Paris, Je t’aime

Paris, through my eyes. These are a few tips from my Paris visits: museums, markets, cafés, and the little details that inspire me. There’s too much to fit into one journal, but here’s a start. Natalie x

Natalie in sunglasses and a denim dress holds up a copy of Paris Match at a Paris café table

Coffee and a copy of Paris Match. A little ritual whenever I’m in Paris.

An Art Deco stair hall with a geometric tiled floor, beside an open sketchbook on a gold and blue mosaic

The Institut Giacometti is housed in the former studio of artist and interior designer Paul Follot, in a listed Art Deco building.

Paintbrushes in a blue-patterned stoneware jug, beside a plaster head set in a mosaic frame

I love all the beautiful details.

Plaster figures, paints and tools inside the reconstructed Giacometti studio, seen through glass

And a glimpse into the reconstruction of Giacometti’s studio — such a beautiful discovery.

A curving staircase with a wrought-iron balustrade and black-and-white tiled floor, beside a gold curtain tassel

Hôtel de la Marine. A beautifully restored jewel, giving a glimpse into 18th-century Paris, filled with furniture, rich fabrics, and ornate interiors.

Floral printed fabric, and a glowing wall lamp on a green wall with a floral border

So much inspiration in the smallest details, and magnificent views from the balcony.

A yellow dressing room with a patterned rug, beside silk scarves draped on a brass rail

The Dries Van Noten store designed by Gert Voorjans is always a source of inspiration for colour, texture, and unexpected combinations.

The oval skylight of a domed reading room, and readers at long tables beneath arched shelves of books

The Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). The most stunning library.

A sunlit garden with palm trees and a pale stone building with a mansard roof

The garden at the Petit Palais is a lovely place to pause between exhibitions.

The giant clock at the Musée d’Orsay, with a view across Paris rooftops through its face

Musée d’Orsay is definitely my favourite museum to visit in Paris. Housed in the former Gare d’Orsay, it has the most important collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings. I love the beautiful, enormous clock.

The glass dome and painted frieze inside the Bourse de Commerce

Bourse de Commerce, Pinault Collection. Bringing contemporary artworks that François Pinault has collected over the last fifty years into a spectacular historic setting. Japanese architect Tadao Ando’s concrete cylinder creates an incredible space between old and new.

An orange, red and blue abstract painting, the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris sign, and a rainbow circular painting

Sonia Delaunay at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris. Colour and pattern I could look at all day.

The arched entrance to the Musée de Montmartre with pink lettering, beside a shuttered window and lantern on a pale facade

The Musée de Montmartre. A little pocket of Paris I love returning to.

A cubist drawing, the Musée Picasso banner hanging over a street, and a pencil portrait of a woman

The Musée Picasso is housed in the beautiful Hôtel Salé, a grand 17th-century mansion in the heart of the Marais. Seeing Picasso’s boundless experimentation inspires me to be more adventurous in my own painting practice.

Three paintings: a blue-and-white vase of flowers, a black ink flower study, and a red chair with a green woven back

I can never get enough of Matisse and Cézanne.

Chalk angels drawn on a stone wall and on a red wall

Jean-Charles de Castelbajac is a French designer and artist known for drawing signature chalk angels on urban walls and in exhibitions. A little unexpected joy on a Paris wall.

Looking up at the iron and glass roof of the Grand Palais

The vast steel-and-glass ceiling of the Grand Palais, which always has great exhibitions on show and is home to many haute couture fashion shows.

Flea market finds in Saint-Ouen: vintage tins, a folding mirror, a Marché Paul Bert sign, and old perfume bottles

Marché aux Puces. The flea markets at Saint-Ouen. Hours happily lost among old objects, textiles, and treasures.

A Degas bronze dancer sculpture, and a visitor sketching the same sculpture in a notebook

Taking time to sketch a Degas sculpture. Drawing always makes me look more closely.

Three Yves Saint Laurent LOVE designs: a 1997 poster, the Fondation shopfront, and a 1981 poster

Fondation Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent. A glimpse into the world of Yves Saint Laurent.

The green-shuttered pink house at Giverny, and a pond with water lilies beneath a weeping willow

Monet’s house and garden in Giverny. A trip beyond Paris. Such a joy to see the world that inspired his paintings.

A glasshouse at the Jardin des Plantes, green fern leaves, and a wooden insect hotel in the garden

The greenhouse at the Jardin des Plantes. The most beautiful I’ve seen.

Looking up a spiral stone staircase inside the Arc de Triomphe

Climbing this beautiful, winding staircase to the top of the Arc de Triomphe is a fantastic thing to do in Paris.

Racks of colourful pigments, the green Sennelier shopfront, and watercolour swatch charts

Sennelier, my favourite art shop in Paris. It’s impossible to leave empty-handed.

A red Metro sign on a lamppost against a blue sky, and three painted shop signs reading Tuileries, Allard, and Boulangerie

I love the Metro signs and French typography. Even the everyday lettering feels special.

The white domes of Sacré-Cœur against a blue sky, and the painted dome and apse inside

Sacré-Cœur, overlooking Montmartre. A sight that never loses its magic for me.

Painted ceramic vases and butterfly plates, a white ceramic jug, and pink flowers in a white vase

Astier de Villatte. Beautiful ceramics with little irregularities that make handmade objects so special.

The pink brick pavilions and clipped hedges of Place des Vosges, and a small child sitting beside the fountain

Place des Vosges in the Marais. One of my favourite places to sit on a Sunday while enjoying a falafel from L’As du Fallafel.

Le Progrès, a corner café with a red awning and tables outside, and the green Restaurant Voltaire sign on a Paris street

(L) Le Progrès, a lively corner café in the Marais, perfect for watching Paris go by. (R) Restaurant Voltaire, for something a little more elegant.

A woman in aviator sunglasses holding a Loulou menu, and a hand-drawn Loulou carte des vins

Loulou at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs is a favourite for a leisurely lunch. And their new restaurant at the Grand Palais, Le Grand Café, for a lovely dose of Parisian glamour.

The red shopfront of La Poule au Pot, and the restaurant’s logo in black on white tiles

La Poule au Pot, a Parisian institution, with small brass name plaques recording famous diners including Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Diners seated beneath the scalloped awnings of Café de Flore on a sunny Paris street

Café de Flore is always a must. It draws plenty of tourists, but French regulars still make it their own. I’ve had a few lovely meetings here over the years.

The glowing front of Au Petit Fer à Cheval crowded with drinkers and bikes, and the same bar at dusk with bistro chairs outside

Au Petit Fer à Cheval is a tiny bar in the Marais that takes its name from its horseshoe-shaped counter, where sitting shoulder to shoulder makes it easy to strike up a conversation with locals.

Red woven bistro chairs, a plate of bread in a napkin, and a salad niçoise with green beans and anchovies

Woven French bistro chairs, good bread, and a salad niçoise. The small pleasures of a Paris lunch.

The entrance to Le Café Rouje on a stone Paris street, and its wooden bar with fresh flowers

Le Café Rouje, a lovely extension of Rouje by Jeanne Damas, one of my favourite shops.

Looking up at the stained-glass dome ceiling of a Paris department store

The magnificent stained-glass dome ceiling at Le Printemps department store. Not bad!

Autumn trees seen through a stone archway, and the Eiffel Tower silhouetted at sunset

Paris in autumn is stunning.

A Haussmann apartment building with wrought-iron balconies, and green metal chairs under a tree

I love Haussmann buildings and French Luxembourg chairs.

Two photos of a young girl posing beside a red vintage Fiat 500 in a cobbled courtyard

In 2012, we took our four children to Paris for a school term. Our youngest was only 10 months old at the time. We rented an apartment on Boulevard Saint-Germain, with high ceilings, a beautiful staircase, and shutters opening onto the leafy street below. There were daily pleasures in the smallest rituals — buying bread, choosing cheese, stopping at a café, or just watching the beauty woven through an ordinary Parisian day.

A girl taking a bite of a pastry on a Paris street, and two girls standing side by side on an autumn pavement

Paris has become part of our family’s story, which made it a meaningful setting for our recent photoshoot.

Amber in sunglasses and a graphic T-shirt, and Chloe in a navy dress with her arms outstretched, each posing in front of a dark Paris doorway

Amber (L) and Chloe (R), already bringing diva energy to Paris from a young age.

Three music portraits: a black-and-white photo of two figures in a doorway, a smiling woman holding a guitar, and a woman with dark curly hair

A few favourites from my French soundtrack, left to right: Charlotte Cardin, Carla Bruni, and Stéfi Celma.

A dark green circular Paris je t’aime plaque on a wall, and a white T-shirt embroidered with Paris mon Amour

(L) Paris je t’aime, the city’s official tourist information service. (R) Paris mon Amour. A T-shirt that says it all. Paris IS my true love.

Paris, Je t’aime

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