As Bathroom Month heats up, we are inappropriately taking a real vacation for the first time in two years to visit the spot where Tom proposed to Katie - Paris, France - and document Gallic loos. We plan to eat, walk and photograph everything in sight so we can bring back new ideas and objects that we have never seen before (Interiors as well as FOOD ideas).
Got a tip? A good place to buy furniture? Let us know and we'll check it out.
We will be gone for ten days starting on Wednesday, and we have got some very exciting guest editors filling in while we check out Parisian plumbing. Along with the usual suspects, we will have guest stars, Jen Bekman (of Personism)and Grace Bonney (of Design*Sponge), contributing special posts each day and Paul McKinley, our managing editor, will be running the show. If you have any comments or contributions after Wednesday, please send them to paul@apartmenttherapy.com. MGR
Call me crazy, but I prefer to think of Paris as the place where Rick met Isla than where that Tom and Katie abomination happened.
I still don't understand the fascination and extreme reactions to the Tom & Katie "love affair". Can someone explain the ins and outs? Is the age difference, the height difference? What is it? The same goes for the Angeline-Brad-Jen thing.
It's surprising to find people quite intelligent and sophisticated spend so much time discussing these issues. Maybe there is an angle I am missing...
Au Bon Accueil is a great restaurant, right next to the Eiffel Tower. I would recomment to take the train to Reims and visit the beautiful cathedral and the champagne caves, only 1 hour away. You have to make a reservation to visit the caves.
The fair on Blvd. richard lenoir is filled with interesting foods and spices.
Il st Louis is a gem, the olive oil store is great - cute bottles - on the main street.
You must make a stop to the Furstenburg Square (place de la furstenburg?)....I'm afraid I don't remember the exact name but its in the 16th. It has wonderful fabric and interior design boutiques...including my favorite, Lelieve. Leleive features modern, yet suptous, fabrics. The store also carries the Kenzo home line...another one to drool over.
Le Bon Marche (my favorite museum :)) will provide wonderful inspiration to tide you over long after you've left Paris, and is just around the corner from the Conran Shop and many others.
Given that this is the season for morels, a wonderful restaurant to hit for dinner is Maitre Paul on Rue de Monsieur le Prince (also in the 16th)....order the veau (veal) with morels and you'll be licking the plate! I loved it so much on my last visit to Paris that I went back 3 times.
Enjoy your trip!
M.
Bathroom tip: Bar Tresor in the Marais is known for their bathroom, which has a goldfish swimming in your tank. Personally, I haven't been to see the poor fishes for myself.
Also, old-style public squat toilets at Place de la Madeleine, east side of the place. Never been there either, but here it's a historical loo.
For food ideas, you will probably be around for lefooding at Paris on the 26th. They have a website at http://www.lefooding.com/ete2005/paris.html that details the menu. 5 euros for some very creative and fun food at the batofar. Heard it's fun but have never been for myself (this time I have an excuse: being vegetarian, I can only enjoy the wine and the dessert and all the good stuff is meat!).
For interior stores, there is Sentou www.sentou.fr and Galerie Kreo www.galeriekreo.com, both very modern and very expensive. Around Galerie Kreo there are some other new art galeries. Paris is not very good for contemporary art but is hot for design.
Of course, the flea market at St-Ouen. I have been there to ogle, but being neither connaisseur nor in the market, I haven't paid too much attention to this. Someone enterprising has written a book with details on almost all the dealers in the big Parisian flea markets.
I hear that the auctions at Druot are good places to get deals but patience and luck are involved. If you just want to go in and look, it's free and I think they have auctions daily. http://www.gazette-drouot.com/gazette_us.html
The Paris craigslist is woefully undeveloped, and I, as a student, am going to have to trek to Ikea to furnish my new apt. So if you see any cheap furniture, do post immediately.
If you have other questions or want other recommendations, feel free to email me directly. I live in Paris now but lived in NY for five years.