Looking for Lorraine in Paris and Finding Alsace along the Way
Trains from Paris's East Station head into the Lorraine and Alsace regions of France, but products from those regions are found in and by the station.
The Bonjour Rule
Along with Beware of Pickpockets and Travel Curiously, the Bonjour Rule is one of the top rules to live by as you visit France.
Cute, Kitsch and Tacky Gifts from France’s National Museums
You can’t take the art from the Louvre, the Orsay or Versailles home with you, but you can take home a Venus de Milo tchotchke, a Marie-Antoinette manicure set, a Mona Lisa serving tray, and an I Louvre You teddy bear.
Fancy Tiles and the King’s Virginity
Olivier Mangnez’s showroom Villa Paris presents old-fashion, artisan-made tiles of terracotta, stone, and enamel, including collections of delft, azulejos, marble marquetry, mosaics and others, made à l’ancienne in the countries where the individual styles originated or where bygone traditions of production are maintained.
Isabelle Langlois: A Hidden Gem on Rue de la Paix
Colors, flowers, elegance, balance: what sounds like a stroll through the Luxembourg Garden or a glimpse into the lobby of a palatial hotel is, this morning, an encounter with Isabelle Langlois in her shop on rue de la Paix, Paris’s runway for high jewelry.
At the Flea Market: Leyla’s Antique Textiles
An encounter with Leyha Ahi, seller of antique textiles in Marché Dauphine at the Saint Ouen Flea Markets on the edge of Paris, Porte de Clignancourt.
Jean Paul Gaultier Fashion Freak Show at the Folies Bergère
Jean Paul Gaultier has always been the offbeat enfant terrible of French fashion culture, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that his life and work are presented in a Barnum & Bailey version of Gay Pride in Las Vegas. His Fashion Freak Show plays at the Folies Bergère until April 21, 2019.
Luxury Silversmith Maintains Tradition of French Savoir-Faire in the Northern Marais
The formerly workaday neighborhood of the northern Marais has been increasingly gentrified over the past 15 years, but something that hasn’t changed is the discreet presence of one of France’s few remaining creators of luxury silverware, tableware and decorative accessory: Lapparra.
Plumbing in Paris: the Marble Bathtub of the Marquise de Païva
Nicolas Beboutoff's odd shop for old and antique porcelain and metal plumbing furnishings holds the supposed bathtub of the Marquise de Paiva.