Warning, this is a rant post! As much as I love Paris, sometimes, life here can drive me a little crazy… It isn’t all cherry blossomed Eiffel Tower views and coffee croissant dates you know… So, here’s what happened : In an inhabitual manner I decided to head well outside of my neighborhood with my 3.5 month old baby and enjoy some time in the Marais. I used to go there frequently before becoming a parent and before living in the Batignolles. I had a lovely excuse to go, meeting an Instagram acquaintance in real life! After our cozy tea and wonderful chat I had time and wasn’t ready to head h ..read more

Happy New Year! Bonne Année! I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy this winter as Covid rattles and disrupts the world for another go. We only had one person catch the virus in our household so far, and thankfully it was a very manageable bout of sickness. But enough about the pandemic! I saw this spray painted on a construction site near my apartment Our new year is all about having a new baby! We welcomed our second (surprise) “confinement” baby into our lives at the end of October and he is animating our family life in such a positive way. Babies are the ultimate symbol of hope, aren ..read more

Let me begin by stating that this massage came at a much needed time. In my 8th month of pregnancy, you can imagine how the need for some professional help to sooth my back muscles was necessary. That said, I still think this was the best massage I have ever had in Paris. I heard about this massage by chance, it is perhaps one of the only places in Paris you can go for a prenatal massage where you can lie face down on the massage table! That was all I needed to hear to be sold on it. The Mandarin Oriental spa is equiped with a special mattress that goes on top of a typical massage table. The ..read more

Nestled in between the Batignolles and the Épinettes neighborhoods, you can find this gated community that is open to the pedestrian public during certain hours. La Cité des Fleurs is a charming cobblestone street that was the real estate dream project of Jean-Edmé Lhenry et Adolphe Bacqueville de la Vasserie (what a name!) and began in 1847. With its abondant foliage and villas all built according to very strict codes, this community has retained it’s charm over the past 170 odd years. And in spite of it’s rather bourgeois flare, it does house a parish and a few non profit associations. Som ..read more

Waaaay back in 2011, I posted a little Valentine’s Day blog post about this lovely sculpture by Falconet that is in the collection at the Louvre Museum of Paris. L’Amour Menaçant 1757. It’s a sculpture of lovely little boy (reminds me of my Petit Chéri) and was made for the Gardens of Madame de Pompadour. I wrote that there were two other copies, but it seems that there a lot more than that out there! One in particular right at on the rooftop of my workplace : Hermes 24 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré (or the Mother Ship as I sometimes refer to it). On the rooftop there is a “secret” garden where ..read more

I haven’t blogged much about the pandemic, just a little bit and here, but this 3rd confinement has made me notice a few things that I find interesting and felt I could share with you. I wonder how it is perhaps different in your part of the world? (Let me know in the comments). So, the third confinement in France is a bit different from the second one and a lot different from the first one. A full year later we find ourselves living a lot better than last March and April. A year ago the Paris streets were nearly empty, the sky was beautiful and we all mostly stayed indoors for fear of the vi ..read more

21 years and running this delightful tradition is upheld by an auto club called Vincennes en Anciennes. Twice a year they have the authorization to promenade hundreds vintage cars over 20 kilometers of Parisian streets, just for the fun of it! We were lucky to find ourselves in the middle of the Winter edition on Sunday the 31st of January, 2021 as we were in search of something to do. Upon our arrival at place de la Concorde we saw dozens and dozens of old cars. So we spent the next hour walking around the giant plaza ooohing and aaahing over as many beautiful vehicles that we could devour w ..read more

I discovered this artist thanks to one of my favorite Instragram acquaintances, @Batignollesspot who shines a light on people and business of my neighborhood. (She was kind enough to write about me this past summer). Recently she shared a post about Louis de Cointet and I was instantly drawn in by his page with sketches from simple instants in every day life in Paris, mostly around the Batignolles. Louis has been living in the Batignolles for about 15 years, just about the same amount of time that he had STOPPED drawing! He used to draw when he was young, but, well life as a father, three ..read more

It’s been around ten years since I have gone UP the Eiffel Tower. I used to go frequently in my previous job at a study-abroad company. But since I moved in to luxury sales, I have less opportunity to indulge in such « touristy » activities. But a pandemic that forces a staycation and a need to occupy my little one during the Fall break, I decided that we could enjoy some of those touristy adventures together. Also thanks to the pandemic there was a lot less tourists. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but notice the massive difference of experience from what it used to be like. And frankl ..read more

There is nothing more French than a unique hat or pretty little fascinator to wear to a wedding, an equestrian event or a chic party. A chance encounter in the Marais at Johanna’s boudoir boutique  literally had me squealing with delight. How had I not known about this gem 9 years ago when I was preparing my own wedding. It has been here for 13 years! But it was fun to discover with my son. Petit  Chéri who was with me had me try on his favorite, a puffy pink pompommy piece! But he also loved the green (his favorite color). I was happy flitting around the boutique trying on pretty t ..read more