Sara caught this pic at dinner on the first night. People just kiss all over the place in Paris — and it's kinda infectious…
On Wednesdays I usually run top house tours from around the country, but today I want to just share some more Paris pics because they're really fresh and lovely right now (I think). Their style is assured, but often surprising in its constant alternation between very formal and very casual.
Square trees! The French LOVE to trim and shape everything — a far cry from the wild, "English" garden approach…
The symmetry of classic French design is astounding and very different from the modern asymmetry that we are often surrounded by.
The grandmother of Apartment Therapy blogger Laure Joliet owns this super cool little shop on the right bank. She sells music boxes.
MY FAVORITE FOOD: real foie gras cooked in a pan, slathered with honey from Rötisserie du Beaujolais…
Beautiful tiles at another restaurant…Chez Ramulaud. 269 rue du Faubourg St. Antoine.
Us, happy and probably having had wine SOMEWHERE in the last few hours (and also jet lagged)…
At the jardins beneath the Eiffel Tower, children were riding around this cute little track in pedal cars. Two euro for seven laps. In America everything would have to have real motors, blinking lights and much more stimulation.
Veronica & Keith's Handmade Chic 
Before & After: A Bathroom Goes From Pinky Peach to Sleek and Chic
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Hunslet Dinner Plate
A Beginner's Guide to Superb Stir-Fry: Quick, Healthy Meals from a Wok
Easy Pitcher Cocktail Recipe: Strawberry Basil Margaritas
Comments (29)
Much as I'm looking forward to tonight's meet-up, I'd hope on a plane to Paris in a NY minute if I could! La belle mère de tous les grandes villes!
Jealous because we have no grandparents to leave the kids with.
That kiss is the sweetest picture!
I also really like your scarf. I'm loving these posts.
are you ready to start a travel blog?
I'm loving these week posts! I miss Paris so much! Have a great time there, it's a wonderful city!
I agree, these posts are very nice. What is it about Paris that always charms and warms the heart?
Merci beaucoup! I, too, am longing for a visit to my favorite city of them all. As for you, it would be a crime to not be able to write off the trip for tax purposes. Well done! ;-)
saving my pennies for a trip to Paris next summer--you inspire me! merci!
I LOVE this kissing photo! It's incredible! So intimate. Looks like you had a great trip!
Erin
YAYDIY.com
The children in Paris are adorable. Interesting you point out the fact that their American counterparts would need to be flashy & motorized. I was in Paris last month ago, and one of my best days was wandering through Luxembourg Gardens and finding families sailing boats in the fountain, kids learning about how to use the wind & gage direction, and running back & forth to "catch" the boats at the other side. Exhilarating, and no flashy electronics or motors required!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cathio/4444322804/in/set-72157623522831693/
I want to 'kiss all over the place'! Just need that certain someone to kiss!
Paris is indeed one of the urban wonders of the West. I don't remember the times I've been there - maybe 8 or 9? The last time just three years ago. By and large, it was as lovely and memorable as on my first visit in 1965. Luxembourg Gardens is a year-round delight but is truly woundrous in Spring when the chestnuts begin to blossom and the children are out in force. I'm glad AT has given us a chance to be tempted and to remember, what it is about Paris that is universal. Thanks for your lovely intimate and discerning photographs. You look very happy.
I'm sure that's not his wife!
"People just kiss all over the place in Paris" ? Being French (as my bad English will show), when I went to the US, I was surprised to see how little affection Americans showed to each other... it always makes me smile to see a couple kiss lovingly, and it's never inappropriate. Tenderness never is...
I lived for five years in Paris, and I still don't get what you love about it. Beautiful city to visit for a week, for sure. But I escaped from it as fast as I could. I'm happy to see you are keeping the Parisian dream alive, but for me, it is a very stressful, noisy, dirty city, where it takes more than one hour to go to work, where apartments are overpriced, tiny and old (not in a good, haussmanian way), and where rats haunt the streets at night (this is a true nightmare, never approach a trashcan near the river at night). And I lived near Montparnasse, which is considered a very nice arrondissement, in a two bedrooms that was big enough for a small family.
The only place I really love and long to see again are the Jardins du Luxembourg in the summer. Lovely garden ! Otherwise, I like it as a "dead" city I enjoy visiting, but will never, ever live in again if I can.
Lovely pic but am I the only one that thought, Jon Hamm was in Paris?
re: Fois Gras. Yes, Please!
ick. spelling.
I've given up wearing lip gloss and lip stick after moving to the Francophone world. Here, in Geneva which sits on the French border, we have a 3-cheek-kiss tradition, and so there is a lot of kissing in a day!
Your wife's hair is awesome!
I love these pictures, but its interesting that so few tourists ever venture into the outer arrdonissments, like Seine-Saint-Denis area : Saint-Denis, Aubervilliers, Montreuil, Rosny-sous-bois.
Great pics and thanks for sharing! I have to say one of the best ways to see Paris is with a child. We took our five year old last year and had the chance to discover a Paris we'd never seen before, even though it was our fifth visit! Traveling with a kid has it's moment's though, that's for sure! http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathrynclark/3636138963/in/set-72157619293786762/
April in Paris, very romantic.
Enjoyed the post very much. Thank you.
What a wonderful post, thank you! I've always wanted to visit France, and I figure my first stop will be Paris. I didn't take years of French for nothing! Like a few others, I'm also hoping to visit soon..ish.
Loora: this is exactly how I feel about living in San Francisco. I utterly hated the "living" part [hours of commuting to work each day, driving far to get basics, parking, its dirty/can be dangerous in the way many big cities are etc]. I think its definitely romantic to think of living in a wondrous city with everything at your fingertips, but it probably won't work out that way, unless you have lots of $ and/or work nearby. Visiting, however, is great!
Now I HAVE to have a square tree! Totally obsessed now.
One time when we were in Paris, we went to Le Bon Marché on a Saturday morning with our 2 young children.
There, we found 2 men shopping with their 5 children, ranging from 7 years of age to newborn (their wives had the day off it seems).
What was amazing was how well-behaved and elegant a group they were... The dads seemed very comfortable handling this large a group; indeed, they were having a deep philosophical discussion, even while changing a diaper. The children, while still having fun, were quiet, stayed together and were all very elegantly dressed.
I'll never forget the 7 year old boy who headed up this group -- he wore a beautiful corduroy blazer (very much like yours Maxwell), and had a lovely handknit cashmere scarf knotted around his neck. So young, and so soigné...
"Trois Hommes et Un Couffin" indeed...
annoying red neck yankee coworkers make me want to hop on a jet straight to paris. I am in dire need of a change of scenery... just looking at this pictures makes me feel me better and Im not even parisian
annoying red neck yankee co-workers make me want to hop on a jet straight to Paris. I am in dire need of a change in scenery... just looking at these pictures makes me feel better and I'm not even Parisian
I'm French, live in Paris and Ramulaud is one of my favourite restaurants ! I've been living in Paris for ten years and I still see it as a beautiful, romantic city where life is extremely enjoyable - but I am lucky to be able to walk to go to my office...