When you think about Paris, more often than not, you think of its icons: the Eiffel Tower, the Seine, the Arc de Triumph, the Louvre and the Champs Elysées. This is where the tourists go in droves, to see these places for their own eyes, to take pictures (so they can prove to other people they have seen these places with their own eyes) and to swarm with gleeful enthusiasm that they are in fact doing all of this in the biggest icon of all, Paris.

The problem with this wonderful yearly pilgrimage of hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people is that they tend to take the gloss off what is largely known as an otherwise picturesque and chic city. So although locations such as the Champs Elysées may have a historical reputation for being one of the most exclusive addresses in the world, largely thanks to this reputation, the boulevard itself is a little tattered around the edges. Sadly, due to the mega stores that now populate it, it imparts in the mouth that faintly dirty ‘High Street’ after-taste found in almost every other city in the world. That is why stumbling upon Le 66 some time ago (I ducked down a shopping arcade to get away from the teeming hordes) felt something akin to uncovering a diamond in the rough. … read more »

I find it very difficult to think about cheese without growing violently ravenous. For many years now I’ve professed something of a mantra to this effect: in response to being asked what my favourite things are in life, I will reply without hesitation “cheese, chocolate and wine”. This is a little limiting I realise, but one has to know what one is about in very simple terms. And my preference is not necessarily in that order, but feed me a meal that possesses all three of those categories and you are pretty much on the right track to making me as happy as a pig in mud.

Walk me into a cheese shop such as Fromagers de France and let me loose with a bank card? Oh, well, it’s almost better than, well, pretty much anything else that is fit to write on this blog. … read more »

There is more than one guilty pleasure to be found in this black jewel of a perfume shop. The first is the idea of artisan perfume. As someone who has a rather obsessive streak when it comes to perfume - and scents in general - Etat Libre D’Orange primarily represents a curiously intoxicating charm: the possibility of discovering a sublime perfume before the throngs do. This was the lure that drew me into the boutique. However, after the initial excitement of the myriad of olfactory possibilities on offer, it was something a little more risqué that coaxed me to linger. … read more »

When sitting in Usagi it becomes quickly evident that there is a large elephant in the room. No, not the fact that everyone is too polite to mention that the chairs are somewhat uncomfortable. That is, if you are lucky enough to get a chair: you might be made to perch uneasily for the entire duration of the meal on the edge of a single bed that doubles as a shared banquette. Nor is it the fact that the room is unnervingly hot, despite the fact that there is at least one door open to some kind of back stairwell area behind the serving bench.

No, when I say an elephant, I really do mean an elephant. Or rather, a bunny. It’s a huge, white lumping thing in the corner, one that sits rather like a child that has behaved poorly and is thus serving its punishment, unmoving, facing the wall in the hope that no-one will notice it. Uh, not quite. … read more »

The name of this bar may sound like a slightly perverse play on Andy Warhol, as in, “In the future everyone is going to be famous for 15 minutes” - as I’m sure many of its patrons would like to be. However, Andy Wahloo actually means “I have nothing” in Arabic - a rather odd name for a place that is so richly furnished. Created by the owners of the eponymous Sketch and Momo in London who also own the chic little restaurant 404 next door, Andy Warloo is a serious destination for the young and beautiful of Paris. … read more »