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was an American in the kitchen!”). She attended the Sorbonne as an undergraduate and taught French in an International Baccalaureate high school program in Phoenix. Her husband’s family is originally French-Canadian, “so it was a pleasant surprise,” she said, “that my father-in-law’s first language was French and that I was able to communicate with my husband’s entire extended family in their native tongue.” In addition to her French background, she’d been doing writing and translating for companies in the beauty industry; plus some of her favorite skin-care products are French, and she’s long had an interest in well-being. All of this made her a natural for authoring a spa book. Levesque thought many of the books about beauty in France created caricatures of French women, and she set about to improve upon that: “I wanted to offer more of a holistic and practical guide to Parisian beauty.” She was fortunate, while researching her book, to rent an apartment next to the Luxembourg Gardens, as she had her two daughters with her and was pregnant with her third. It was exhausting, she said, “but my parents came along to help with the girls and they spent part of almost every single day in the Luxembourg. I think it is one of the most beautiful gifts I can give them, the experience of travel.”

There are useful chapters in Pampered in Paris on basics such as French words and phrases and etiquette, which is essential, as Levesque can tell you: “I had a spa experience a few years ago that would have been much more relaxing if someone had told me what to expect. I was not anticipating a male masseur or a chest massage on my first Parisian spa day, but that’s what I got!” Levesque introduces readers to more than fifty spas in the first through ninth arrondissements, plus the twelfth and sixteenth, as well as four in the suburbs. They are quite varied—some offer traditional French treatments while others specialize in Thai, Chinese, or Indian therapies—and range in price from budget to very expensive. (Also included is the rare Nickel Spa for Men, which opened the first men’s salon in a department store in Paris at the Printemps on boulevard Haussmann and operates another outpost in the rue des Francs-Bourgeois in the third.) Levesque discusses thermalisme (thermal cures), hammams (Turkish baths), and thalassotherapy (treatments from the sea). She recommends manicure and pedicure salons as well as makeup boutiques, chains, and perfumeries. She explains that the French regard weekly salon visits for manicures and pedicures as “peculiarly American”; only a few salons are dedicated to nail care, but almost every spa offers a full menu of nail treatments.

Photo Credit bm1.3

My favorite chapter, “Beauty Secrets Revealed,” extolls the virtues of French pharmacies, which I adore. Pharmacies are identified by a light green neon sign; every neighborhood has a handful, so you are never very far from one (they also take turns staying open on weekends and holidays). Not only can you fill prescriptions here, but you can also find some items available over the counter that in the United States are available only by prescription. Levesque shares a list of must-have pharmacie items, including Avène and Nuxe products, which “have a mass popular and critical following.” Perhaps best of all is her recommendation of Be Relax, a kind of mini spa at both Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports. Walk-ins are expected, and a number of services are offered, including deep massage, massage designed to help travelers relax before a long flight, and foot massage. Though I understand why these services are popular before a flight, I actually think they would be better after a flight—how much better I would feel if I arrived at my hotel after a thirty-minute foot massage!

Levesque, who has dry and very sensitive skin, chooses Nuxe Crème Fraîche de Beauté Suractivée as her favorite moisturizer. “Also, as my French friends told me and I confirmed with research, Bioderma Créaline H20 Sans Parfum is many a French woman’s well-kept secret—it’s a gentle cleanser, and