of Cite (you can visit the Saint Chapelle, a small closeted chapel of amazing and soaring stained glass panes, if you feel like it) then go for a lovely dinner and burn some of dinner off afterward by walking to the Eiffel Tower at night for the lightshow and midnight crepes by the river.


Addendum
I myself research to keep up-to-date on Paris. For cheap Paris accomodations and bistros, I would recommend searching the New York Times (www.nyt.com)'s Travel section for Paris, they wrote about 5 outstanding articles on chic hotels below 99 euros and affordable Parisien bistros. For blogs, search Aun Koh's www.chubbyhubby.net for his two beautifully written posts on Paris eating and for the most up-to-date ideas, my dear Paris friend and host writes on her daily meals and cakes at umami.typepad.com


On Day 2, I would get up early in the morning (still jet lagged) and go for a run. My better half is a lot more concientious at this than I and he frequently tells us (most annoyingly, over the course of the day) that the early morning is the time when Paris is the most beautiful. It's true, there is a beautiful stillness and romantic glory about seeing all these sites sans hordes of tourists. He has run all the way to the Sacre Cour and proclaimed it magnificent in the rising sun but for me, I can only manage a very much shorter, later and more central run, along the river, at the Jardin Tulleries and Plaza de la Concorde and down the wide tree-lined boulevards toward the Eiffel Tower.

I have some motivation- part of this run is to wind up halfway at Sothys, a wonderful French skincare store. You run north of the circle at metro Franklin D. Roosevelt and north of Rue de St Honore (few street east of the restaurant Taillevant). The French, like the Chinese or Koreans, are fanatical about skincare and this brand is known for clarifying and organically fragranced products that belie the rather plain white and gold packaging. The advantage is that they are a third the price they retail for in Singapore, so quite worth it. I find their make-up products beautiful as well, they make these crushed-fine eyeliner pencils that are smokey yet accurate.

(The other famous brand of skincare product, By Terry, is at Ave Victor Hugo or behind the Louvre at 36 Galerie Véro-Dodat. The founder, Terry de Gunzberg, was Yves Saint Laurent's former director of makeup and shot to fame as the originator of luminescent matt liquid foundation. Dotted around Paris are small stores that sell her own brand of ready-to-wear makeup that's a favorite of French actresses and socialites. Upstairs, specialists create what de Gunzburg calls haute couleur, exclusive made-to-measure makeup tailored for each client. At their astronomical prices though, you might as well change your face rather than the make-up.)

A second stop is for breakfast at Dalloyau, which is just around the corner. Dalloyau is like a one-stop DFS gourmet food store. They select the 100 best food product suppliers from around France and cater to all the top households and parties in Paris. I'm not encouraging you to have a meal there, it's frightfully overpriced but I always indulge in a single chocolate eclair, which, at (I've blocked it from my memory, I think it was) 5 Euros is the most ridiculous eclair you will ever eat, both in terms of price and the sheer, pure richness of the thick chocolate. It is the best eclair I've tasted in my life and everytime I have one, I want to cry from temporal happiness. I think it's the endorphins.

Of course, then every other chocolate eclair you have in your life is unsatisfactory but who cares, all the better to eat less with. If this kind of breakfast does not sit well with you, then you can keep running toward Ave Victor Hugo and go to Boulangerie Bechu, which is famous for their french classics like pain au chocolate, coco-banane and croissant. Unlike other half-baked boulangeries in Paris, the croissants here are always hot!


Run back to home, sated. On Day 2, I would start at the Opera House and then walk and shop through Primptemps and Galleries Lafeyette. In truth, while these two department stores are iconic shopping institutions, you don't have to visit, except it's a bit like Harrods, people go in just to see their dome and have tea at the enchantingly large and varied food hall. Two stores that I like to visit in this area and which I think do have their pulse firmly on Paris street fashion is Repetto and Gerard Darel.

The Repetto store in Rue de la Paix has been there since 1959 and Rose Repetto started creating ballet shoes for her famouse ballet dancer and choreographer son a decade before that. In 1956, Brigitte Bardot asked Rose to make her red fashion slippers for the film, And God Created Women. Since then, the name Repetto has become synonomous with ballet shoes and ballet flats that are comfortable and mould to your feet.


The store here is a dreamy little shrine to dancers and every young girl who grew up wanting to be graceful, the window displays are lavish and romantic and inside the store, shelves of brand new and vintage ballet shoes occupy two back walls, while the more fashion-forward merchandise is displayed in the front of the shop. If you need a fitting for dance shoes, you have to make an appointment but for children's ballet shoes and their iconic black patent ballet flats, you can walk in anytime.


The other store is Gerard Darel, which can be found in many locations around the city. While he does make clothing and accesories, it is his buttery soft, slung bags, particularly the 24hr bag (there is a 36hr bag in case yourself toting around more necessities) which is probably the most visible woman-bag in Paris. His brand has gained credence within the French fashion scene (Charlotte Gainsburg is their spokesperson) and across the Atlantic on the likes of Angelina Jolie and Reese Witherspoon (presumably via the influence of french Desperate Daughter-in-law, Eva Longoria). These bags are tres chic, modern, practical yet slightly messy and available in patent, calf leather or exotic.

After shopping, walk or take the subway toward lunch and a spot of musuem lazing at the Musee D'orsay, which is along Quai Voltaire. You basically have to walk south-west and cross the river. There are two ways to do it, you can train it, or if you choose to walk, go south to Rue St Honore and walk along the main retail drag there
toward the river. I'm sure by now you would have tired of high street labels, so you may not want to walk down St Honore (I prefer Left Bank retail, which is coming up tomorrow!) but if you do, there are two interesting shops. One is JP Hevin, a rich chocolate shop similar to Pierre Herme and the other is ABP, Atelier de Bracelet Paris, where, if you don't want to indulge in a bag, you can choose from a dazzling array of exotic skins and smooth calf leathers for a new watch strap. This shop is one of the oldest and most accomplished leather watch strap tanners in the world.


One reason to take a train is that I would suggest travelling a bit further toward Montparnesse or St Germain (slightly south of where the Musee D'orsay is located) for a late lunch. The area around the musuems are always slightly touristy and tends to have rip-off restaurants that aren't altogether worth spending your Euros on. There are four places in this particular area that I really like and you can feel free to save one of them for lunch tomorrow, when you'll be back in the Left Bank.

The first is Au Pied de Fouet, which is seriously the smallest little hole in the wall you will ever find. It has all of 18 or 20 seats but at lunch, it's just a happy, elbow greasing crowd in there. Try their lovely duck confit, a steal at 9 Euros and their salads and starters which are priced at 3 Euros. Eating out in Paris doesn't get much cheaper, nor more interesting than this!

If you want duck confit but you don't want to eat in a hole, try Le Petit Lutetia at Rue de Sevres. This is a very standard french bistro wich some excellent food and reasonable set menus where you can choose any starter, main and dessert from the day's menu. A lunch here would be closer to 20 Euros but for that you have a wonderful ambience, friendly service and again, great duck confit and also creme brulee.

The third place that you can go to is the cheerful, sunlit Relais de l'Entrecote on 20bis rue Saint Benoit. This is a beef and frites restaurant and that is all they serve but they do it so well, stacks of slices of beef with endless and overflowing mounds of fries. The beef comes with a green curry sauce on the side, which is both different and reminscent of Chinese food, for those of you who may be missing your curry and gravy just a little bit. They do have another branch of this same chain on the Right Bank, near the embassy district and even in this area, they have one resturant at St Germain and another further south at Montparnesse.


One benefit of going to Montparnesse is my favourite creperie in all of Paris. Everyone has one and they all have their little street turf wars. I guess one way to think about it is, any crepe store that is close to a tourist attraction like the Notre Dame or Eiffel Tower is bound not to be good. Crepe carts in farmers markets are also not very good (clearly catering to the tourist crowd because locals don't go to market for crepets) but better than tourist-site ones. This one in Montparness is both very old and authentic. It's called Creperie Le Josselin and the crepes are made with love by an old hag and her gorgeous blue-eyed son. Need I say more?


While away the late afternoon in the small but beautiful musuem, a fat squat
musuem housed in the old D'orsay train station, with its intricate stucco rosetted ceiling and floors and floors of impressionist art, framed by giant crescant grilled bay windows. For dinner, you can again, try one of those restaurants mentioned (except Au Pied de Fouet, which I feel is more of a lunch place) or if you are adventurous, make an advanced booking at Los A Moelle, where for 38 Euros, you get a 6 course feast, cooked by Chef Thierry Faucher, the one-time student brilliante of the top chefs in Paris.


This yellow little brick shophouse is unpretentious in a little remote part of the 16th (think, long train ride) and they do two seatings, the later one at 9.30pm where dinner may end close to midnight. My memory of this place was that it was fantastic, we were served a full bodied fish soup, a caramelized foie gras, monkfish with girolle mushrooms, beef cheek with fresh summer peas, fresh cheese and a chcocolate mousse, a richly sated meal.

Honest and excellent for the price. This place makes a frequent appearence on the NYT lists as the best affordable Paris bistro. After dinner, head to the Bastille club area to get a taste of Parisienne nightlife. Personally, I like to just walk along the Seine, which always makes me realize how beautiful Paris is as a city. At night, the flashing lights from the Eiffel Tower help to illuminate the giant statues that line the Pont Neuf bridge, Le Invalides, the magnificent rectangular marbled tomb where Napolean is buried, the Musee de Lorangue (where Monet's best works are kept, go see if you have time) against the shadowy townhouses of St Germain and the tall spirals of Notre Dame. It's a contemplative, historical skyline that always gives me the shivers.


If you're looking for a different kind of dance though, make a pilgrammage to Barrio Latino at 46 rue du Faubourg in the Bastille. This is a five storied nightclub, which touts itself as a salsa-boudoir. The floor is parquet but the decor is sort of Che Guevera crossed with a Beauty and the Beast-type sweeping, iron wrought staircase. In other words, straight out of a bad Justin Timberlake MTV video. The music is Afro-Cuban All Stars, Shakira and everything in between, it's so awful but it's also quite a lark, especially if you're as drunk as the French.

If that is definitely not your thing, then head to the Hotel Costes for a drink and some music at this still ultra-trendy boutique hotel.

Bonne Journee!

Jabugo Iberico & Co.
11, Rue Clément Marot
75008 Paris, France
+33 9 62 00 25 02

Taillevant
15 Rue Lamennais, 8th
Phone: 01 44 95 15 01
Make reservations at least 2 weeks beforehand.

Montaigne Market
57, Avenue Montaigne
Paris 75008
France
Telephone +33 (0)1 42 56 02 82

Boulangerie Bechu
118 Ave. Victor Hugo
33-1/47-27-97-79; closed Mondays

Dalloyau
101, Rue Fbg St Honoré, Paris
+33 1 42 99 90 00

Sothys
9, Avenue Myron Herrick
75008 Paris, France
+33 1 53 04 07 23

By Terry
10, Avenue Victor Hugo
75016 Paris, France
+33 1 55 73 00 73

Printemps
64, Bld Haussman, 9th,
Phone: 01 42 82 57 87

Galeries Lafayette
40 Bld Haussman, 8th,
Phone: 01 42 82 34 56

Repetto
22, Rue de la Paix, Paris
Phone: +33 1 44 71 83 12

Gerard Darel
22 Rue Royale, 75008 Paris, France‎
Phone: 01 42 96 11 70‎

Atelier du Bracelet Parisien
28, place du marché Saint Honoré - 75001 Paris
Tél : 33 (0) 1 42 86 13 70

Le Petit Lutetia
107 rue de Sevres
Phone: 01 45 48 33 53

Au Pied de Fouet
45 rue de Babylone
Phone: 01 47 05 12 27

Les Relais de l'Entrecote
101, Boulevard du. Montparnasse
Phone: +33 1 46 33 82 82
20, Rue Saint-Benoît
Phone +33 1 45 49 16 00

Creperie Le Josselin
67 rue du Montparnasse

Los a Moelle
18 Ave de la Republique, 92130
Call in advance

Hotel Coastes
239 Rue St. Honore, Paris, 1st
Phone: 01 42 44 50 50