Standing in the recently renovated cellars of Lanson, our host Philippe Baijot glanced over his shoulder as a staff member brought out another bottle of champagne for tasting. “I have a surprise for you” he stated, before presenting the bottle of 1979 Lanson Brut Vintage Collection to us. Such was the personal connections that...
Visiting the Palace of Versailles
It was a cold, blustery day when I headed out of Paris to visit the Chateau de Versailles. Spending eight hours wandering the rooms, halls, gardens and smaller residences, I still didn’t see it all. Am I the slowest tourist/traveller ever? What can be said about the Chateau de Versailles in words that can’t...
A day trip from Paris to Monet’s home in Giverny
I looooove Monet’s Water Lilies paintings. Having visited the Musee d’Orsay and Musee de l’Orangerie, with the wonderful impressionists exhibitions and featuring Monet’s giant water lilies, I just had to visit the gardens that inspired such beautiful pieces of work. Monet lived in his house in the village of Giverny for 43 years, until...
My Ultimate Montmartre Walking Tour
Bohemian and artistic, Montmartre was once home to Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Salvador Dalí and Amedeo Modigliani, amongst others. In fact, it is here that Picasso and Georges Braque founded Cubism. Famous also for the Moulin Rouge, Montmartre was where I chose to stay...
Things to do in Paris at night
Summer in Paris means long days and late evenings. It’s fantastic for seeing the sights in sunlight as it doesn’t get dark until around 10:30pm. But what if you want to see the city at night, when it’s dark? Be prepared for some late nights (afternoon naps help with this). Also to take into...
Discovering the morbid side of Paris
Paris is often referred to as ‘the city of light’ (la ville lumiere), mainly for its role in the Age of Enlightenment, but more literally because it was one of the first cities to adopt gas street lamps. I was however also interested in discovering Paris’ dark side, some of those more morbid curiosities...
6 of the best Museums to visit in Paris
Putting together a list of the best museums/galleries to visit in Paris is very difficult. Like all things, art is very subjective, and what one person loves another might hate. There are so many museums in Paris that it is impossible to see them all, even in a month, so I studied and chose...
The lost generation – following in the footsteps of Hemingway in Paris
The first book by Ernest Hemingway I read was The Old Man and the Sea, while on my way to Cuba in 2007 (such a small book, I finished it on the flight over). While in Cuba I did what every literary (and cocktail) lover did, find the bars Hemingway frequented such as the...
Shopping in Paris
Anyone who knows me well knows that I detest shopping. Shopping centres, malls, clothes, ugh, it is what I imagine one of Dante’s seven levels of hell to look like. So imagine me now writing about shopping in Paris! But there are so many different types of shopping here. Yes there are the massive...