We went from zero to sixty practically overnight: since May, cafés and restaurants are filled to covid-capacity, the cinemas are back in business, new or freshly renovated museums have reopened their doors, events are being organised again and, if you can believe it, the government has allowed nightclubs to reopen. I’m still being cautious and respecting other people’s comfort levels but I will say it feels so refreshing (odd, even!) to see tourists sporting maps and asking for directions once again.
Change and revival are on the horizon for me, personally, too. I’ll be leading my first New Paris tour in more than 16 months and have requests for others (wanna talk about it? Email me!), I’ve done several book events this summer with more coming in the fall, and spending time closer to Fontainebleau where my husband and I have….. bought a house! Yes, file us under Covid clichés. We started looking for a place closer to nature and to rock climbing spots and landed on a lovely house in a small town on the edge of Burgundy. It’s stressful, as I’m sure any of you homeowners can confirm, but also an exciting next step for us.
But back to Paris, there are a lot of fun new hangouts and openings I’m excited to point you to and I hope you’re getting excited about returning this summer or before the end of the year. And if you’re like Mayor Hidalgo, you’re also excited to see the Olympic torch passed from Tokyo to Paris, which will play host to the 2024 summer Olympics. But first:
FOOD & WINE HANGOUTS I’M LOVING
Folderol, the best ice cream in town
Bar Principal (from the team behind Brutos)
Cambridge Public House (not new but fave!)
Jugaad, modern Indian cooking
Le Comptoir du Ritz, pastry shop at Ritz Paris hotel
Pierre Jancou pop-up at Chambre Noire Studio
Parcelles for natural and biodynamic wines and excellent contemporary French bistro fare
The Dancing Goat, excellent coffee in the 20th arrondissement
Capitale, the new café-bar from Combat owner (and Nouvelle Parisienne) Margot Lecarpentier
Chanceux, the epicerie-wine bar- café from Thomas Lehoux (formerly of Belleville Brûlerie)
MUSEUM OPENINGS
Bourse de Commerce, Pinault Collection
Carnavalet Museum, the museum dedicated to the city of Paris just reopened
Hôtel de la Marine, a museum occupying the former Garde Meuble and naval ministry, open to the public for the first time since the 18th century, on the Place de la Concorde.
See more on small museums in Paris!
THE SUMMER’S CONTROVERSIAL OPENING
The (very slow) return of La Samaritaine.
“One finds everything at La Samaritaine!” went the popular slogan of Paris’s iconic Art Nouveau and Art Deco department store overlooking the Seine. That’s no longer true, as evidenced by the store’s highly anticipated reopening as a luxury emporium after a 16 year closure. The eccentricity of the retail institution’s former incarnation—more shabby-chic bazaar than upscale department store, where locals shopped for everything from light bulbs and garden supplies to dresses and stationery— has been replaced by a sleek and splashy curation of designer clothes, upscale beauty brands, six-figure collector’s perfumes, a Cinq Mondes spa, and twelve food and Champagne concept spaces spread across four buildings. With an investment of nearly $900 million to restore, rebuild, and revive a beacon of Parisian life, it’s no surprise the project was undertaken by LVMH.
I wrote about the reopening for Fortune (which you can read here or the Aug/Sept issue) but I also encourage you to read THIS review and THIS one. As much as the company insists there’s still something for everyone inside the shop’s doors, one wonders who falls into their concept of “everyone”. Still beautiful to look at from an architectural perspective but I don’t see myself becoming a customer.
COMING SOON….
A grand fine dining restaurant called Mimosa from Jean-François Piège at the Hotel de la Marine in September
Baby Love, a burger joint from Camille Fourmont of Buvette wine bar
Cheval Blanc hotel at La Samaritaine (with no less than four restaurants on-site)
The first annual pastry awards organised by Fou de Pâtisserie (I’m on the jury!)
