We had the chance to visit Paris as a family at the end of November, just before the Schengen visa of my daughter expired. I am so grateful for this opportunity for I had longed since a long period of time that my daughter, who is 11 now, shall see Paris as a young girl, which at last came true. I am of course equally happy for my 16-year old son, who expressed his excitement as we were near and at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

I have been to Paris several times, first time being when I was about 18. Each time was an extraordinary experience with different notes, tastes and surprises. Each time was magnificent. Paris is an artwork rather than a city. An artwork created by Gustave Eiffel who built the Eiffel Tower, by George-Eugène Haussmann who completely redesigned and rebuilt the capital in the 19th century, and by the delicacies of the French culture:
Wide avenues, grand boulevards and squares, city parks, chic fountains, romantic street lamps, a nostalgic cafe or a pretty boulangerie here and there and a French madame or monsieur sitting at a corner-cafe sipping a glass of wine – a unique artwork from hundreds of years ago and to last for hundreds of more years ahead …

In a 1966 black-and-white war film I watched named “Is Paris burning?“, which is about the liberation of Paris in 1944, the German military governor Major General Dietrich von Choltitz decides to ignore Hitler’s order to destroy Paris so that the culturally invaluable buildings of the city are not damaged.

The headquarters of the Germans where General Choltitz makes his phone calls with Hitler in the film is at Hotel Le Meurice, located on Rue de Rivoli, opposite Tuileries Garden between Place de la Concorde and Musée du Louvre. Le Meurice is a historical hotel opened in 1830s and designated as a palace, which had many royal guests, as well as artists. Salvador Dalí had famously made Le Meurice his second home staying at least one month every year at this hotel for almost 30 years.(dorchestercollection.com)

Le Meurice also appears in Woody Allen’s film “Midnight In Paris“, which you must definitely watch to see how enchanting Paris is at night. We were able to live the glamour of Paris nights with my husband better during our visit this time, shortly before Christmas, touring the illuminated streets with the car we rented and stopping by the places we liked. We also dropped by Le Bristol, the other hotel that appears in Midnight in Paris, to see this classic elegant Paris hotel, which I had mentioned in detail in one of my earlier posts here (Classic Hotels – Part 1). We also passed by Cheval Blanc (Louis Vuitton hotel in the same post), which has a very nice location just near the Seine River facing the Pont Neuf – inside ‘La Samaritaine‘ (a large historic department store reopened in 2021 after a renovation).

Paris was the city where many artists either lived or were regulars in, among whom were James Joyce, Fitzgeralds, Jean Cocteau, Cole Porter, Hemingway, Sartre, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, Chagall, Dali, Matisse, Monet, Modigliani, T.S. Eliot, Man Ray and Luis Buñuel. Woody Allen tells about the artistic and romantic Paris of the 1920s in ‘Midnight in Paris’ in a very jolly way.

Before going to Paris, I checked my archives, read things and created a list of anything about Paris that drew my interest in a hurry – hoping to tick them when I was there. However, I could only actualize a few points in my list, which even got longer with more things added from my Parisian books. Paris is never enough, and although the classics of the city are known to everyone, everybody’s Paris is different.

A LIST FOR PARIS

• Eiffel Tower

We had been up to Eiffel Tower before, but we did it once more for our children. I had first thought that if it weren’t for the children, it would be a loss of time to do it the second time but no, it wasn’t. It was splendid either to go up the symbol of Paris or to look at Paris from the very top of it. There are nice gift shops and restaurants up the tower. Mind that you can buy e-tickets beforehand to avoid waiting at the long queue at the ticket offices.

Eiffel Tower glitters in Paris for the whole night and the lights coming out of it sweeps the whole city. You can buy tickets, check for the restaurants and other details at Eiffel Tower’s official website (toureiffel.paris).

Champ de Mars is a nice park beside the Eiffel Tower. You can also visit the beautiful statue garden of Rodin Museum (Musée Rodin), a few steps from the Eiffel Tower. Hôtel des Invalides (Les Invalides), where Napoleon’s tomb is located as well as military museums and a veterans hospital is also closeby.

You can also visit Balzac’s House (Maison de Balzac), the only home of Parisian novelist Honoré de Balzac that remains today – a pleasant garden cottage in the Passy district of the 16th arrondissement overlooking the Eiffel Tower.
You can drop by Café du Trocadero, also at the 16th arrondissent, a pleasant cafe at Place du Tracadéro with a view of the Eiffel Tower – one of the cafés that appear in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris film. I also noted Café de L’Homme, very closeby, featuring Eiffel Tower views.

Note also Rue Cler (close to Eiffel) is a nice market street preferred by the local Parisians. The street is full of cafes, boulangeries and stores where the locals go to buy their baguettes, cheese, meat or wine. (parisperfect.com)

• Champs-Élysées (The Avenue des Champs-Élysées )

You wouldn’t miss one of the most famous streets of the world stretching from “Arc de Triomphe ” (triumphal arch – the monument made by Napoleon) to the “Place de la Concorde” (the square where Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were guillotined during the French Revolution).
At this time of the year around Christmas, Champs-Élysées was marvelously illuminated and looking glorious at the center of Paris. As you walk along this majestic street, drop by “Ladurée” to taste the best French macarons, or have a coffee, or dine in “Fouquet’s“, a famous brasserie (also hotel) frequented by the celebrities.
Take also note of Avenue Montaigne (where the chic Hôtel Plaza Athénée is) and Avenue George V (where the classic Hotel George V is located), chic streets just nearby Champs-Elysées. There are pleasant restaurants in Avenue George V, at one of which we had dinner with my husband some years ago with a small view of the Eiffel Tower.

You can also visit the Grand Palais, a historic monument and cultural center at the Champs-Élysées, and the Petit Palais (a majestic building which houses the Paris Museum of Fine Arts) located across from the Grand Palais.

• The Seine

The Seine River looks marvelous in the centre of Paris with the picturesque bridges over it. Pont Neuf is the city’s oldest bridge and Pont Alexandre III the most romantic one, glowing like a jewel at nights.You can wander along the river bank and discover things at the bouquinistes nearby, sip your coffee in one of little riverside cafes or enjoy a boat trip. It’s a popular belief that if you make a wish and kiss your beloved under the Pont Marie, your wish will be fulfilled. Pont des Arts is where lovers used to attach a love lock to and throw the key into the Seine, which is forbidden today due to the collapse of a section of bridge.

• Montmartre

The artistic neighborhood of Paris where once many intellectuals lived and which was once home to famous Moulin Rouge (until it was destroyed by fire and moved to Pigalle) is a must. Montmartre is a large hill in Paris’s 18th arrondissement with The Basilica of Sacré Coeur (Roman-Catholic church) at the top of it. A funicular takes you from the bottom up to the hill but you can also drive up Montmartre by car, which we luckily could.
Have your portrait made to one of the artists at “Place du Tertre” (main square) or watch them make one, drop by an art gallery, stroll the narrow streets with small pretty shops, or just sit in a cosy cafe and soak up the artistic inspirational atmosphere of the neighborhood. Montmartre’s best-known cafe is said to be “Café des Deux Moulins“, the workplace of Amélie Poulain in the film ‘Amélie‘: a traditional French cafe with good ‘crème brûlée‘, one of my favorite desserts as well as my son’s. I read about this cafe after we returned to Istanbul. (Noted for the next visit to Paris).

• Cabarets

“Moulin Rouge“, once a world-famous cabaret and known as the birthplace of the French Cancan dance of the 1840s, is a tourist attraction today located on in Pigalle, decorated in belle époque style. Toulouse-Lautrec, Edith Piaf, Liza Minnelli, Frank Sinatra and Elton John were among the many regulars of Moulin Rouge.
Another Parisian cabaret famous for its winter shows is “Crazy Horse” located on George V Avenue, closeby the Champs-Elysées. Dita Von Teese had performed as a special guest at the Crazy Horse several times. (parisinfo.com)

• Montparnasse

I have read that during the two World Wars, many of the artists who left Montmartre settled in Montparnasse. Picasso, Modigliani, Miro, Jean-Paul Sartre, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway were all living here and frequenting the cafes of Montparnasse. “La Rotonde” is one of the most famous one among the many spots they used to hang out or come together occasionally. “La Closerie des Lilas“, a brasserie once a favorite of Hemingway, is another popular one. Other notable cafes / brasseries are “Le Dôme“, “La Coupole” and “Le Select“, the French cuisine restaurants with good food and nice ambiance.

The “Dingo American Bar and Restaurant (Dingo Bar)”, which appears in the film Midnight in Paris, had been the favorite haunt of English-speaking artists and writers during 1920s and 1930s. It is today occupied by  “L’Auberge de Venise“, an Italian restaurant in Montparnasse. Ernest Hemingway tells in his book “A Moveable Feast” that he first met F. Scott Fitzgerald at the Dingo Bar in late April in 1925, two weeks after the publication of Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” (nytimes.com).

Also note Montparnasse Tower (Tour Montparnasse), an office skyscraper located in Montparnasse, from where you can have a top view of Paris.

• Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Located at the 6th arrondissement of Paris, Saint-Germain-des-Prés and its cafes were also frequented by the artists during 1920s and 1930s. “Café de Flore” and “Les Deux Magots” are the most notable ones in the area. The photos of J.L. Borges, Picasso-Dora Maar, Jean Paul Sartre, Simone De Beauvoir, Ernest Hemingway and more artists adorn the walls of Les Deux Magots.

I have read that Deux Magots was the more famous and fashionable of the two cafes frequented by the intellectuals and that when it became overcrowded with tourists coming to look at Sartre or de Beauvoir, the intellectuals started to go to the emptier Flore next door. (‘A Tale of Two Cafes‘, newyorker.com)

Brasserie Lipp, which arose my curiosity as it is mentioned in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris film, is also in Saint-Germain-des-Prés and was frequented by the intellectuals in 1920s. Of Alsatian origin, it serves traditional French brasserie cuisine in an authentic atmosphere.

If you head to “Rue des Grands–Augustins” in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, you can see the townhouse (No.7) which was Picasso’s studio for many years. This studio was where he painted his famous Guernica and where the Hemingways visited him in 1940s. (timeout.com)

Saint-Germain district is also ideal for shopping. Note “Le Bon Marché“, the first department store of Paris, and “La Grand Epicerie de Paris“, with gourmet shops of many varieties of cheese, wine, champagne, tea, coffee, desserts and more. (parisinfo.com)

I would also like to mention Ralph’s (Ralph Lauren cafe and restaurant) which we came across while we were walking around Saint Germain: a hidden retreat in the centre of Paris with a courtyard, cosy and intimate to dine or have a drink. It is not a French restaurant but I think it had caught the Parisian soul with its romantic setting. (We couldn’t dine there for it was closed and getting prepared for dinner – service hours: 12 – 16:30, 19.30 – 22:45).

• Place du Louvre and Its Surroundings

Place du Louvre is a large square surrounded by Hôtel du Louvre, Louvre Museum and Palais Royal (former royal palace). I have read that Palais-Royal has a beautiful hidden garden which also connects to the nearby Place de Valois, where Emily works in the jolly Netflix series “Emily in Paris“.
Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre), home of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, is on ‘Rue de Rivoli‘. Note that Hotel Le Meurice I mentioned above is also on the same street. Opposite Le Meurice is Tuileries Garden. Once a royal garden where young king Louis XIII hunted and the son of Napoleon played, it is today a public garden (louvre.fr).

As you head to Rue de Rivoli, you will notice a line of people waiting to go into “Angelina“, a 1903 tea room famous for its hot chocolate and pastries especially the Mont Blanc (chestnut cream cake). You must drop by this chic and cosy place decorated in a belle-epoque style. (angelina-paris.fr)

• Musée d’Orsay (Orsay Museum)

Located on the Left Bank of the Seine, Musée d’Orsay is also close to the Louvre. A former train station, Musée d’Orsay is known for its vast collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings (by names like Degas, Cézanne, Manet, Renoir, and Monet). The museum holds special periodical events like the recent Edvard Munch exhibition.

• Place Vendôme

Place Vendôme is a very chic square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris where The Ritz Paris, an iconic hotel of Paris, is located. The square shines in winter, especially during the time around Christmas, with its illuminated trees and windows of shops like Cartier and Chopard.

Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, nearby Place Vendôme, is a fashionable street with chic boutiques and global fashion houses, where the Élysée Palace (official residence of the President of France) is located.

• Palais Garnier ( Opéra Garnier)

The magnificent building of The Paris Opera (Palais Garnier), built at the time of Emperor Napoleon III, catches your eye with its beauty as you pass by Opera square (Place de l’Opéra). You can also visit inside this historic opera house located in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.
Closeby the Opera is ‘Galeries Lafayette Haussmann‘, the famous department store of Paris which you must visit especially during Christmas for its joyful window decorations and its grand Christmas tree inside. ‘Printemps Hausmann‘ is also a leading Parisian department store nearby.

Note Brasserie Vaudeville, a historic Parisian brasserie (since 1918) offering traditional French cuisine including seafood, located opposite the Stock Exchange (Bourse de Paris) and very close to the Opera, with a terrace.
Au Pied de Cochon is also a typical Parisian brasserie closeby, offering traditional cuisine like French onion soup and oysters, also with a terrace. (cntraveler.com)

• “Île de la Cité” & “Île Saint-Louis”

Île de la Cité (City Island) and Île Saint-Louis (Saint-Louis Island) are two small islands in the middle of the Seine. Île de la Cité is the oldest settlement in Paris and home to Notre-Dame Cathedral, inspiration of Victor Hugo’s “Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)”. ‘Palais de Justice‘ (the courthouse – former royal palace of the French kings) is also here. Adjoining the Palais de Justice are ‘La Conciergerie‘, that served as a prison during the kings’ time and the Revolution, and a Gothic chapel.

Place Dauphine is a refuge from the loads of tourists in the area, where you can enter from Pont Neuf. It was built for Louis by his father Henry IV in 1609 (dauphin meaning heir apparent in French). “Square du Vert-Galant” is a small pretty park nearby overlooking Pont Neuf with nice views of Paris. (parisinsiders.com / francebalade.com)

Île Saint-Louis, not as old as Île de la Cité, had been created in the 17th century. Hotel Lambert, a landmark mansion that once belonged to the Rothschild dynasty and was once home to Voltaire and Chopin, is on this small island. I have read that some apartments in the island didn’t once have real bathrooms and that you could see the few ‘bains-douches‘ (public bath houses) still operating in Paris if you walk down the Rue des Deux Ponts. (cntraveler.com)
Brasserie de l’Île St-Louis, the first building you come across when you cross ‘Le Pont St-Louis‘ is referred as one of the best old-time brasseries (suggested for Sunday lunch) in Paris.
Le Saint-Régis, a cafe and brasserie nearby in front of St-Louis Bridge (6, rue Jean du Bellay), is also suggested for French classics, extraordinary cocktails and its lively setting.

You can either walk along the historical bridges and streets of this beautiful region or sit in a cafe facing the magnificent facade of Notre Dame. To the north the region of these two small islands is the Marais district, and to the south is the Latin Quarter of Paris.

• Marais district (Le Marais)

Once the city’s Jewish quarter, Marais is a romantic and trendy district of Paris with its narrow alleys, historic houses and courtyards, hip boutiques, galleries, bars and jazz cafes. Popular falafel stands line on “Rue des Rosiers“. The most romantic alley of the region is said to be “Rue des Barres“, with its bistros and cobblestones. The area in front of Hôtel de Ville (Paris City Hall), the location of one of the world’s most famous photograph, Robert Doisneau’s Kiss, is also mentioned for being beautiful and romantic. (thetimes.co.uk, the book ‘In Love With Paris‘ by Anne Katrin Weber)

A short distance from Hôtel de Ville is the Places des Vosges, Paris’s oldest square. The square is surrounded by red-brick buildings where Victor Hugo, Madame de Sévigné and Colette once lived and is home to Victor Hugo Museum (Maison de Victor Hugo).
Hôtel Salé, a grand historical Parisian house, is home to Picasso Museum (Musée Picasso), which has the biggest collection of Picasso’s works. (parisinfo.com)

• Latin Quarter (Quartier Latin)

Latin Quarter of Paris is the area around the Sorbonne University on the left bank of the Seine, full of reasonably-priced restaurants, cafés and bookshops. ‘Place de la Sorbonne‘ and ‘Place-St-Michel‘ attract tourists as well as locals.
“Rue Mouffetard” is an old street in the region with cafes, bakeries, cheese and wine shops and a food market frequented by locals. It opens up into “Place de la Contrescarpe“, a square surrounded by cafes, where Hemingway lived closeby in 1920s. (parisinfo.com / timeout.com)
“Rue de la Huchette” is another historic street, trendy and famous for its jazz cafes. I read that Napoleon Bonaparte lodged at No.10 on this street when he was a poor junior officer. (nytimes.com)

The Panthéon, a major monument in Paris containing the tombs of French citizens such as Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo and Marie Curie is also located in the Latin Quarter.
(Note that the largest and the most visited cemetery in Paris is Père-Lachaise (in the 20th arrondissement) with tombs of many celebrated French personalities like Chopin, Rossini, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Molière, Balzac, Colette, Proust, La Fontaine and Oscar Wilde.)

• Shakespeare & Company – A legendary bookshop in Paris

Shakespeare & Company is an English-language bookshop on the banks of the Seine opposite the Notre-Dame. I had mentioned about this bookshop in one of my older posts titled “Before Trilogy-25th Anniversary of The Sweetest Film Series in Cinema History” as one of the filming locations of the film “Before Sunset“.

The bookshop was founded by George Whitman, an American, in 1951. There was a previous Shakespeare & Company, located on Rue de l’Odéon opened and operated by Sylvia Beach, also an American, from 1919 to 1941, which had become a meeting place for many writers including James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Beach used to lend books to her clients for a small fee in addition to selling them. Whitman named his bookstore after Beach’s in 1964 (changing its name from ‘Le Mistral’ to Shakespeare & Company) and continued the tradition of Beach’s literary shop. He supported the writers and poets, who can still stay the night at the shop free of charge. (From the bookshop’s memoir, cited below, that I bought at the shop)

I feel lucky to be able to visit this legendary bookstore while in Paris a few weeks ago. I found it very cute and charming, as in the film Before Sunset. The shop’s window faces onto Notre-Dame Cathedral, enabling you live a magic. The staff was very nice and helpful. When I told them that I wrote about the shop in my website, they gave me the store’s navy blue tote bag as a present. I had the book I bought there stamped with the official Shakespeare and Company stamp. I suggest this nice book telling the story of the shop which is among the bestsellers. In the Introduction part, the editor of the book Krista Halverson says:

“I wanted to share stories I had heard – like those about Henry Miller’s midnight rendezvous at the bookstore, Maria Callas arriving in dark sunglasses hoping not be recognized, and Italo Calvino and Pablo Neruda drinking wine from old tuna tins … . (The book titled “Shakespeare and Company, Paris: A History of the Rag & Bone Shop of the Heart“, edited by Krista Halverson)

James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses‘ (first published by Sylvia Beach) and Hemingway’s ‘A Moveable Feast‘ are also among the bestsellers. Books about Pablo Neruda’s Love Poems also drew my interest. If you are a fan of the Netflix series “Emily in Paris”, you can also find the book ‘Emily in Paris: Paris J’Adore!‘ in the shop.

• Bibliothéque Mazarine ((Mazarin Library)

Let me mention a library which just fits to do so after a bookshop. Bibliothéque Mazarine is the oldest public library of Paris on the Left Bank of the Seine facing the Pont des Arts (bridge of the love locks) and the Louvre. It is a majestic library where volumes reach to the ceilings and where you can hide away the crowds and enjoy the ancient rare publications. (The Sunday Times Travel, February 2020 issue)

• Canal Saint-Martin (Canal St Martin) and Around

Built by Napoleon, Canal Saint-Martin is one of Paris’s hippest districts with fashion boutiques, cafes, bars and wine cellars. The canal connects the waters of northeast Paris to the Seine and goes underground between Place de la République and Place de la Bastille (two well-known squares in Paris). You can either walk along the canal with a takeaway pastry from ‘Du Pain et des Idées’(closed on weekends), one of Paris’s finest historic boulangeries on the Amélie bridge (a location of the film Amélie), or sit in a cafe in the area.
“Chez Prune“, a zinc-tabled cafe bistro along the Canal St Martin which is said to be frequented by Paris’s northeast bohemians, is suggested for its coffee, buttery croissants or aperitifs. “Le Comptoir Général”(84 Quai de Jemmapes, 10th) is a creative bar nearby frequented by the Parisians in the evenings. (cntraveler.com, thetimes.co.uk). “La Marine” is also a suggested Parisian bistro on the banks of Canal Saint-Martin with good food and set lunches.

You can have dinner at 40s-style “Le Chateaubriand” (129 Avenue Parmentier, 11th) a suggested restaurant offering traditional French dishes. “Le Dauphin“, a typical French wine bar, is next door, preferred by the locals for its well-priced ambitious small plates, affordable wine and good cocktails. “Le Pure Café“, the charming cafe from the film Before Sunset (which I had mentioned in my older post about Before Trilogy) is also nearby in the 11th arrondissement. (cntraveler.com, thetimes.co.uk)

During our Paris visit, one night my husband and I drove to the Canal St Martin area, which we found very pleasant. We found “Le Pure Café” (14 Rue Jean-Macé, 11th), but it was closed at that time. Instead, we sat in “Le Duke” (184 Bd Voltaire, 11th) nearby, which was very cosy, and wonderfully lit for Christmas.

Note “Artazart” concept bookstore (83 Quai de Valmy, 10th) specialized in design, art and lifestyle books and “Potemkine” (30 Rue Beaurepaire, 10th) a DVD/blu-ray boutique and cafe selling movie collections ranging from Fellini classics to rare films .

• Belleville

Paris’s eastern neighbourhood of Belleville, where French singer Édith Piaf lived, is home to working-class Parisians as well as different communities, and includes a Chinatown. The district is known for its street art, bold wall designs and hilltop views across Paris (thetimes.co.uk). Edith Piaf Museum is in a private apartment where the she lived once, in the bohemian neighborhood of Ménilmontant with cobblestoned streets, old houses, bistros and artists’ studios (parisinfo.com).

• Parks and Gardens

Paris is home to many beautiful parks and gardens, romantic at all seasons. One of the most beautiful and famous of them is Luxembourg Gardens (Jardin du Luxembourg), located between Saint-Germain-des-Prés and Quartier Latin, where young Cosette and the student Marius fall in love in Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables. The gardens, built by Maria de’ Medici after the death of her husband King Henry IV of France, were inspired by the Boboli Gardens in Florence.
Luxembourg Gardens house the French Senate (the former Luxembourg Palace), the Musée du Luxembourg (art museum), the Medici Fountain dating back to 17th century, and statues by Rodin. You can take a break in the pretty park benches in the gardens. (cntraveler.com, The book “In Love With Paris, Recipes & Stories From The Most Romantic City of The World” by Anne-Katrin Weber)

Tuileries Gardens (Jardin des Tuileries), once a royal park, is very close to the Louvre Museum. L’Orangerie Museum, home to Monet’s Water Lilies and other paintings by artists like Cezanne, Renoir and Matisse, is in this park. Hotel Le Meurice (the hotel I mentioned at the beginnings of this post) faces this beautiful garden.

There are many more beautiful gardens in Paris, the lesser known. Belleville Park (Parc de Belleville) (in the 20th arrondissement) has one of the best panoramas of Paris with Eiffel, Notre Dame and Pantheon. Buttes-Chaumont Park (Parc des Buttes-Chaumont) is also a beautiful park nearby featuring cliffs, lakes, and waterfalls. (cntraveler.com)
Parc de Bagatelle is a botanic garden in the west of the city located in “Bois de Boulogne“, a large public park which was a former hunting ground for the Kings of France. Parc de Bagatelle and its château (Château de Bagatelle) were built in 1775, in 64 days after a wager between Marie-Antoinette and her brother in-law, the Count of Artois. As well as giant trees, little bridges and waterfalls, the park has a magnificent rose garden. (parisinfo.com)

Parc Monceau is an elegant and a peaceful park situated in the 8th arrondissement, surrounded by luxury Haussmann-style town houses, to which a song, “Au Parc Monceau (At The Monceau Park)” is dedicated by the singer Yves Duteil. Within the park you will come across numerous statues, a Renaissance archway, a lake, a nice bridge and a lovely crêpe stand, whose beautifully scented crêpes are suggested. (The book “In Love With Paris, Recipes & Stories From The Most Romantic City of The World” by Anne-Katrin Weber)

• Ice Skating (at a hidden courtyard at the centre of Paris)

If you like ice skating, I read about a cosy place in Paris where you can do it in winter. I think it would be pleasant to skate at the mini-rink in the courtyard of the chic Parisian Hotel Plaza Athenée (on Avenue Montaigne), which I had mentioned in my older post “Classic Hotels – Part 1“.

I read that the festive Tea Time of the hotel includes free skating. The hotel set up a mountain chalet at its courtyard (La Cours Jardin) this winter, whose customers can have an hour’s access to the ice rink.

Be aware that the largest ice rink in Paris is at Grand Palais at the Champs–Élysées. I have read that it is magical to skate at the giant indoor ice rink of the Grand Palais. (The Sunday Times Travel, Feb.2020)

• Saint-Ouen Flea Market (Le Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen)

Saint-Ouen Flea Market (Le Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen), north of the city, is a huge and popular flea market where you can find everything from antique furniture to paintings and vintage housewares. It was my intention to visit this flea market during my recent visit to Paris, but we couldn’t make it. (I had mentioned in my older post “Flowerbx – Fresh Flowers on Your Doorstep” that Whitney Bromberg Hawkings, the owner of online flower shop Flowerbx and her husband Peter Hawkings, an executive at Tom Ford, like shopping from this market.)

• Palace of Versailles (Châteaux de Versailles)

The Palace of Versailles is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about 12 miles west of Paris. You can visit this museum of history of France to discover the lives of French royals including Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and to enjoy the marvelous gardens of the palace.

• Disneyland Paris

I had been to Disneyland in California, U.S.A. when I was a teenager and it was like a magic. We haven’t been to the States as a family yet but I am glad that at least they could live the magic of Disney in Disneyland Paris. I will never forget the words of my son when he saw the Disney castle as : “I can’t believe it; I have grown up with this!“. Yes, we have all grown up with it, and it is really worth to see Disneyland.

We especially liked the Ratatouille (one of my favorite Disney films) section in the Studios Park. It is a great animation where you find yourselves either in the kitchen or the restaurant with the chef rat Remy.

The nighttime show, the lighted parade of Disney characters, at the Disney Park, was also glamorous – an event not to be missed. (Note that you need to buy the tickets for Disneyland online; tickets are not sold at the gates).

• Parisian Restaurants

I have mentioned many Parisian cafes and bistros throughout this post. However, if you are to have dinner in a classic Parisian restaurant, I noted the following: The historic ‘La Tour d’Argent‘ (by the Seine) is said to be the oldest restaurant (since 1582) in Paris. Its sister restaurant, ‘La Rôtisserie d’Argent‘, located next door is also nice.
‘Le Grand Véfour‘ (at the end of the park of the Palais Royal, among the arcades) is also a classic historic restaurant, where once Napoleon dined with Josephine, and Jean-Paul Sartre with Simone de Beauvoir, and also frequented by Victor Hugo, Colette and Jean Cocteau. (cigaraficionado.com)

‘La Grande Cascade‘ is a Michelin-starred restaurant set in a pavillon, which was once Napoleon’s Hunting Lodge, located in the Bois de Boulogne (a large public park I mentioned above). ‘Lucas Carton‘ (9 Place de la Madeleine, 8th) is also a historic and chic Michelin-starred restaurant.

“Le Bouillon Chartier” is another historic classic French restaurant dating back to 1896, where you can try the French classics such as the snails (escargots) at a modest price.

Arpège‘ (84 Rue de Varenne, 7th) is Chef Alain Passard’s (featured in Netflix Chef’s Table) Michelin starred restaurant for seasonal fine dining with ingredients from the restaurant’s kitchen gardens. I also noted ‘Allard‘ (in Quartier Latin), a bistro restaurant with tempting French dishes.

You may also want to note “La Maison Rose“, a cosy little restaurant in Montmartre (Rue de l’Abreuvoir) with traditional French cuisine, which appears in the sweet Netflix series ‘Emily in Paris‘.

The series shows many cosy restaurants and cafes as well as pleasant places in different corners of Paris.

• Boulangeries and Pâtisseries

Paris is full of boulangeries (bakeries) and pâtisseries, typical French landmarks of the city you should drop by for the amazing French baguettes, croissants, and pastries. Some also have delicious sandwiches, so full that you can opt for a lunch – the kids adored the tuna and chicken sandwiches we bought from a boulangerie close to Montmartre.

I noted “Stohrer” (51 Rue Montorgueil), said to be the oldest pâtisserie in Paris (since 1730), whose founder is Nicolas Stohrer, pastry chef to King Louis XV. It is an elegant pâtisserie where you can find nice ‘Baba’ desserts (Baba Chantilly and Baba au rhum), which I had mentioned in one of my older posts “Whisky Pairings and ‘Baba’ Dessert By French Chef“, as well as other nice French pastries like Flan, Galette frangipane and Paris-Brest. (storer.fr).

Cafes, brasseries, bistros, pâtisseries, boulangeries: the warm cosy stops of Paris … There are many more of them in the city, which you can discover for yourselves. As you turn any corner in Paris, a cute cafe catches you with its charm most of the time, or you come across a pleasant mystery that fascinate you. I think Paris is a symphony, the notes of which are the romantic cafes and parks as well as many books and poems inspired by the city.

How beautiful Hemingway wrote in his book “A Moveable Feast“:

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” (Ernest Hemingway, his memoir titled “A Moveable Feast” that was posthumously published in 1964) (nytimes.com)

Although this post is a bit belated, Christmas trees and new year ornaments are still around. Happy New Year! I wish you a happy and festive 2023, full of inspiring discoveries!