Paris Places in Paris
You’d think by now every stone, every nook and cranny in Paris has been rediscovered or reinvented. What is YOUR favorite place?
Green Paris: Gardens for every season
Photos by Chris Card Fuller ©2007
When you consider that 500,000 trees grace Paris’s avenues, gardens, and the Boulogne and Vincennes woodlands, it’s easy to understand why visitors and Parisians alike flock to the gardens with the first rays of sunshine and mild temperatures.
Date: May 14th, 2008 |
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Welcome to Paris: Are you lost?
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2008
The sun is shining brightly here on the third day of May - and everywhere I look- visitors are studying their maps. If you are lost, don’t feel bad. Everybody gets lost in Paris - even Parisians. I have one word of advice - go to a newstand, kiosque or bookstore such as FNAC and buy a copy of the Plan de Paris (par Arrondissement et Communes de Banlieue).
I’ve mentioned this in past posts, but it never hurts repeating. The Plan is better than most maps (you’ll normally get a free map at your hotel or when you rent a car, but it won’t have all the details of the Plan de Paris). This is a book you can take home with you and bring back with you every time you return to Paris. I still have an old copy from the 1970s which looks like it was bought yesterday.
The Plan de Paris can be bought at FNAC for all of 7.32 Euros which is a real bargain considering how many times it will save you from getting lost over several decades. (While in FNAC you can also buy your Louvre museum tickets t the same time at their ticket Kiosque)
Above all, don’t be embarrassed about getting lost - and don’t let it stop you from exploring. The couple in the above photo hail from Australia. I was really happy to be able to help them find what they were looking for - the Louvre Museum. After saying goodbye to them before they crossed Rue du Rivoli headed toward the Tuileries Gardens and the Carrousel du Louvre - I proceeded to get lost. That’s because I had left my Plan de Paris back at the apartment.
Date: May 3rd, 2008 |
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Paris's Most Beautiful Museums
Les Invalides
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2008
The List
Earlier this year, the French magazine GEO came out with an entire issue devoted to Paris’s top fifty museums (forty located within the city limits). The ten remaining museums are found in the Paris metropolitan region and Versailles. if you do speak French, beg, borrow, or steal a copy of this Special edition if you can.
In addition to including a pictorial visit to some of the ‘biggies’, i.e. Le Louvre, Musee du Quai Branly, Centre Pompidou, this Special edition issue includes a number of articles discussing the trends and evolution of Paris Museums in the last thirty years.
Date: May 2nd, 2008 |
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Clubbing
(Photo compliments of Tom. Check out his description of Pigalle (under the heading sex, sex shops, etc) from the ‘man’s perspective’)
The Paris club scene changes so quickly, that you’ll probably want to visit some sites that specialize in Paris Clubbing to be brought up to date on the best places. (www.parisbouge.com
www.parissi.com)
List of top current clubs (2008)
What to expect
My “personal” guide to clubbing has unfortunately moved out of our building, but he mentioned that the best music and the most attractive women are not necessarily found in the same club - so you’ll want to migrate throughout the night. Some clubs such as Queen which were primarily gay clubs have mainstreamed.
Many night spots such as Les Folies Pigalle, Maxims, Bobino etc. transform into afterhours clubs as the night progresses - so they can change from traditional ‘night spots’ for tourists into very “non traditional” clubs by the time the sun comes up.
Date: April 6th, 2008 |
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Satellit Cafe
Blick Bassy and his ‘équipe -complètement sympathique’
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2008
Those of you who were there last night for th Blick Bassy concert know! This is a great spot for world music fans in the Oberkampf neighborhood. Admission for concerts is usually 10 Euros. Beers are pricey at 5 Euros but not priced much higher than many Paris cafes. It’s well worth the good music!!
We had to leave before the second set to catch the Metro, however the first set was ample …
Date: April 2nd, 2008 |
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Paris Parks: Parc Montsouris
A spring day in Parc Montsouris is the closest thing to heaven. Really.
Montsouris is my favorite park in Paris. It’s not as big the Luxembourg Gardens. It lacks the formality of the Tuileries and doesn’t have the flower power of either of these two dynamos, but as you can see from the photos, it certainly is a welcoming picnic location.
If you’re already on the Left Bank, getting to Parc Montsouris is pretty easy. You can take the RER line to Cite Universitaire (within Paris, it costs the …
Date: May 9th, 2008 |
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Jazz in Montparnasse
Petra Penttila
Gael Petrina
Photos by Chris Card Fuller ©2008
You don’t have to walk far to find Jazz in Montparnasse. I like to listen to jazz when I’m alone. The best way to listen to jazz (in my opinion) is when you’re alone (with the exception of Dixieland). Tonight I was wandering around Montparnasse on this long weekend - having just taken the train back from Lisieux.
Actually, I was looking for a casual dinner spot where I might enjoy a light meal and a glass …
Date: May 2nd, 2008 |
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Beautiful Parisians and their Neighborhoods
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2008
Everyone deserves to get fooled now and then. Usually when I’m going to take a photo for this series ‘Beautiful Parisians and their Neighborhoods, I remember to ask the obvious question:
“Are you Parisian?” but this time I forgot. So what city would you guess this beautiful soujourner calls home?
I also have to confess that my efforts to expand my search for true beauty in ALL of Paris’s neighborhoods has not been quite so successful.
Here I am, once again in the 5th arrondissement, …
Date: April 20th, 2008 |
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One Day in Paris: Three Ways to Love It!
Photo by Chris Card Fuller 2008
Ask a Parisian or a long-time resident how he or she would spend one day in Paris, especially if it might be the first trip to Paris and the only trip to Paris. You won’t get an answer very quickly - what you get is a big sigh and a pause.
“Let me think about that!”
Because many boat tours and European tours only allow you one ‘free day’ in Paris, this is a dilemma for first-time visitors, so here are three completely different views about how to spend one ‘free day’ in Paris:
Date: April 5th, 2008 |
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Beautiful Parisians and their Neighborhoods
Continuing in my efforts to find the good-looking Parisians and their neighborhoods, I can tell you this. Certainly each neighborhood has its fair share of attractive people. Over the weekend, we attended Marc Soleranki’s walking tour of the Passages de Paris (9th arrond, 1st arrond), and my husband swears that he had trouble not bumping into some of the most gorgeous women in Paris.
“You know they (the attractive women in these passages) they don’t even SEE us (the foreign tourist)”
Date: April 1st, 2008 |
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