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Top Ten ways to do Paris (after you’ve done Paris)

10. Navigate it.

[clockwise from top right:
1. Train station at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris.
2. Underground at Gare du Nord, Paris
3. Richard Lenoir Metro Station (near Bastille Market)
4. River Seine from Île Saint-Louis, Paris, France. [VERY important note: mere blocks from Berthillon — possibly the world’s finest ice cream.]

9. Walk it.

[clockwise from top right]
1. Art Nouveau signs still signal the Metro
2. Graffiti as art
3. Bastille Market, Paris’ oldest outdoor market, has been running since the 17th century
4. Generations have run the specialty food importers Izraël from this site.
5. You could wait until you get home to take a taste of your purchases from Au Petit Versailles, where Christian Vabret, winner of France’s highest baking honor, Meilleur ouvrier de France, sells bread and pastries that are as beautiful as they are delicious. But it’s a lot more common to see buyers break off the top of one of their baguettes as they leave the store.
6. Random house ornament.
7. (center) Let your inner kid loose and rent a model boat to sail in Jardin du Luxembourg’s pond. You know you want to!

8. Shop it.

Paris is an incredibly foot-friendly city that never disappoints. From ancient outdoor markets (such as Bastille Market here) to artisan shops such as la tuile á loup, from fashion boutiques like one of my favorites, Antoine et Lili, to venerable specialty foods and bakeries— my favorite Paris thing is to wander around, shop, eat, and just admire.

7. Cook it.

I think it’s against the law to serve bad food in Paris. So every time I go there, I enter into this fantasy world where I’m convinced I could cook like a Parisian. My secret weapon/enabler is La Cuisine Paris, which offers one-off classes. Although I’ve done several, my favorite is the market class where students tour one of the venerable Paris markets along with their chef teacher (in our case the very charming Chef Cyril). After sampling and discussing the ingredients on offer that day, the class votes on a menu, shops for the ingredients, and walks back to the school overlooking the Seine. Chef demonstrates each technique, which the class struggles valiantly to duplicate.

6. Plate it.

My fellow cooking students in the Market Class at La Cuisine Paris worked together to prepare, plate, and share our meal along with wine and conversation in the school’s sunny dining room.

5. Eat it.

I think you could eat off the street in Paris and it would be delicious.
[clockwise from top right]
1. Outdoor cafe at Jardin du Luxembourg
2. Restaurant we picked at random as we walked along. It was delicious, of course, and now we wonder how to find our way back.
3. Happy birthday souffle.
4. [moan] Treats from Au Petit Versailles du Marais
5. Berthillon — the best ice cream in the world. (The salt caramel flavor will make you weep.)
6. Market cooking class at La Cuisine Paris eating the meal we prepared.
7. Baguettes from Au Petit Versailles du Marais must be eaten as you leave the shop with them. That is all.
8. Hot chocolate and lava cakes from Angelina next to Jardin du Luxembourg are a necessity.
9. (center) A Paris restaurant that LOOKS like a Paris restaurant is a beautiful thing.

4. Spot it.

The Luxembourg Gardens are my happy place in Paris. I particularly like the surprises, such as an 18th century statue taking a selfie, a (free!) art show in an old stables, a statue of a beautiful man peeking out from the shrubbery, or even the artist’s scale model of what would become the Statue of Liberty.

3. Gawk it.

The last owner of the Château de Chantilly was Henri d’Orléans, Duke of Aumale, son of the last King of France, Louis-Philippe. Henri was a prodigious collector who built on existing treasures to amass some of the greatest collections in Europe. With no heirs, he left the entire collection to the French people. I was there for an entire day that didn’t begin to cover the treasures amassed there, ranging from ancient masterpieces, paintings, rare manuscripts, and sculptures by the world’s greatest artists — all displayed in a fairytale castle and the surrounding extensive gardens.

I’ve wanted to see the Château de Chantilly for more years than I care to report. Located 40 km outside of Paris, I knew getting to to the Château might be a challenge. But I’d made it to Versailles with four kids in tow. I’d survived being kidnapped in India and forced to look at (actually quite nice) oriental rugs. I’d even (barely) survived crossing the street in Mumbai. How hard could it be to take public transportation in a foreign country where even on my best days I only know a couple of nouns and the phrase “Bonjour madame. Où sont les toilettes des dames?”

Really hard, it turns out. My train, crowded when I boarded in Paris, slowly emptied as it moved away from the city. There were only a few riders left when we stopped completely. I looked around, but there were no train stations in sight. Finally, a woman in a high-visibility vest came into our car and began speaking rapid French. I have no idea if she was announcing the zombie apocalypse or a half-off sale at the entire Galeries Lafayette. Whatever it was, my few remaining fellow passengers leaped to their feet and raced off the train. “English?” I asked high-vis lady. She shook her head and pointed at the passengers booking it along the tracks. I followed.

Did I mention that France was having one of their worst heat waves on record? I trotted for miles in the wake of the other passengers as the sun blazed down. (And yes, I did look it up on Google Maps later, and they claimed it was less than half a mile. As if.) Finally, we came to a deserted train platform. My fellow passengers climbed up and settled onto the waiting benches with the elegant French savoir-faire of those who have just traversed a pleasantly air-conditioned passage, while my red-faced, sweating American self stood there well… sweating. Nobody seemed interested in discussing the location of the bathroom, or whether another train would come by within our lifetime.

I surrendered and opened my Bolt app. Soon a friendly driver who knew every Ladies Toilet between there and Paris was welcoming me into his little car and pointing out local landmarks as we headed for the Chateau. He told me his name was Bob and seemed sincere about it. As I was leaving his car, he gave me a card with a phone number on it and a name that wasn’t Bob. I didn’t even pretend to either of us that I wasn’t going to call him and get a ride all the way back to Paris. Then I headed inside for a day of soul-filling gawking.

2. Discover it.

In 1932, Paul Marmottan left his mansion and its considerable art collections to the French Academy of Fine Arts. Although the Academy banned the group of artists known as Impressionists, Monet’s last surviving heir donated his father’s considerable collection to the museum. This was soon followed by gifts from the heirs of other Impressionists. Today, the museum, renamed the Musée Marmottan Monet, houses one of the world’s greatest collections of impressionist paintings in their specially constructed galleries. The collection includes, ironically, Monet’s Impression, Soleil Levant — the luminous sunrise that gave its name to a movement. Despite that, there are almost no tourists. Visitors can spend quality time with Monet’s massive Water Lilies, and there won’t be a selfie-stick in sight.

And the number one way to do Paris after you’ve done Paris?

1. Do it again.

Because…

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