At la Halle aux Grains, the decor tops the food

parisdiaRestaurants & Hotels5 Comments

An American friend told he’d had a great lunch at La Halle aux Grains, Michel and Sébastien Bras’s new restaurant at la Bourse du Commerce. I had heard it took months to get a table, but I tried anyway, one morning last week, and got a reservation for 12.15 pm. A good surprise. When you enter the third floor of … Read More

At Château de Chantilly and at Abbaye de Chaalis, Primatice reigns

parisdiaArt, Flowers and gardens, Restaurants & Hotels3 Comments

It has become a huge effort to visit Château de Chantilly and its wonderful collections. This Saturday, the electric gates to enter the parking lot were not working properly and everyone was enraged. I could not find anyone to help my friend Garance, who walks poorly, and reaching the drawing galleries through the main court is an ordeal. The usual … Read More

Ile de Ré is in top cultural form

parisdiaArt, Fashion, Restaurants & Hotels11 Comments

The magical Ile de Ré acquired a bridge in 1988 and since then, it is easily linked to La Rochelle and even more popular than before. There is great social rivalry between Les Portes, at the extreme end of the island, and Ars five miles away, a bit like East Hampton and Southampton in the summer. But in the end, lunch … Read More

In Veules-les-Roses, a wedding, a banquet of oysters, and the smallest fleuve in France.

parisdiaFlowers and gardens, Happy moments, Restaurants & Hotels4 Comments

One of the last weddings before they were all cancelled, took place in a charming lost hamlet of Normandy, in the middle of blue linen fields and it gave me the opportunity to spend some time in Veules-les-Roses, a sea side village with the shortest fleuve in France. A fleuve is a river which ends in the sea. This particular … Read More

Lunch outside at Golf Paris Longchamp

parisdiaGolf, Restaurants & HotelsLeave a Comment

I already told you last May about Nathalie Jeanson, the great French Pro, who took over the management of Golf Paris Longchamp, the golf practice in the Bois de Boulogne. Well, I went recently to check out the changes and had lunch at Le Restaurant du Golf, which opens all day and serves lunch but no dinner. My first surprise … Read More

Caillebotte, not the painter, the restaurant

parisdiaRestaurants & Hotels2 Comments

I love the 9 th arrondissement, which used to be called La Nouvelle Athènes in the 19 th century, because of all the artists who had their studio there. And Gustave Caillebotte was one of them who worked from place Clichy and painted the area of Gare Saint Lazare extensively. So it was a great relief to have dinner at … Read More