Paris Guide: Part One

The first time I went to Paris, I was 13 years old. I remember having a Sony Discman and two CDs; the Titanic soundtrack and something by Savage Garden. I remember visiting the Musée de l’Orangerie and the feeling of being absolutely enveloped by Monet’s waterlilies. Seeing the Mona Lisa before she had her own room and a social media frenzy around her is another memory of that trip that I cherish. But going somewhere at 13 doesn’t really count as having been there. So when I had the chance to go back last year, at the ripe of age of 32, I could not wait to see the City of Lights in a new light. I shared a great AirBnB with a friend in Le Marais and enjoyed walking around the neighborhood so much—it’s filled with great shops and cafés such as Études, Boot Café, Merci, Maison Kitsuné, Yvon Lambert, Blend Burger, Breizh Café and so many more. If you’d rather stay at a hotel, check out the Hotel Amour and Le Pigalle Paris, they’re not in Le Marais but they’re lovely options. Another great thing about Le Marais is that it’s very close to Le Centre Pompidou, where I got to see David Hockney’s massive traveling retrospective in a much broader and well lit space than I did this year at the Met. Right in front of the Pompidou is the Atelier Brancusi, a museum that houses a collection of Constantin Brancusi’s modernist sculptures in a space made to replicate his studio. One thing I didn’t get to cross of my list was having a drink at the Bar Hemingway in The Ritz. To my disappointment, it was closed when I tried to go. On the bright side, that just means I have a very good reason to go back to Paris. As if I needed one anyway!