The first week end in August is dreaded by all French drivers who fear les “bouchons”, traffic jams, created by millions of vacationers, but if you decide to take small roads to go south, it’s a dream. I spent a week end between Provins, a medieval town 90 mins south east of Paris and was invited to lunch in Joigny, … Read More
Summer treats in Paris
Paris can become pretty dreary in August when everything closes down but there are also special summer treats to be found. I went to the “Palazzo“, the terrace in front of Palais de la Porte dorée which features a great exhibition of photographs of gipsies (until August 26) and on Wednesday nights you get a free drink and a guided tour … Read More
Maison Astor, a discreet hotel with history
The new Maison Astor, on rue d’Astorg in Paris has a motto. Friendliness and charm. The bar is called the “club” and serves real food and cocktails at a reasonable price, the dining room has special lunch menus for 39€ and a glass roof open on the 131 rooms of this Haussmanian house built in Proust’s times across the street … Read More
A classical bistrot with charm
I was complaining last week end to members of Club des Cent, a very exclusive French association of gourmets founded in 1912, that there were no real bistrots left in Paris, when one of them told me about Café Max. A place where you can bring anyone, for a confortable dinner with good service, nice white tablecloth and traditional cooking … Read More
The “Ryokan collection” or 39 small Japanese hotels to dream of!
Japan exudes poetry and mystery (largely due to the language) like no other country I know and when I received the invitation to discover the Ryokan Collection, a sort of Japanese Small luxury hotels group, I rushed to a funny little house on avenue George Mandel where four Ryokan owners had gathered. There are 39 members of this very exclusive group … Read More
Galerie Templon makes a move
It was a very festive and family like evening, for the opening of Daniel Templon’s new gallery near Beaubourg. Now partners with his son Matthieu, he has given up his first name and redesigned a logo for the fabulous three floor 660 square meter building conceived by his old friend Jean Michel Wilmotte on rue du Grenier Saint Lazare. Jan … Read More
RadioEat, great food and classical music
Every time I step foot at Radio France, the large 1960’s building near the Eiffel Tower where public radio stations and their auditoriums are housed, I feel a slight emotion from the twenty years I spent working at France Culture with Jean Lebrun. And this was a particularly fun lunch shared with former colleague Marc Voinchet, now super successful director … Read More
There is always something going on at Petit Palais
The fabulous exhibition of “Les Hollandais à Paris” is ending next week with record numbers of visitors and as an intermission show, Christophe Leribault, director of le Petit Palais, is showing photographs by young artists in residence who have recorded renovations in the museum and at the Grand Palais. It is fun to see contemporary works in this very 19 … Read More