“Whoever does not visit Paris regularly will never really be elegant”

— Honoré de Balzac

Bonjour, Paris!

This is one of my favorite breakfast nooks in Paris. Can you guess where it is?

What a joy it was to return to Paris, fully vaccinated, rapid-tested, and bearing a QR-coded certificate attesting to those facts. I was eager to see some of my favorite sites again, and discover new ones. I also wanted to help my clients understand how international travel has evolved as we approach the second anniversary of the pandemic. In France, the famous love-hate relationship with bureaucracy has blossomed into a passionate romance. And like all intense romances, it can be as exhilarating as it is confining.

Expect mask wearing to be as strictly enforced as no-smoking areas are in the United States. Expect to show your proof of vaccination at museums, restaurants and other public areas. Major museums and tourist attractions now require or strongly suggest booking timed tickets in advance. You can find the latest travel requirements here, or ask your travel consultant for updates.

Even with the restrictions, Paris remains one of the world’s great cities, and perhaps the single greatest walking city in the world. Most flights from the US East Coast arrive in the early morning, and most hotel rooms aren’t ready until 2pm, so drop off your luggage in the hotel lobby and become a Flâneur, meaning “stroller” or “loafer,” a term coined by Charles Baudelaire to describe gentlemen and ladies who walked the city, observing and enjoying life with no particular destination.

Arriving early in Paris has its perks - such as beating the crowds

The best places to be a Flâneur in Paris

Paris Street Markets

Every morning in Paris, you’ll find a new market. Even if you’re not buying, you’ll enjoy just walking around. The city boasts 72 food markets and 10 markets specializing in everything from clothes to art to old books to stamps. You can find an excellent directory listed by Arrondissment here.

Les Grand Magasins

The view from the Galeries Lafayette is pretty spectacular too!

If you prefer a more refined shopping experience, or if the weather is poor, visit Paris’ Grand Magasins (Department Stores) instead. The Printemps Haussmann, Le Bon Marche and the Galeries Lafayette were the original big-box stores, except instead of low prices, they attracted shoppers with stunning architecture, prized luxuries and daily fashion shows. The writer Emile Zola might have called them “The Ladies’ Paradise,” in the 19th century, but then as now they remain the best place for the hoi polloi to come tête-à-tête with haute couture.

Paris’s museums, grand et petit

While you could spend all day - or even a lifetime - in the Louvre, Paris’ most famous museum, Covid restrictions mean that you might not be able to get a same-day timeslot. Instead of feeling disappointment and ennui, this is a great time to discover some of the city’s less-visited museums. The city boasts museums on everything from perfumes to counterfeit goods to model cities to smoking. On my most recent visit, I enjoyed the Bourse de Commerce, a contemporary art museum housed in a historic stock market. With contemporary art and historic architecture, the museum is a sure hit for connoisseurs of any period.

Parisian walking tours

Finally, if you’re new to Flâneury, you might consider engaging the services of a professional. The city’s walking guides can help you understand the history, culture and stories of your favorite arrondissements. They can also help you arrange special services at ateliers, behind-the-scenes tours of churches and private boat tours on the Seine. How to find such a guide? Just contact your friendly neighborhood travel consultant.

Lyon and the South of France

For all that I love Paris, the city does have a damp little secret - it rains more in Paris every year than London. So I eagerly boarded on of France famous TGV’s (Train de Grande Vitesse, high speed rail). After two pleasant hours, I disembarked to discover Lyon, France’s second city and gastronomic center, the best place to rediscover France’s hearty provincial fare.

Lyon is home to the first culturally protected district in France, Vieux Lyon. Even older than Paris’ neighborhoods, the old city dates back to to the Renaissance. The (relatively) newer heart of Lyon, Lyon Presqu’ile, forms the peninsula at the confluence of the rivers Saône and Rhône. A river tour is the best way to appreciate the wildly diverging architecture of Lyon, which smashes historic and modern together with a laissez faire attitude.

Beaujolais

From Lyon, you can take a quick train ride to the famed regions of Beaujolais and Provence, but unless time is of the essence (and in Southern France, it really shouldn’t be), this is a wonderful chance to rent a car and discover La France Profonde- the French countryside.

Many small towns in France have functioning buildings far older than Paris’

Beaujolais wine isn’t exactly undiscovered, but it’s often overlooked between its more popular cousins, Burgundy and Bordeaux. On the third Thursday of every November, Beaujolais winegrowers release “Beaujolais Noveau,” a new wine picked and bottled just that year. If you’re in the region for the celebration, you’re in luck! But if you’re there any other time of year, you’re still in luck. Beaujolais wine is absolutely delicious, and if you particularly fancy any of the vintages you’ve sampled, you can have a whole case shipped home.

Inside the storied Beaujolis wine cellars - the perfect place to sample!

Provence and the French Riviera

South of Lyon is the legendary region of Provence, whose light inspired Van Gogh, Gauguin and Picasso. With 300 days of sunshine, you’ll definitely want to rent a car, moto or bike to explore the small cities and villages throughout the region, each surrounded by thousands of acres of vineyards.

“Ah, those who do not believe in the sun here are very ungodly.” - Vincent Van Gogh

Along the Provencal coast you’ll find the famous French Riviera, home of storied luxury travel destinations like Nice, Cannes and St. Tropez, as well as the port city of Marseille, once notoriously rough-and-tumble, now one of the hottest and most engaging destinations in Europe.

From Marseille’s airport, you can easily catch a flight connecting with a US-bound airliner, or get back on the TGV to discover another region of beautiful, enchanting France!

Bon Voyage,

Maury