Words⁄Kate
van
den
Boogert
Paris /By Norwegian
Paris, which elects a new mayor this month, has had a makeover in the past few years, from replacing cars with bikes to creating a riverside populated by beaches and floating gardens. And you’ll still find the same old culture and beauty
At a glance Norwegian flies to Paris from Oslo, Bergen, Copenhagen, Helsinki and Stockholm.
The city was first settled 120,000 years ago (you can see a flint spear tip from the time at the Musée des Antiquités Nationales) - its name is derived from Celtic tribe the Parisii, who populated the Île de la Cité in 250BC.
Paris is Lonely Planet’s top city destination for 2014, largely due to its new car-free zones along the Seine, the river’s floating gardens, the Louvre’s new Islamic galleries and the Musée Picasso, which is due to reopen in June.
It is the most-visited city in the world, boasting 33 million tourists each year.
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The map
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Canal St Martin This bohemian neighbourhood is ideal for aimless afternoons in good weather: linger on café terraces, mooch around the shops, or try the fine dining at local fave Les Enfants Perdus. les-enfants-perdus.com
Northern Marais
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The ever-popular Marais has expanded, right up to République. The Rue de Bretagne is the Northern Marais’ (NoMa, anyone?) main artery, and its adjoining streets boast trend-setting bars, boutiques and cafés.
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Palais-Royal
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Sitting just north of the Louvre, this former royal palace has become a dedicated fashionista village, home to such labels as Rick Owens and Pierre Hardy, or the cool new Café Kitsuné espresso bar. kitsune.fr
Pigalle Spread out below Montmartre, Paris’s red-light district is becoming a hip nightlife destination, home to live venues like La Machine du Moulin Rouge – in the famous address’s boiler room.
Rue St-Honoré
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The travel brochure shot For views of the Eiffel Tower and across the whole of Paris, head for the Tour Montparnasse. The bulding’s fastest lift takes you up to the 56th floor for panoramic views – and there’s an open-air roof terrace three floors up at 200m. Open from 9.30am till late. tourmontparnasse56.com
Concept store Colette shook up the formerly scruffy Faubourg when it moved in 15 years ago. Now the street is one long string of highfashion destinations, including Balenciaga, Goyard and Viktor & Rolf.
St Germain Traditionally the city’s intellectual and creative hub, chic shopping spots are slowly overtaking the area’s bookshops, but cinema still thrives at Tarantino favourites the Champo or Grand Action. lechampo.com
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On show The street, c’est chic
There’s always arty fun to be had in Paris, and this spring is notable for big-hitting photography shows. The most prominent is Henri Cartier-Bresson at the Centre Pompidou (ends 9 June), the first retrospective of the pioneering photojournalist and master of the “decisive moment”, who died 10 years ago. Another must-see is Papier Glacé at the newly reopened Musée Galliera (until 25 May), which presents a century of fashion photography from publishers Condé Nast – like the image above by Albert Watson, shot for US Vogue in 1978. Finally, don’t miss an exhibition of American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe at the Grand Palais (from 26 March until 13 July), famous for his sculptural nudes and images exploring sadomasochism. centrepompidou.fr, palaisgalliera.paris.fr, grandpalais.fr
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Where to check in…
For an aperitif by the pool
For an exceptional meal
Le Royal Monceau
Hôtel Thoumieux
One of the most authentic of Paris’s palaces, this fast-tracks you into the Avenue Hoche’s glam local scene. Settle into a table by the pool, or inside at the Long Bar, order their fruity signature cocktail and practise your French. leroyalmonceau.com
The big draws at this boutique hotel near Invalides are its two restaurants: a casual downstairs brasserie or the glam upstairs finedining affair, both with star chef Jean-François Piège at the reins. thoumieux.fr
For the parties in the basement
For the organic breakfasts
Hôtel du Temps
This designer 12-room boutique hotel not only has great views right over the charming Canal St Martin, but also has an eco-friendly policy, which means organic breakfasts, own-brand drinking water and iPads in every room. lecitizenhotel.com
This new boutique hotel boasts lush, low-fi décor across just 23 rooms. The ground-floor bar hots up from 6pm, while the on-trend basement club lounge is the place to be for chilled-out soirées. hotel-du-temps.fr
Le Citizen
Historic Bastille is booming again, and its main shopping strip, the Rue de Charonne, is Paris’s hottest street right now. You can pick up achingly chic denim and leather at April 77 at numbers 7-9, while next door is the first store for the French-Peruvian ethical steetwear label Misericordia. Across the street at 22 is the new Kulte store, the hipster-friendly Marseille menswear label, while neighbour Repetto is all about its drool-worthy, iconic ballet flats. This spring, a huge new Cos store opens at number 18 (next door to Isabel Marant), a sure sign the street is suitably fashion-forward. april77.fr, mision misericordia.com, kulte.fr, repetto.com, cosstores.com
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06 Reserve a table here
Restaurant David Toutain Toutain could be a Scandinavian chef with his wood and bare-bulb restaurant and daily set menus with names like Hogweed, Polypod and Meadowsweet. Whatever: his restaurant is one of the hottest tables in town. davidtoutain.com
Haï Kaï In January, three friends set up this airy “maison” on the Canal St Martin, with a bustling open kitchen run by inspired young chef Amélie Darvas, who turns out a fresh creative menu each day. haikai.fr
Clamato Bertrand Grébaut, chefowner of Septime – one of the city’s most loved dining venues – has opened a third space next door, dedicated to fish and seafood. The menu of tasty small plates to share changes every day, and they don’t take reservations, so you have a chance of nabbing a table. septime-charonne.fr
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Paris: Le futur
Paris has some interesting plans up its sleeve for the future. Earlier this year, millionaire investor Cédric Naudon announced that he has bought an entire street comprising 25 different shops in the northern Marais – as you do. Each retail space will be transformed by some of the biggest names in design and architecture (including Jaime Hayon, Tom Dixon and Jasper Morrison). Styled as a “gastronomy village”, Parisians will be able to visit La Jeune Rue (the young street) to buy fresh produce – everything from meat and cheese to wine – directly from producers. By 2016, the city will also be home to director Michel Gondry’s Amateur Film Factory, a free space dedicated to the art of “Sweding”, low-fi remakes of iconic films (YouTube it). And if mayoral candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet gets her way, Paris’s 16 abandoned “ghost stations” will be transformed into theatres, restaurants, nightclubs and even an underground cal ca al arc architect a hitec ct firms. rms. Kosciusko-Morizet swimming pool, as imagined by two local seems unlikely to win in the elections on n 23 3 and a d 30 3 Ma M March arc ch (see over), but we love earchi.com, ea rchi.com, oxoarch.com oxoarch.com the idea. lajeunerue.com, michelgondry.com, laisnearchi.com,
Paris film romance-ometer er Before Sunset Midnight in Paris (2004) (2 11 1 (2011) Amélie (2001)
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La L Last Tango in Paris Pa is ( 97 (1972) 9 2))
Irréversible (2002)
A Aman ts Less Amants d Pont-Neuf nt-Neuf du Pon (1991 (1991) 9 AHHHH
GETTING COMPLICATED
OH NO
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More of this? The City of Paris will elect a new mayor this March, 12 years and two terms after Socialist politician Bertrand Delanoë brought a left-wing alliance of Greens, Socialists and Communists to power, thereby installing the Left in the Hôtel de Ville (city hall) for the first time since 1871. Delanoë has declined to run for a third term – preferring to “live passionately,” as he confided to a journalist recently – but is actively supporting the Socialist candidate, and his deputy since 2001,,
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Anne Hidalgo. The other principal candidate is Nathalie KosciuskoMorizet, representing the centre-right UMP party. One of France’s most high-profile openly gay politicians, Delanoë will be remembered for improving Parisians’ quality of life, creating the summer Seine-side fest Paris-Plages, the pioneering bike and electric car rental systems Vélib and Autolib, reducing pollution, and possibly also for losing out o ut to L London ondon fo forr the 2 2012 Olympics.
If you have kidss
There’s plenty to do with les enfants in Paris aside from queuing for hours to climb the Eiffel Tower. One of the city’s newest museums, La Gaîté Lyrique (gaite-lyrique.net), is dedicated to digital culture in all its forms. As well as an avant-garde concert and exhibition programme, there’s a range of weekend workshops for kids, and a permanent free-access space presenting a curated selection of video games from around the world. Paris’s botanical gardens, the Jardin des Plantes (jardindesplantes.net), date from 1635 and boast a menagerie, a number of natural history museums, including a paleontology museum with its dinosaur skeletons, and the beautiful greenhouses, renovated in 2010 and boasting one of the world’s most extensive collections of tropical and desert flora. If your kids could do with a dose of Parisian chic, take them shopping at the fun, four-storey Bonton flagship Find more online (bonton.fr), which has a dedicated hairdressing salon for the under-18s, parisinfo.com and a vintage photo booth to immortalise their new look. Not far away, the paris.fr gourmet Brittany style creperie Breizh Café (breizhcafe.com) will satisfy any Book your tickets fast-food cravings; it’s even listed in the Michelin guide! norwegian.com
You know you’re in Paris when… You step in dog do Parisians love their pooches and have 72 public spaces in which to promenade them, but it’s almost impossible to avoid their “crottes”. Parisian dogs produce 20,000kg of poo every day which is cleaned up at a cost of €9m (NOK76m) each year. The dogs even have their own cemetery, at Asnières sur Seine, where the original Rin Tin Tin is buried.
You inadvertently chow down horsemeat The French have no qualms about chowing down on their equine chums. Les Tontons, opposite Montparnasse’s former horse abattoir on Rue Brancion, serves horse tartare if you want a try, while hip restaurants Le Taxi Jaune, Le Verre Volé (leverrevole.fr) and Septime (see Reserve a table), all have horse on the menu.
A L A M Y ; C O R B I S ; P H O T O S H O T ; R O B E R T H A R D I N G ; S U P E R S T O C K , A L B E R T WAT S O N / C O N D E N A S T ; D. S C H W E L L E / L A IF/ C A ME R A P R E S S, B F I ; M A N A L R A C HD I O X O A RC HI T E C T E S & NI C O L A S L A I S NÉ A RC HI T E C T E ; R E X , C O R B I S
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The author Kate van den Boogert launched Gogo Paris, a free monthly culture fanzine, in 2005 and Gogo City Guides in 2010. Gogo publishes biannual guides to Paris and London, available in print, for iPhone, and enhanced PDF. gogoparis.com, gogocityguides.com
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