Do we feel safe in Paris?

Do we feel safe in Paris?

Every time I turn on the news or open my Twitter account I am reminded of just how volatile life is, not just in Europe, but everywhere. France has been in a state of emergency since the terror attacks just over a year ago. But there is a strong sense of solidarity among Parisians, who have taken back the streets. When Parisians were asked in a survey their favourite thing to do, the most popular answer was “walking in the streets.” Even more than sex. Apparently Hemmingway’s A Moveable Feast has become a bestseller since the attacks.

Les Traveaux (The Renovation)

Les Traveaux (The Renovation)

This year in Paris has not been all Michelin star meals and Chanel fashion shows. At this very moment, for example, I am sitting in my apartment in the pouring rain waiting for an electrician who was supposed to be here three days ago to fix the power which shorts out whenever we cook with the lights on. I mean, we like to be romantic but it’s getting ridiculous.

Star Struck in Paris

Star Struck in Paris

Before coming to Paris I had never eaten in a 3-star Michelin restaurant. Last week, I had lunch at two of them.

Before you start throwing stale baguettes at me, I should point out that we were hosted. We had some friends in town, staying on Ile St. Louis, the island in the middle of the Seine. They were two couples doing a week of Michelin starred dining, either a lunch or a dinner each day, and they invited us to tag along.

Getting “Perfumed” in Paris (down to my feet)

Getting “Perfumed” in Paris (down to my feet)

My beauty regime in Paris is somewhat basic. I’m taking the jolie-laide approach, like Charlotte Gainsbourg.

In October we didn’t have hot water for five days because we tripped the fuse and didn’t know how to fix it. Luckily the messy hair look is de rigeur in Paris. I mentioned to Murray I might not highlight my hair while we lived here. “You dye your hair?” he said.

How to Eat Like a Parisian

How to Eat Like a Parisian

“Mommy! They put fish in the mashed potatoes!” cries Charlotte, incredulous, at the school gate. I explain to her gently that it’s called cod brandade, and it’s quite delicious.

Charlotte, 7, is still getting used to her canteen lunches, which, according to the menu posted on the gate last Thursday, can include roasted lamb with puréed celeriac followed by a cheese course.  

La Gardienne

La Gardienne

We live in a building with a gardienne; sort of like a concierge, except that our building has 12 apartments, not 120. We sometimes wonder what she does all day. She lives in a dimly lit room off the lobby and sometimes pokes her head out, shivers, and then goes back inside. At first, assuming she was like a concierge, I rang her bell and asked her to take our keys so that a repairman could get in. She refused, and only after a lengthy debate reluctantly took them. Paris-style, the repairman was a no-show anyway.

Paris Fashion Week

Paris Fashion Week

11:10 a.m. Invitation in hand (it’s too big to fit in my vintage YSL clutch) I jump into my Uber and head in the direction of the Tuileries garden. We pull up at the Westin Hotel (not an ordinary Westin, this one has golden lampposts flanking its grand doors) for the Spring/Summer ’17 show of Ziad Nakad, a Lebanese-born couturier popular in the Middle East. 

Things we have seen on the Paris Metro

Things we have seen on the Paris Metro

We take the Metro everywhere, especially in winter, as it’s the fastest way to get around. Nothing bad has happened to us yet, but we’ve seen a lot of things. None of us has been pickpocketed: in fact, the closest we got was an guy in a hoodie telling Murray not to carry his cell phone in his back pocket or someone would “piqué” it.

Ibiza Bound

Ibiza Bound

Ping! The message hits our BeHomm home exchange profile just before Christmas. Would we like a week in a 7-bedroom villa in Ibiza in exchange for our house in Palm Springs? A flurry of emails later we all decide it’s a great fit. Renu and Bas are a Dutch fashion stylist and DJ couple with a daughter exactly Charlotte’s age. Normally they run Villa Amore as a boho-chic boutique hotel during the party season, but they’d be with family in Amsterdam, and we’d have it all to ourselves.  Cheap flights booked on lastminute.com, we were there within a week.

A New Year in Paris

A New Year in Paris

The French ring in the New Year with La Revéillon, or The Awakening, a huge feast that goes into a “nuit blanche,” – till sunrise. We decide it’s a tradition we’ll adopt, well, at least the feast part.

Early on the morning of December 31st, the four of us set out on foot, in the near zero temperatures with a flutter of snow, to shop. Destination: Marché President Wilson. While it’s not our closest market (that would be Batingnol near the Place de Clichy, the only 100 per cent organic market in Paris, and the only place you will find apples with spots on them).  President Wilson, on the other hand, is the supermodel of food markets. Her roses are stacked high and perfectly, her seafood glistens, and her poultry comes with its elegant white head plumage intact.