05_007478 ch01.qxp 7/27/06 11:09 PM Page 3 1 The Best of Paris Discovering the City of Light and making it your own has always been the most compelling reason to visit Paris. If you’re a first-timer, everything, of course, will be new to you. If you’ve been away for awhile, expect changes: Taxi drivers may no longer correct your fractured French, but address you in English—tantamount to a revolu- tion. More Parisians have a rudimentary knowledge of the language, and France, at least at first glance, seems less xenophobic than in past years. Paris, aware of its role within a united Europe, is an international city. Parisians are attracted to foreign music, videos, and films, especially those from America, even though most French people violently disagree with the political dictates emerging from George Bush’s Washington. Though Paris is in flux culturally and socially, it lures travelers for the same reasons as always. You’ll still find classic sights like the Tour Eiffel, Notre-Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, Sacré-Coeur, and all those atmospheric cafes, as well as daringly futuristic projects like the Grande Arche de La Défense, the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, the Cité de la Musique, and the Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand. Don’t forget the parks, gardens, and squares; the Champs-Elysées and other grand boulevards; and the river Seine and its quays. Paris’s beauty is still overwhelming, especially at night, when it truly is the City of Light. 1 The Most Unforgettable Travel Experiences • Whiling Away an Afternoon in a purée of sweetened chestnuts and Parisian Cafe: The cafes are where meringue. The grandest Parisian tea passionate meetings of writers, artists, salon is Angélina, 226 rue de Rivoli, philosophers, thinkers, and revolu- 1er (& 01-42-60-82-00; Métro: Tui- tionaries once took place—and per- leries or Concorde; p. 138). haps still do. Parisians stop by their • Strolling Along the Seine: Such favorite cafes to meet lovers and painters as Sisley, Turner, and Monet friends, to make new ones, or to sit in have fallen under the Seine’s spell. On solitude with a newspaper or book. its banks, lovers still walk hand in For ourCOPYRIGHTED recommendations, see sec- hand, MATERIAL anglers cast their lines, and tion 6, “The Top Cafes,” in chapter bouquinistes (secondhand-book deal- 7, “Where to Dine.” ers) peddle their mix of postcards, • Taking Afternoon Tea à la Française: 100-year-old pornography, and tat- Drinking tea in London has its charm, tered histories of Indochina. For but the Parisian salon de thé is unique. more details on the sights and Skip the cucumber-and-watercress moments of Paris, see chapter 8, sandwiches and delve into a luscious “Exploring Paris.” dessert like the Mont Blanc, a creamy 05_007478 ch01.qxp 7/27/06 11:09 PM Page 4 4 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF PARIS • Spending a Day at the Races: Paris St-Honoré; today, the quarter is boasts eight tracks for horse racing. home to stores catering to the rich, The most famous and the classiest is particularly on rue du Faubourg Hippodrome de Longchamp, in the St-Honoré and avenue Montaigne. Bois de Boulogne, the site of the Prix Even if you don’t buy anything, it’s de l’Arc de Triomphe and Grand Prix great to window-shop big names like (p. 229). These and other top races Hermès, Dior, Laroche, Courrèges, are major social events, so you’ll have Cardin, and Saint Laurent. If you to dress up (buy your outfit on rue du want to browse in the stores, be sure Faubourg St-Honoré). Take the to dress the part. See chapter 10, Métro to Porte d’Auteuil and then a “Shopping,” for the lowdown on bus from there to the track. The rac- these boutiques. ing newspaper Paris Turf and weekly • Exploring Ile de la Cité’s Flower entertainment magazines have details Market: A fine finish to any day about race times. (Mon–Sat) spent meandering along • Calling on the Dead: You don’t have the Seine is a stroll through the to be a ghoul to be thrilled by a visit to Marché aux Fleurs, place Louis- Europe’s most famous cemetery, Père- Lépine (p. 268). You can buy rare Lachaise (p. 226). You can pay your flowers, the gems of the French respects to the earthly remains of Riviera—bouquets that have inspired Gertrude Stein and her longtime com- artists throughout the centuries. Even panion, Alice B. Toklas; Oscar Wilde; the most basic hotel room will feel Yves Montand and Simone Signoret; like a luxury suite once you fill it with Edith Piaf; Isadora Duncan; Abélard bunches of carnations, lavender, and Héloïse; Frédéric Chopin; Marcel roses, and tulips. On Sundays, the Proust; Eugène Delacroix; Jim Morri- area is transformed into the Marché son; and others. The tomb designs are aux Oiseaux, where you can admire intriguing and often eerie. Laid out in rare birds from around the world. 1803 on a hill in Ménilmontant, the • Going Gourmet at Fauchon: An cemetery offers surprises with its exotic world of food, Fauchon bizarre monuments, unexpected (p. 177) offers more than 20,000 views, and ornate sculpture. products from around the globe. • Checking Out the Marchés: A daily Everything you never knew you were Parisian ritual is ambling through one missing is in aisle after aisle of coffees, of the open-air markets to buy fresh spices, pastries, fruits, vegetables, food—perhaps a properly creamy rare Armagnacs, and much more. Camembert or a pumpkin-gold can- Take your pick: Tonganese mangoes, taloupe—to be eaten before sun- Scottish smoked salmon, preserved down. Our favorite market is on rue cocks’ combs, Romanian rose-petal Montorgueil, beginning at rue Ram- jelly, blue-red Indian pomegranates, buteau, 1er (Métro: Les Halles). Dur- golden Tunisian dates, larks stuffed ing mornings at this grubby little with foie gras, dark morels from cluster of food stalls, we’ve spotted France’s rich soil, Finnish reindeer’s some of France’s finest chefs stocking tongue, century-old eggs from China, up for the day. For more details, see and a creole punch from Martinique “Food Markets” in chapter 10. reputed to be the best anywhere. • Window-Shopping in the Faubourg • Attending a Ballet or an Opera: In St-Honoré: In the 1700s, the wealth- 1989, the Opéra Bastille (p. 277) iest Parisians resided in the Faubourg was inaugurated to compete with the 05_007478 ch01.qxp 7/27/06 11:09 PM Page 5 THE BEST SPLURGE HOTELS 5 grande dame of the music scene, the Paris might have arrived with a copy Opéra Garnier (p. 277), which then of Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast was used solely for dance and soon and, taking the author’s endorsement closed for renovations. The Opéra to heart, headed for Harry’s Bar at Garnier reopened a few years ago, “Sank roo doe Noo.” Harry’s is still and opera has joined dance in the around but now draws an older, more rococo splendor created by Charles conservative clientele. Today’s chic Garnier, beneath a controversial ceil- younger expats head for Willi’s Wine ing by Chagall. The modern Opéra Bar, 13 rue des Petits-Champs, 1er Bastille, France’s largest opera house, (& 01-42-61-05-09; Métro: Bourse, with curtains by designer Issey Palais Royal, or Pyramides; p. 288). Miyake, has opera and symphony Here, the longhaired young bar- performances in four concert halls tenders are mostly English, as are the (its main hall seats 2,700). Whether waitresses, who are dressed in Laura for a performance of Bizet or Tharp, Ashley garb. The place is like an infor- dress with pomp and circumstance. mal club for Brits, Australians, and • Sipping Cocktails at Willi’s: Back in Yanks, especially in the afternoon. the early 1970s, the first-timer to Some 300 wines await your selection. 2 The Best Splurge Hotels • Hôtel Ritz (15 place Vendôme, 1er; Louis XIV tapestries worth millions. & 800/223-6800 or 01-43-16-30-30; See p. 98. www.ritzparis.com). This hotel, which • Hôtel Meurice (228 rue de Rivoli, gave the world the word “ritzy,” mean- 1er; & 01-44-58-10-10) has been ing posh, occupies a magnificent restored to its former glory. It reigned palace overlooking the octagonal bor- as the queen bee hotel of Paris in the ders of one of the most perfect squares 19th century and has made a come- in the world. The decor is pure opu- back to preside over post-millennium lence. Marcel Proust wrote parts of Paris as well. From its Winter Garden Remembrance of Things Past here, and to its sumptuous bedrooms that shel- the world’s greatest chef, Georges- tered kings, this one is a winner. See Auguste Escoffier, perfected many p. 84. of his recipes in the Ritz kitchens See • Hôtel Pershing Hall (49 rue Pierre p. 85. Charron, 8e; & 01-58-36-58-00; • Four Seasons Hotel George V (31 www.pershing-hall.com) is not as well av. George V, 8e; & 800/332-3442 known as the previous hotels, but it or 01-49-52-70-00; www.fourseasons. too ranks among Paris’s pockets of com). Humorist Art Buchwald once posh. Converted from an elegant town wrote, “Paris without the George V house of the 19th century, it was dras- would be Cleveland.” The swanky tically altered by Andrée Putnam, one address has long been a favorite of of France’s most celebrated modern celebrities in every field, including designers, into this citadel of fine liv- Duke Ellington, who once wrote in ing.