Paris_ The Collected Traveler - Barrie Kerper [268]
Since I first began visiting as a student, the museum has been enlarged and now also hosts temporary exhibits. Though it is receiving visitors in greater numbers, I still don’t often see many North Americans here, and I urge readers to make time for this museum gem.
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Nota Bene
Some readers may already subscribe to Nota Bene, a quarterly publication founded in 2001 dedicated to independently, impartially, and exactingly reviewing the world’s finest destinations. It’s aptly named, as the reviews are brutally, ruthlessly honest, and founder and chairman Anthony Lassman is keenly aware that many hotels, for example, command extremely high sums for service that seldom matches the price. Nota Bene offers three services: the Review (ten guides published per year, focusing on hotels, food, nightlife, and travel tips), Pulse (devoted to shopping, fashion, lifestyle, and well-being), and Bespoke (tailored travel management service for members). Plus it offers a full-service Web site (notabenetravel.com). When the Nota Bene folks rave about something, you can be assured it will not disappoint. But their expertise comes at a price: upward of several hundreds of British pounds per year. Register for white, black, or platinum membership online.
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Oberkampf
The rue Oberkampf, in the eleventh arrondissement, has been hip for about a dozen years or so, and I very much enjoy walking along it and the streets nearby, stopping for some inexpensive international cuisine and poking into refreshingly different shops. I suspect many people don’t know, however, that the street is named after Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf, a German-born textile entrepreneur honored as a royal manufacturer by Louis XVI. Oberkampf created the fabric known as toile de Jouy, cotton or linen decorated with scenic French patterns and printed in one color on a light ground. His designs were originally printed from woodblocks, though by 1770 copperplates were used; and he set up shop in Jouy-en-Josas, near Versailles on the river Bièvre. Fans of toile de Jouy may want to visit the museum there (54 rue Charles de Gaulle, Jouy-en-Josas / museedelatoiledejouy.fr).
Olivier Pitou
There are a number of notable flower shops in Paris, but Olivier Pitou (14 rue des Saints-Pères, 7ème) is my new favorite. Fleuriste Pitou is a narrow shop absolutely jammed with magnificent flowers, potted plants, garden specialty items, and statuary—it’s more like a mini jungle than a shop. Pitou also has a terrific épicerie directly across the street, at no. 23, with prepared foods, olive oils and vinegars, wines, cheese, pâté, and bread; if you’ve forgotten a tire-bouchon (corkscrew), they’ll kindly open the bottles for you.
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Papier Plus
I’m a nut for fine papers and journals, and my favorite paper haunt in Paris is Papier Plus (9 rue du Pont-Louis-Philippe, 4ème / papierplus.com), which has been around since 1976. It stocks notebooks, binders, stationery, photo albums, boxes, and portfolios by French craftsmen. The notebooks come in a range of sizes and formats, and every year they’re offered in a range of new colors. I especially like the photo albums, which feature a cut out circular window on the cover, perfect for your best photo of the City of Light.
Pariscope
I just love Pariscope (pariscope.fr), the weekly publication detailing everything happening in the city and appearing every Wednesday. Its small size—about five by seven inches—is compact enough that you can carry it around in just about any size handbag or satchel. Even though it’s in