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Category / Editor’s Picks

The Time Machine Sweet Shop in Paris

You could stand in the endless line at Ladurée, queuing up with the other macaron zombies, or you could go on a little hunt, off the beaten path for somewhere slightly more worth your precious time in Paris … After working from home for far too long, I recently found a studio space in the old latin quarter…

My Paris Valentine Bistrot

A true Parisian would probably never admit they’re celebrating Valentine’s Day (pfff, it’s for zee capitalists). But if they are, they’ll most likely do it somewhere very discreet and as authentic as it gets… Nestled in a quiet backstreet of the 4th arrondissement, Le Temps de Cerises is one of the few enduring little gems of “la vie quotidienne” from…

A Portal to Bygone Bohemian Paris in the Oldest House of Montmartre

I‘m always looking for a taste of la vie bohème and ways to immerse myself in old world Paris; dare I say it’s become a bit of a habit of mine. So when I want to block out the noise of the modern city and really feel time travelling backwards, there’s one place that always does the trick. Follow me inside…

How Can Paris Let this Museum of Music Treasure Close Down?

I wasn’t exactly expecting the world when I was emailed by a local record collector urging me to visit an endangered private music museum in Paris at the foot of Montmartre. The Phono Museum? Never heard of it. Within my network of vinyl fanatic friends and small museum hunters, surely we would have come across such…

5 Hidden Paris Enclaves

If you stay in Paris long enough, you’ll no doubt end up with your own list of urban secrets. This city is full of them. All Parisians lay claim to favourite hidden spots which they unexpectedly stumbled across one day, feeling as if they had discovered a forgotten corner of the capital. It’s part of being a Parisian. My list grows everyday and…

Last Train to Paris

Take the most romantic city in the world and the most romantic way to travel, put the two together and you’ve got my attention. Paris was the original starting point for the legendary Orient Express service to Istanbul, so it’s no wonder this city still has a thing for trains. My adopted city’s choice of railway-themed restaurants, bars and entertainment…

Unlocking the Mystery of Villa Frochot

Villa Frochot is one of the most mysterious buildings in Paris. Closed to the public (or so we thought), rumours and hearsay about the villa vary depending on who you ask. Reliable sources speak of its days as an erotic cabaret in the 1920s, and according to the barman at the end of the street,…

The Louvre’s Secret Apartments

The Louvre; or, as we’ve prefer to call it, Paris’ most exhaustingly gorgeous tourist trap. In the MessyNessy guide, Don’t Be a Tourist in Paris, there’s even a chapter called, “Anything but the Louvre” that steers folks away from its selfie-stick jungles, and into the arms of more overlooked museums in the city. But this weekend, we decided to pay…

Haunting Postcards of Parisian Homicide

Note: Some of the images below contain disturbing content. Alphonse Bertillon was bad at a lot of things, but excellent at two: solving crime, and pissing people off. Both were honed during his long career at the Prefecture de Police in mid-19th century Paris, one of the grisliest eras for tracking down criminals in the rapidly growing metropolis.…

How Stuart Little Uncovered an Avant-garde Masterpiece Missing for almost a Century

We love a good story about a missing painting missing. This one starts in Christmas of 2008: a Hungarian art historian is at home with his young daughter Lola, watching the popular children’s film Stuart Little, when he notices a painting in the background that shakes him up so much, he almost drops his daughter…

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