Wandering Wednesday — New (to me) Paris

Happy wandering Wednesday, where I’m going to share some new places I visited in Paris that I think were great. I’ve been to Paris many times and have a few favorites I always return to — Le Saint-Regis Cafe, the Tuileries and of course The Eiffel Tower to name a few — but I always try a new restaurant and/or attraction I’ve come across, and pinned to my google map. This year I had a few fun firsts.

I would say the most whimsical, fun experience I had this time was visiting a museum known as Les Pavillons de Berry – Musee des Arts Forains. I want you to go and experience it for yourself, so not too much info, but here are a couple of highlight pics —

You have the opportunity to ride some carousels, dance and play a game or two while your touring. AND — you can even rent out the different spaces or the whole venue for a birthday, wedding, corporate event, whatever! Such a fun idea for a party! (If you do I’d love to get an invitation!)

I always read in the Tuileries and/or the Luxembourg gardens, especially because the weather was so gorgeous while I was there, but I thought I’d find a few more unique places to rest my weary feet and enjoy our new book club book. First up Salle Oval at the Biblioth├¿que Nationale de France – Richelieu, which is spectacular. The oval room was completed in 1932, closed in 2016 for renovation and reopened in 2022. There’s also a museum, exhibits and other stunning features in the library that I didn’t get to. The pics of The Labrouste Room looks very impressive, but sadly it’s not open to the public ((but can be arranged if you happen to be associated with a university (Jo?), library or museum. I’ll finagle that at some point —wink/wink!))

I take my kindle with me every day while I’m walking around so I can slip in to a cute place for a snack or meal and find a cozy corner table to curl up in. I saw this place somewhere online and it looked like it fit the bill perfectly. It happened to be down the street from another cute place I had dinner reservations, so I stopped by for a glass of wine and a bit of reading. If I’m having a drink before dinner I’ll usually sit at the bar because it’s fun to talk to the bartender, or whomever happens to be sitting on a barstool close by, but this place screamed “sit in the cozy corner and read!” It is called La Belle Hortense and it’s a quiet respite in the very busy Marais neighborhood, specifically on the Rue Vieille-du-Temple. (Side note: there’s another cute restaurant across the street, Au Petit Fer ├á Cheval, owned by the same people, very popular, doesn’t take reservations) It is a lovely mix of book store, wine bar and restaurant. Lucky for me they happened to be having an amazing exhibit of Peter Turnley’s black and white photography. I LOVE black and white photography. It is said that “When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!” Remember that next time you look at a black and white photograph —I completely agree. It’s so enchanting — and the exhibit was titled “A Love Letter to Paris.” (sadly it closed yesterday) I love when I serendipitously fall into something amazing like this. These pics say it all —

My view from this cute corner —

How cute is this floor — yes I did hopscotch to my little corner (nobody was there yet.)

After reading for about an hour I made my way down to dinner at Robert et Louise, another charming place in the Marais, with an open oven/bbq and the greatest ambiance. Make reservations!

10 minutes after I took this pic every table was filled. I try to make reservations for around 7-7:30 in Paris as I have a better chance of getting a seat, even if it’s at the bar. Parisians eat later than Americans.

Even the bathroom is charming. Yeah, I know it’s weird that I took a pic in the bathroom!

As I’ve said before, the best advice I would give anyone going to Paris is this, JUST WANDER! Sure, have a few dinner reservations, but then just wander the streets of this magical city. You might just stumble into a great black and white photography exhibit, or a random pipe organ concert at a tiny church on a side street —

My favorite areas to wander are the Marais (4th arrondissement) and the Latin Quarter (5th arrondissement/across the river) — and my favorite places to read are The Tuileries or the Luxembourg gardens.

— and no Paris post would be complete without the pi├¿ce de r├®sistance —

You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!