Sitting behind Île de la Cité, Ile Saint Louis in Paris’ 4th arrondissement has plenty of its own things to offer. While it may not be home to Notre Dame, it’s a lovely place in itself and can boasts some unique views of the city. I actually had one of my life’s wildest adventures here, […]

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I decided to go to Saint-Germain-en-Laye, except that there was a castle (and not a very pretty one). However, immediately after stepping off the escalator of the metro, I probably said WOW at least five times. We walked right into the Domaine National de Saint-Germain-en-Laye and there […]

The train rolled into the station and I reached into my pocket, searching for my phone. I was already running late and it was a little drizzly, so I was trying to figure out what exit to take for Belleville. To my dismay, which turned to anxiety, I realised that in my rush to get […]

It’s all opulence and grandeur at this hôtel particulier on Boulevard Haussmann. The Musée Jacquemart-André is a private art collection with everything that you might expect. Rich, deep red velvet walls; fine Italian Renaissance and Byzantine art; a Fragonard (currently, unfortunately, on loan to an exhibition); an unexpected, but very delightful, run in with Élisabeth […]

My first encounter with Honoré de Balzac, the man (I was obliged to read his literature in school), was at the Musée Rodin, and I will say that the sculptor must not have liked him much, because the rendition is anything but flattering. However, I had also been seeing many posters for the re-opening of […]

This was a lesson in spontaneity. One bitter cold winter afternoon, not long after I’d arrived, I discovered a (new to me) bookshop across from Jardin du Luxembourg called The Red Wheelbarrow that had such a jolly red awning I had to stop in. I ended up picking up a copy of The New Paris, which […]

I was not always the biggest fan of Montmartre, Paris. It was rather far from where I was living at the time; there are too many hills and not enough escalators; it’s a little gritty; and on the other hand also very touristy. I find myself always on extra alert for pickpockets, especially near the […]

There’s a delightful surprise in the Latin Quarter, something wildly unexpected and out of the blue — or, rather, the appropriate expression is “out of the Haussmann architecture.” It’s la Grande Mosquée de Paris. There is a small admission fee, but if you love architecture, this is such a treat. It was built between 1922 and […]

[As the 14e is quite large, this post will be updated as I explore more. I made an artist friend today, on my first visit, and he said he’ll take me around to all the good spots.] When I think of Paris, the 14e is not what comes to mind at all. A little gritty […]

The townhouse is rather unassuming — if you’re not looking for it, you’ll walk right past it. There is no imposing gate to attract (or deter) the curious; no garden to meander through to reach the entrance. Just an iron-black door, surprisingly light as you lean on it, which dumps you right into the entryway […]