What I loved most about this recent trip was how it was, in equal measure, about revisiting all my old favourites and discovering new things. It was exciting to drag my best friend all around the city we had dreamt of exploring together, all those years ago when we were in sophomore year and still wore school uniforms. We had "glaces, 3 boules" by the bucketfull, savouring every slurp of caramel beurre a sale and poire and framboise. We had fantastic tartes of mushroom and leek and grand assiettes of salads that were so colourful they ought to hang on a wall somewhere. And the rose! Bottles of Rose. Hey! We're on holiday.
The Old
Place des Vosges, Marais 4er
Before Tess arrived I spent a blissful afternoon baking in the sun here with my mum and her friend of all people! It was actually quite fun to detox here after frantic shopping running around between the various Isabel Marant boutiques and the one store that elicits and almost vice-like grip on my wallet - COS.
Dammann Freres, 15 Place des Vosges, Marais 4er
Tea is a wonderful gift. It is something that can be shared between giver and receiver, and is a soothing balm for modern living. I always bring back some for my mum, she likes "Pomme D'amour", "Paul et Virginie" and "Jardin Bleu", although this time she picked up one we are yet to try called "Impressions de Printemps: Souffle Fleuri". Beautiful.
COS, 4 Rue des Rosiers, Marais 3er
Europeans feel free to shake your head in confusion. What's the deal about COS. We don't have it in AUS, that's what, and what's more, actually, we hardly have any good high street at all. (That's not true, Country Road, you know I secretly love you). That's why I have to go to COS once, twice and thrice to stock up on those swedish separates and boxy shapes while I can.
Isabel Marant, 16 Rue de Charonne, Bastille 11er, Rue Saintonge, Marais 3er (and I always pop into the Saint Germain boutique on Rue Jacob after brunch at Alcazar).
What is there to say? Not only are the prices cheaper in Paris than in Australia full price, they were having a sale. No wonder I look all goofy here.
Cafe Charlot, 38 Rue de Bretagne (corner of Rue Charlot), Marais 3er
I can't not not go back there ever since the start of the year when I had the best burger of my life. This year a dinner of me, Tess and my brother ended with ice cream and bottles of Rose and the kind of relaxed vibe that you rarely find in Paris, where people are leaning over your table to ask you "hey, are you australian?" (yes, yes I am.) What a cool place.
Rose Bakery, 13 Rue Debelleyme, Marais 3er
It was the perfect lunch for Tess to start her Paris trip on, light and full of colour and lingering. We stayed there for ages - my hair wet from washing that morning dried completely and we ordered second rounds of the Apple, Carrot and Ginger juice. We finished with the medallion of carrot cake, of course, what else? I have loved this little bakery ever since my first trip to Paris after school. The food philosophy and that English homeliness - from the battered furniture to the no-fuss, calm attitude with which they approach customer service, is quietly reassuring and wholly captivating.
Musee de L'Orangerie, Jardin des Tuileries 1er
One of my favourite museums in Paris but one i hadn't been to in about 6 years. It was so exciting to be able to go back as an adult and remember being younger (well, you know, 14) and walking that stark white room to "cleanse" the city away before entering the circular rooms that house Monet's waterlilies.
Le Bon Marche, 24 Rue des Sevres, St Germain-des-Pres 7er
This is what all department stores should be like. Only the very best, just like Liberty. And like Liberty, shopping here has that feeling of entering a wonderful world of play where everything is beautiful and shiny and new. I love the perfume section on the ground floor with little armoires for each brand, and I love how fantastic their sale was. So much dip-dyed Dries, so little time!
The New
Merci, 111 Boulevard Beaumarchais, Marais 75003
It's not that I didn't know about this store - of course I did - it's that I couldn't find it before. And to think it's so close to the Rose Bakery (what the hell was I doing? I have to say, though that I always used to end up at the Centre de Pompidou instead of Blvd Beaumarchais when I was navigating, so something was clearly wrong). Thanks to Dead Fleurette's helpful instructions (get out at M: Sebastian-Froissart and keep walking till you see it) I found it no sweat, and was charmed by its beautiful selection of clothes, Aesop products, incredible homewares (I want my own apartment! now!) and jewellery. I ended up purchasing two pieces for myself - a gorgeous Delphine bracelet with delicate burnished discs hanging off it with stars punched through, and the ubiquitous merci cord pendant that is just lovely. The meal I had here was fantastic as well. After conferring with Anne at Claus, I decided upon the lower canteen which was a great choice. Again, like the Rose Bakery, there is a relaxed, take your time vibe, which I crave in a restaurant. We had fresh juice, salads and a tart, and then i had the most glorious molleux to finish which oozed all over the plate and soaked up the raspberry coulis. No pictures - I was so hungry all I wanted to do was eat!
West Country Girl, 6 Passage Saint-Ambroise, 11er
This was my mum's choice for our last dinner in Paris and, I'm not going to lie, I didn't hold up much hopes for it being anything other than the real gutsy french fare we'd been having with her so far. But she pulled out a gem in this little hipster creperie tucked up in the recesses of the 11th near Pere Lachaise cemetery. The crepes were delicious. Absolutely declicious. Crisp and light and with just the right amount of fillings - my egg, mushroom and chives complet was so good I wanted more, so I had salted butter caramel for dessert haha. The vibe is really cool, you can get proper glasses of cider and they play great music. In my opinion, it's better than Breizh, but hey, Breizh is still pretty good.
Journal Standard Luxe, 11-12 Galerie de Montpensier, Louvre-Rivoli 1er
I went here on the strength of the recommendation from Ines de la Fressange's slightly bizarre book, and it was interesting. I love how Japanese and French culture have these crossroads everywhere, from Colette to the Palais de Tokyo to this. It's like they have this interesting mutual fascination of each other's tastes and lifestyles and cultures. I like this store a lot. I didn't buy anything, but it was very nice to just wander around.
After seeing it on Garance I had to go, and I wasn't disappointed at all. The decor is beautiful, my photos don't do it justice, it's so light and airy and saturated with the bright colour of the chairs and carpet. The waitresses are so nice and friendly and the food is delicious. The first time I went was in the afternoon with Tess and Anne and we had madeleines, scones and I had a 4 red fruits smoothie that was in a huge ass wine glass (if only they gave you wine in wine glases like that in Paris, ay?). But it wasn't enough. I had to go back and have proper breakfast. So on our last day Tess and I met up with my friend Neada who had just arrived and gorged ourselves on eggs and muesli and bread and real coffee. The epicerie downstairs sells all the breakfast-y things you could ever want like Christine Ferber jam, home-made muesli and their baked goods.
Palais de Tokyo, 13 Avenue de President Wilson, 16er
My brother is mad keen on Japanese food and so my mum sent us here for lunch thinking that, like its namesake it would serve udon and sushi and terriyaki. uuhhh.. Not really. But the food was still great, I had a feathery-light beef carpaccio salad with mozzarella and pesto and rocket and my brothers had caramel chicken that was sweet and savoury all at the same time. Afterwards we found an old-school photobooth that provided a lot of fun, and only for $2 euros. Unfortunately the gallery was closed when we were there for an installation, but we nipped across the road to the Modern Art gallery instead.
There was so much more, but these are my favourites. APC, Diptyque, Alcazar, the little jewellery stores on Rue Vielle du Temple, Laduree and Pierre Herme, the Mazet chocolate store and the Serge Lutens store in the 1st. I guess I'll just have to go back!
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