My (Big) Paris Guide

I feel love, Paris Paris (*in Catherine Denuve's voice*)

Tuileries, a park I could totally walk in for hours.

“I feel love, Paris Paris
Love to love, Paris Paris
Feelings so close to my heart”

Malcom McLaren’s album, “Paris”, is a love letter that to me perfectly captures the spirit of this city. I have a heart-warming sentiment to Paris - I visited it countless of times as a child, and whenever I have an opportunity to come back, I feel like in some sort of ecstatic heaven. I know it might sound cheesy, but there’s no wonder why all the artistic greats lived and created right here. Paris is a symphony of beauty and brashness, of splendor and rawness. It’s where “chic” was born: an unexplainable mixture of good and bad taste, something instant and fleeting, that little spark you just can’t make up. Of course, Paris might get horribly mainstream - just looking at the diabolical number of Louis Vuittons and Ladurees scattered around the city, or the ridiculous Maison Dior on Avenue Montaigne, once a relatively medium-sized boutique where Carrie Bradshaw hit the deck, today a megalomaniac epicenter of tackiness. But still, Paris is Paris, and you’ve got to accept its jungle rules. And cherish all the unique, charismatic and inspiring places that either exist for years (R.I.P. Colette, forever in my heart) or just start their story.

Last year I’ve posted my Warsaw guide which I update regularly. I’m working on Prague (I know a lot of you asked for it!) and Berlin guides too. Now I’m handing you my Paris guide, a mix of 40+ beloved places I’ve visited throughout the years, as well as personal anecdotes, musings, stories and observations. I hope this guide will come across as timeless, handy and essential. I realize some places might feel very well known, but you know what? If an iconic restaurant still serves some of the best food ever, why not give it its well-deserved flowers. And of course, I’ve included some lesser-known spots that I’m sure you’ll fall in love with just as much as I did.