Paris.

Home again.

Most people know this already (because yes, I know, I talk about it a lot) but I lived in Paris when I was 22. I lived in the 11eme and I worked from 7am to 2am making cold press juice at Nubio, and from 3pm to 10pm nannying a little boy, Antoine. I had Saturdays off. It was a slog. As they say: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. And I am still now, a die hard Paris girl. So, finally getting to go back ten (TEN !!) years later, I was quite thrilled that it still felt very much like home. We visited my old 9sm apartment, and I caught up with Antoine (and his parents) who is now 14 and taller than me.

I’d booked us an apartment in Montmartre — not my first choice of arrondissement but it was budget friendly and gave me a good vibe via the internet when we were booking everything about 5 months in advance. It turned out to be perfect: close to two metro stations and two natural wine stores. On the first night we bought a rotisserie chicken, baguettes, potatoes, and some groceries from Carrefour (if you know me you’ll know my all time favourite thing to do in a new place is go to the supermarket, and French supermarkets are my idea of heaven) and a bottle of wine from Rerenga Wines. Perfection.

Other highlights include:

1. A visit to the iconic Café Flore — don’t care that it’s basic or touristy, it is a pilgrimage to go and sit and have dippy eggs and a glass of Pouilly-Fumé (don’t get over excited and order a fancy wine, we have our suspicions that they’re … how do I put this … serving €2 pinot as premier cru burgundy …) We saw an Italian Greyhound wearing a turtleneck. I bought a branded egg cup to bring home and it’s become of my most treasured possessions.

2. Every beauty girl knows it’s all about the French Pharmacy. Citypharma is the biggest and, arguably, the best. TOP TIP: take your passport and get your VAT refund ! It is a bit time consuming but it’s worth it. I got about $100 back. I tapped my best resource, Antoine’s mum, Charlotte, for her recommendations and now I bestow them upon you in her own words:

   So here is a list of products that are quite popular, French and that I like :

   ⁃ à must have is thé crème Nivea (thé Classic one), our grand mothers had it bécasse it is quite old and very Famous. It is quite thick so for dry or tired skin face or body. Very cheap !! You’ll find it in Monoprix.

   ⁃ Another cheap and famous is the Lait crème hydratant Embryolisse - they use to say that modèls use it to demak up or hydrate thé skin. In pharmacy (it is à tube).

   ⁃ Nuxe and La Roche Posay are great

   ⁃ Caudalie also (same type and prices as Nuxe) - you’ll love it as they mâke their créâms with grappes :-)) they opened à spa near Bordeaux in thé modèle of thé Vignes. I love their cream ! (Pharmacie)

   ⁃ La Rosée is à more Récent brand (pharmacie) and made only with natural products. Love it as well

   ⁃ You might see a « Oh My Cream » Store (several in Paris) see web site - they propose several brands a bit (or very !) more expensive but only good/natural products including thé brand Patyka (French) which you find also in some Pharmacies. Love them also !!

   ⁃ That it, several French brands. Good shopping!

   Alors i love this one : creme a l abricot pour les ongles (for nails, apricot cream, from Christian Dior - sephora or Nocibe etc… Grand Magasins (where you find Christian Dior make up you’ll find it) it’s great, you’ll put it in thé Evening and wake up with beautiful nails !

Plus a few extra recommendations from me:

• Biafine Water Cream — excellent for layering over retinols

• Marvis Toothpaste — I love Aquatic Mint and also the Liquorice one

• A313 — I don’t think that it’s the holy grail people say it is, but it’s a nice gentle introduction to using Vitamin A

• Bioderma Sensibio H2O Micellar Water

• Homeoplasmine Multi-Purpose Ointment

• Klorane Dry Shampoo

If you only get one thing, get the Nuxe oil. I have the original and the shimmer, it makes me feel chic and smells incredible. They also make the perfect gift, in my opinion.

what Pinterest-bathroom dreams are made of

And, yes I know you can get most of these in Australia now but it’s special to get it from straight the source, especially when the source is a standoffish French woman who firmly turns your face from side to side under the fluorescent lights and then thrusts a bunch of products into your basket for you. Amen.

3. L’Orillon — late evening, too busy to get a table, crammed in and perched on stools at the zinc counter eating hard boiled eggs with mayonnaise and a vibrant, colourful vegetable tart paired with a new favourite wine, a chenin blanc — Jasnières from Maison Gazeau-Baldi

4. An old favourite wine, purchased at Liquiderie in the 11eme, drunk out of paper cups with pastries on the Canal Saint-Martin

in my natural habitat

5. a long afternoon at the Palais de Tokyo

one of my all time favourite galleries, it is a bit weird — it was once described to me by Charlotte as «perhaps … too modern ?»

5. seeing bdrmm play at Point Éphémère

6. going to Ofr. (three times) — the greatest bookshop in the world — where I bought a candle and a jumper (and a book)

7. the Marche des Enfants Rouge (mais bien sûr)

8. lunch at the Saint Germain des Près outpost of Le Relais de l’Entrecôte, where there is no menu — you get a green salad with walnuts, steak with secret sauce and frites — and they bring you a top up of everything halfway through. When our waitress came to bring us our second round, she “accidentally” dumped half a serve of frites directly into Aidan’s lap which I found very amusing. It’s so tightly packed they have to drag the tables out to get you in and out of your seat, and the wines come by the half bottle which is the ultimate size for lunch

9. waking up every day and being in Paris

10. Ines Longevial’s exhibition at Ketabi Bourdet

11. catching up with Aidan’s friends who live in NYC which started out as lunch at Bouillon Chartier and then became drinks at Delicatessen Place

Anyway, Paris is the best, I miss it everyday, I’d move back tomorrow, and I’ve been plotting how to go back / visit regularly since the minute we left.

if you have made it this far, congratulations !

your reward is an almost exhaustive excel spreadsheet of almost everything worth doing, eating, drinking, etc. in Paris, avec links (except when they do not exist), because I love you almost as much as I love Paris, which I will continue to amend and edit and update.

(I did not realise how big an undertaking this was going to be.)

Next time: London. Some Celebrity spotting, Aidan’s birthday, Kew Gardens, a lot of shopping, and quite a bit of rain.