“I’m just a result,” she says while outlining the family history in gemstones since the 17th century. The family long lived in the last valley of Jura before the Swiss border. Her grandfather left the valley for Paris, where in 1929 he created a workshop for cutting colored gemstones.

“As a little girl I was surrounded by things that glimmer,” she says.

She recalls the excitement in the family workshop and at home with the approach of the imperial coronation in 1967 of Shabanu (Empress) Farah Palavi, wife of the last Shah of Iran. Langlois was 12 at the time and some of the gemstones intended to decorate the empress during the ceremony came from their workshop.

Langlois has remained true to the family niche of colored gemstones and claims to work with the widest variety of stones on rue de la Paix. Rue de la Paix and Place Vendôme do indeed form a rather diamond- and crystal-studded runway. “What I know how to do best is work with an assortment of colors,” she says.

She has a particular affection for floral themes—flowers and bouquets that don’t fade—with a good deal of butterflies and angel also present in recent collections. She says that she especially enjoys working with sapphire, with the padparadscha, a rare orange-to-pink variety, being her “ultra.”

She purchases many of her stones from a brother who operates a gemstone cutting workshop in Thailand. Another brother operates a workshop n Paris.

After working as a jewelry designer for a variety of other houses she began selling her creations under her own name in 1998. Her collections are now available in 24 countries, including the US, Canada and the UK. Asia has become her largest market. Langlois’s ambition is global yet she thinks of her own creative spirit as remaining very French, and particularly Parisian in its search for balance and elegance. “We,” meaning Parisians, “have plenty of flaws,” she says, “but at least we have that,” meaning balance and eleganc.

Langlois’s haute-couture approach doesn’t launch prices into the stratosphere, particularly since she doesn’t focus on work with diamonds. Her windows in the courtyard off rue de la Paix show pieces mostly in the 500 to 5000€ range (about $700-7000), along with some high-priced creations. Or as she says, “I make jewelry at the price of a very nice dress.”

The small shop and showroom are open to the public during normal business hours. Because of the international scope of her business Langlois isn’t always present though, so to have the pleasure of meeting in person this amiable creator of fine jewelry it’s best to make an appointment.

Isabelle Langlois, 12 rue de la Paix, 2nd arrondissement. Metro Opéra. Tel. 01 42 46 75 00. For locations worldwide where Isabelle Langlois jewelry is available and to contact by e-mail see www.isabellelanglois.com.

© 2014, Gary Lee Kraut

Map

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The lucky few who are able to reserve before September 15 for a Friday-to-Sunday a slot to climb the 300 steps (about 16 stories) of the Tour Saint Jacques, the flamboyant Gothic bell tower near Chatelet, will be rewarded with a view that rivals that from the towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral but with the added value of giving a more sweeping eyeful of the heart of the Paris and a 360° panorama from the center of the city.

For a view of the view click here.

The tower is the only remnant of the Church of Saint James of the Butchery, which was a point of departure for pilgrimages on the route (via Tours) to Compostalla, Spain.

Built 1509 to 1523,  the tower owes its current clean and visitor-friendly state to a restoration completed in 2009, 150 years after its last major restoration. The church itself was demolished and its stone blocks sold off in 1797. Now, in a test-run, the tower is open to visitors by reservation Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 10am to 5pm, from July 5 to September 15.

Claustrophobics and those suffering from vertigo should abstain and therefore won’t then get a chance to see the view or the symbols of four Evangelists and of Saint James the Greater atop the 177-foot tower, but all passersby admire the tower from its base, where the mathematician-scientist-philosopher-theologian Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) stands guard. Pascal, a pioneer in the development of the barometer, conducted studies on air pressure and gravity at the tower. A weather station was installed atop the tower in 1891, which is around the time that Gustave Eiffel began studying air resistance and meteorology at his own tower further down the river.

The City of Paris has authorized the association that operates the lesser-known Tour Jean sans Peur / John the Fearless Tower to organize and conduct the visits at the Saint James Tower.

The visits last about 50 minutes for groups of 17 people a time. You can reserve:

– as an individual by getting in line (very early) on the day you wish to visit. Entrance: 6€ per person, free during Heritage Days, Sept 14 and 15.

– as a pre-constituted group of up to 17 people by making a request to tjsp@wanadoo.fr. Group fee: 100€.

Children under 10 are now allowed up. Visits can be cancelled due to inclement weather. The tower is located at 39 rue de Rivoli, 4th arr., metro ChateletComplete information in French can be found here.

If all goes smoothly this summer, subsequent plans will be made to open the tower to the public.

Though less spectacular, the Tour Jean Sans Peur, built 1409-1411, is remarkable as the last vestige of the Paris palace of the powerful Dukes of Burgundy. That tower is located at 20 rue Etienne Marcel (near rue Montorgeuil) in the 2nd arrondissement. With a guide or proper documentation (available on site) it provides a wonderful introduction to 15th-century French politics, the Hundred Years War with the English and the civil war between the Burgundians and the Armagnacs, and the association that operates the tower organizes fascinating temporary exhibits there about various aspects of medieval life (warning: the exhibits are heavy on reading, light on displays). Those suffering from claustrophobia or vertigo will be at ease in this tower, but uncurious travelers willing to use their historical imagination might wish to abstain. You might test your own curiosity beforehand by deciding whether or not you’re impressed by this stone “outgrowth” from the stairwell:

Or this 15th-century toilet.

See www.tourjeansanspeur.com for opening dates and times and information about the current exhibition.

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L. took the open stool; she ran Paris’s 20K race the day before. We ordered mojitos, possibly because that’s what we had the last time we came. We watched the bartender mash the mint. The current numbers of their ongoing straw poll was drawn on the mirror: Obama-Biden 69, McCain-Palin 40. (Harry’s poll picked Kerry in 2004 but Bush in 2000.) They sell hotdogs here.

Harry’s Bar is like an opium den but with stiff, pricey drinks. It’s saloon doors and wood, mirror, framed portrait, bottle-and-glass décor exude both community and loneliness. You can make bar friends at Harry’s, an evening’s worth, possibly more. You can while away a few hours. If I were a business traveler staying in the area I would come here then tell people back home that I don’t really get much time to see Paris when I travel. And it would be true.

Do ask, do tell, that’s the policy of my relationship with L., but since is a blog not a diary mums the word. We were in no rush to leave our stools (after 30 minutes I’d snagged one, too) yet decided that having a second mojito wasn’t a good idea.

We went to Gallopin for dinner. Gallopin is behind the stock market, and there’s no problem getting a table at a handsome restaurant by the stock market these days. Gallopin, which opened in 1876, is one of the few historical brasseries that remains in private, non-group hands. The waiter treated us with slow, gentle consideration as though either he or we were in an asylum. L. had a delicious, tender lamb served with potato-something-or-other. I had a thick filet of beef—satisfying and done just as I’d ordered, but less tasty than the lamb—served with string beans, fries, and a béarnaise sauce. I’m not into béarnaise, but L. took a spoonful. A bit of wine: Saint Estephe, a merlot-heavy blend from the northern end of the Bordeaux region’s Médoc vineyards. For dessert in this classic, comfortable, well-heeled, very Parisian brasserie, L. couldn’t resist ordering the classic French baba, a rum-soaked sponge cake. For me, a sablé (a sweet and buttery biscuit) topped with un-seasonal strawberries and whipped cream. Polished fine brasserie fare.

L. isn’t feeling well today. She says it had something to do with her baba and my béarnaise yesterday, but I think it was because she was already sick and had nevertheless run Paris’s 20K race the day before.

Harry’s New York Bar, aka Harry’s Bar, 5 rue Daunou, 2nd arrondissement. Metro: Opera. Open daily 10am-4am.

Gallopin. 40 rue Notre Dame des Victoires, 2nd arrondissement. Metro: Bourse. Open daily noon to midnight.

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