Bonjour Paris

Marais Main Street

Bonjour Paris

The Recipe for a Successful Holiday

BY ELYSE GLICKMAN

The perfect way to make Paris your own is to allow your personal passions and a dash of common sense to drive your itinerary. Its reputation is solidified by centuries of history, an always-vibrant fashion scene, and of course, the gastronomy. However, to savor Paris as the locals do, it’s always good to be open to newer eateries and retail powered by those respecting old traditions yet pushing French cuisine and design in new directions.

While it’s fun to spend an evening in a picturesque brasserie people watching (there are many good ones), strolling the city’s most exclusive shops and grand avenues, you’ll have bragging rights if you check out places operated by a new generation of restaurateurs, chefs, and retailers generating a buzz with the locals. Regardless of your reason for planning a Paris getaway, you may want to approach it as a multi-course experience— mixing and matching favorite destinations with the kind of spontaneity that will allow you to discover something that’s “only in Paris” in the here and now.

A Grand “Entree” to Paris

Some travelers argue hotel rooms are merely places where one sleeps between visits to different sites. Others will scope out an opulent room inside one of the many “modern luxury” boutique hotels blossoming out of revitalized old homes and repurposed buildings. However, when a four- or five-star hotel is a microcosm of the city where it sits, it can expand every day you’re in town into a fully immersive experience. The Intercontinental Hotel Le Grand is one of those hotels, and has been a draw for 120 years, along with its equally legendary Cafe de la Paix for many good reasons, from its refined but personable service, to historic spaces and decorative antiques throughout the building, to its centralized 9th Arrondissement location.

With all of that going on at the InterContinental Paris - Le Grand, guests will certainly get their bearings in Paris very quickly. Its very existence is rooted in the city’s history, which in turn whets the appetite for what Paris represents for so many people. Designed by Charles Garnier (the architect behind the landmark opera house bearing his name), it was part of a complete reconstruction of Paris supervised by Baron Haussmann during the reign of Napoleon III. After decades of political instability, its opening in May 1862 marked a transition into a new golden age. It’s a mindset that still resonates with discerning travelers a century and a half later.

Some of the hotel’s best rooms overlook the opulent Opera Garnier, and those staying on the first floor are treated to dramatic high ceilings that offset simple but striking décor bridging the Belle Epoque and this century. Even with all of its sophistication and refinement, the property is family friendly as well as a perfect site for destination weddings, honeymoons, and business conferences as the people-watching in the cafe and the sparkling glass-roofed lobby attests. Although several restaurants are right outside the door, signature restaurant Cafe de la Paix’s versions of the most French of lunch and dinner dishes are some of the best in the city. Executive Chef Laurent André and his team keep things interesting with several distinctive original dishes based on whatever is in season and what’s going on in town. The breakfast buffet, meanwhile, is straight-forward, prolific, and consistent in terms of quality.

Another side of the triangular building faces out toward the flagships of Paris’ department stores, including the Galleries Lafayette Haussmann, which occupies three buildings on facing corners, including a food emporium, a free-standing men’s store and the main locale with its opulent ceiling covering familiar departments as well as the innovative “(Re)Store,” an eclectic expanse of resale featuring current brands (CrushOn, Monogram), vintage sellers (Culture Vintage), and original new garments crafted from upcycled fabrics and notions (Les Récupérables, Studio Rosalie, Petite Chineuse) which not only taps into today’s sustainability zeitgeist but also the desire to invest in a timeless Paris original that makes a statement no matter the taste or budget.

Second Course

Peak Boho Chic and Real Local Flavor

Carefully-sourced raw materials are required to bring great ideas and great work of art to life, and the Marais District, whose landmarks include the Center Pompidou and Paris City Hall, exemplifies this. Like other museums, the Pompidou boasts a destination restaurant (Georges V) as well as boutiques with art books and clever gift items, toys, and gadgets. Beyond that, it is famously the home of some of the city’s best rooftop views as well as an eye-popping assemblage of modern and notable postmodern art. The building also has a cool upstairs outdoor lounge with pillows and deck chairs as well as a theater and performance space.

Sightings of all things modern and thought provoking extend out to the Pompidou’s colorful front yard populated by street musicians, peaceful political and social demonstrations, picnicking families, artists, and university students. The side streets flowing out from Rue des Francs-Bourgeois and the Rue Vieille du Temple abound with a variety of businesses that are “alternative” in the best sense of the word.

The area covering parts of the 3rd and 4th Arrondissements is a wonderland of thrift store shopping (Kilo Shop Kawaii, Kiliwatch, Hippy Market) that democratize Paris street chic, beading and crafting stores, and French specialty food shops and restaurants with decidedly global twists. Among the most noteworthy are the recently-opened Janet by Homer, a stylish rethinking of New York City delis (including its now world-famous pastrami) made with top grade kosher meats, and Homer is noted for its takes on New England lobster rolls, tuna melts, and more. The brainchild of Moïse Sfez, these Forbes, Vogue and Elle-acclaimed eateries prove some of the very best and most innovative dishes in Paris can be affordable and family-friendly.

Although the usually Champs Elysee (which reads like a melange of Beverly Hills’ Boulevard-Rodeo Drive intersection and New York City’s Times Square) is touristy to the hilt, it's always worth a visit after peak business hours for the Arc de Triomphe, several larger-than-life designer emporiums, and even a spotless McDonald's offering baguette sandwiches, croissants, macarons, and canele d’aquitaine alongside the regular staples and interesting vegetarian sandwich options.

Restaurant Le Drugstore, at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe, has been around since 1958, but feels as fresh as ever, with its muted jewel-toned mid-century modern décor and inventive menu of appetizers, desserts, and photogenic cocktails (that are as good as they look). Along with a smart outdoor section, it also features an adept DJ later in the evenings, an always-entertaining open concept kitchen and an adjoining pharmacy that’s probably the most playful and elegant drugstore you’ll experience in town.

Main Course

Culture on the Seine

The 7th Arrondissement, the gateway to the Left Bank, is where substance meets style...and one will get a lot of mileage out of the Paris Museum Pass. The city’s top museums and landmarks (Louvre, D’Orsay, L’Orangerie, Musee D’Orsay,

Jardins Tuileries, Place de la Concorde) line up like the stars in a lucky astrological reading. Although you may need more than a Sunday to thoroughly shoot for those stars, you can break up visits with a picnic in the park or a stroll down Rue St-Dominique and be completely surrounded with history and the joie de vivre that defines the city.

The Latin Quarter, Paris’ academic hub, is quieter, yet no less dramatic, with Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, the Sorbonne, and those romantic riverside promenades below the bridges that have turned up in so many different movies and television shows. Brasseries serving traditional, well-executed classics, such as Le Rotisserie d’Argent, are the real deal thanks to rich aromatics and a mostly local clientele.

Dessert

Fashion Confectionery for Wardrobe, Home and Soul

La Gallerie Dior, the newest museum drawing lines and requiring reservations, is the shining star of the 1st Arrondissement. It is pure fashion heaven with its fantastical layout, captivating displays, and arrangement of Christian Dior’s original creations as well as those from current era designers he has influenced. It also adjoins one of Paris’ most beautiful multilevel Dior boutiques. While this neighborhood is known for being filled with exclusive fashion ateliers, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré turns up the volume of luxury fashion to eleven with sparkling outposts of top French and international designers. Side streets such as Rue de Cambon are lined with exquisite jewelry, home, and fashion accessory shops, along with fragrance salons with some of the most alluring perfumes and scents you’ve never heard of.

St. Germain de Pres is known for its exquisite home design studios, higher-end food retailers (1883, Richart) and small fashion ateliers. It converges Marais artsiness with the refinement of Faubourg St. Honore, and is dotted with private art galleries and historic churches. If you had a 24-hour layover in town, the 6th arrondissement would probably be the ideal neighborhood to feel like a local. Bonjour!

For more information/ reservations

InterContinental Paris Le Grand Hotel 2 Rue Scribe, 75009 Paris ihg.com/intercontinental/hotels/gb/ en/paris/parhb/hoteldetail Viking Cruises vikingrivercruises.com La Gallerie Dior galeriedior.com Le Drugstore restaurant-le-drugstore.com

Homer/Janet by Homer homerlobster.com

Le Rôtisserie d’Argent tourdargent.com/la-rotisserie-dargent Le Petit Flottes homerlobster.com/

L'Alchimiste by Matthias Giroud alchimistelab.com

Paris Museum Pass parismuseumpass.fr Paris Metro Pass ratp.fr