Lauren Elkin, aka "Maîtresse" is the local go-to girl for learning about the literary side of Paris. Originally from New York, she has lived in Paris on and off since 1999. While working on a PhD in English literature at the Université de Paris VII, she's also managed to finish a first novel. And in her free time, she writes a blog about her bookish life in the City of Light. This is her Paris.  

Photo by unsureshot

After almost a decade, you're something of a Paris veteran. But is there a place that, when you first arrived in Paris, held a certain magic for you?

There are so many places... the whole city has this amazing aura to it, every day I walk around and am thankful that I live here. But probably the Marais is the heart of my devotion to this place. I remember one night in the winter months of 1999, I was walking south on the rue de Turenne towards the rue St Antoine around 5 pm or so, but the sun was already setting and the world was purple and grey, and looking at the houses perched on the rue St Antoine, the way they stood forward against the sky, it really got to me. Every time I'm in that neighborhood now, I walk down that street and look at those houses and remember the feeling of being 19 years old and falling in love with Paris. This is the only city that seems to match my moods with its own, and I think this is most true in the Marais.

Photo by Mu Foo 

What's the most extravagant meal you've had in Paris, and what was it like?

Le Carré des Feuillants, January 2007. I was taken there for dinner on a whim - no special occasion or anything - and it was the most incredible meal of my life. The sommelier recommended the most amazing white wine from Burgundy, Chassagne Montrachet "Morgeot" 1996, Domaine Ramonet - it had so many different layers to it. I think wine people call that "complexity"? And I had a vegetable I had never heard of, topinambour, a kind of artichoke, layered with foie gras and black truffles... it was the kind of meal where the food is so good it's almost obscene to be experiencing that level of pleasure in public! Now we're planning a road trip to Burgundy to track down Monsieur Ramonet and buy several crates of his wine.

What's the most enjoyable high-brow cultural experience you've had in Paris?

To see Berlioz's "Roméo et Juliette" at the Opéra Bastille for my birthday last year. My boyfriend took me, and he wore a suit and tie, and I wore a pretty dress, and the music was beautiful, and the staging and choreography highly original and even quirky. I felt like a little kid, like when my parents took me to my first Broadway show.

Is there any touristy activity or place that's still fun for a local?

Le Refuge des Fondues in Montmartre. Everyone makes fun of me but I love it. The wine is served in baby bottles, the fondue is plentiful, and the waiters make the girls climb over the tables to get to their seats. It's filled with giggling American college students.  You don't walk out of there after a meal so much as ooze.  What's not to love?


Photo: lejeuneétranger

Is there a particular place where you like to go and write?

Le Select, on the boulevard Montparnasse. And the best place to go when I'm trying to write but can't is the Musée Carnavalet... that place really gets my creative juices flowing. And entry to the permanent exhibit is free, which is great for us struggling writers. 

Lauren Elkin is the author of the novel In Dorsoduro (representation by Diana Finch), and is at work on novel number two, set in present-day Paris. In addition to writing the blog Maîtresse, Lauren's writing has appeared in The Guardian, Gridskipper, the Huffington Post, Nextbook, The Forward, Parisist, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and the Paris Voice.

Go further:

Local view: Catherine Sanderson's Paris

Local view: Sebastian Horsley's London  

Local view: Melissa Maldonado's Berlin

Local view: Jerome Weatherald's London

Local view: Gilles Valentin's Istanbul

Local view: Adam Kuban's New York 

Photo: Laurent Attias

A few years ago, Catherine Sanderson was already one of Paris' most well-known expatriate bloggers. Her site Petite Anglaise had a loyal following of 4,000 visitors who arrived daily to hear the British secretary's stories about Paris, her French lover "Mr. Frog," and their bilingual daughter "tadpole." Then in April 2006, Sanderson's world turned upside down. Her employer, a posh British accountancy firm, discovered her blog and immediately fired her. Sanderson filed a lawsuit, endured a media storm, and eventually emerged with a double book deal from Penguin. She won the lawsuit, launched the first book to rave reviews, and now spends her days writing from a new apartment in Belleville. This is her Paris...

After 13 years in this city, you're now a veteran. But is there any place that held a certain magic when you first arrived in Paris?

My first apartment in Paris was on rue de la Roquette, midway between the place de la Bastille and Père Lachaise cemetery.  It was the closest thing to a park in my neighbourhood, and I often used to take a book and spend a few hours sunning myself on a bench somewhere off the beaten track  (i.e. as far from Oscar Wilde or Jim Morrisson as possible).  I revisited Père Lachaise in the spring - my first visit in ten years or more - and my five-year-old daughter loved weaving in amongst the gravestones and admiring the sculptures.   We plan to make a return visit in a month or two, to see the trees in all their autumn glory.

Photo: Mu Foo 

Where do you go when you're feeling a bit indulgent?

When I want to spoil myself I head to the Marais for some retail therapy.  Branches of many of my favourite shops (Zadig and Voltaire, Et Vous, Les Petites, Comptoir des Cotonniers, Sandro, Muji, to name but a few...) are located in a really compact area (500m2) bordered by the rue des Rosiers, rue Pavée, rue des Francs Bourgeois, and rue Vielle du Temple, with many of them open on Sundays.  For my favourite snack - a falafel with all the trimmings - I head to L'As du Fallafel on rue des Rosiers.  And for dessert, a slice of cheesecake from one of the nearby Jewish bakeries.

Photo: Roboppy

 What's the most extravagent meal you've had in Paris, and what was it like?

For a boyfriend's birthday I once splashed out on a 'menu degustation' at Blue Elephant thai restaurant, which is something of an institution in Paris. I reserved well in advance and managed to snag one of the prized tables for two by the indoor water feature. The setting was gorgeous, the service impeccable and the tiny taster portions of many of their signature appetisers were exquisite - it's really hard to find properly spiced thai food in Paris. However, our dinner was very nearly ruined when we followed our waitress's instructions and began to work our way clockwise around the tray of main courses, intending to start with the mildest dish and work up to the spiciest by degrees. The first dish was the most eye-watering, tastebud-nuking dish I've ever tasted: our waitress had got her instructions back to front. Sadly, my taste buds were in such a state of shock that I couldn't fully appreciate the rest of the meal.

Photo: Mu Foo  

Where do you go on a sunny day in Paris?

If I want to sit and soak up some rays, I usually head for the Parc de Belleville with a book or a picnic. You get a panoramic view of the Paris skyline from the highest point of the park, by rue Piat, and the best lawns for picnicking are just below the belvedère, either side of the shallow waterways where you can dip your feet if you begin to overheat. If I fancy a walk instead, we often stroll along the Canal St Martin. My daughter loves watching the barges negotiate the locks, and there are plenty of cafés with outdoor tables along the way if we want to stop for a bite to eat.

Photo: Mu Foo 

What's your favorite local place that you wouldn't necessarily recommend to tourists?

My favourite haunt in Belleville is the Salon de Thé Wen Zhou. It's a tiny, unassuming Chinese snack bar which I must have walked past a hundred times without giving it a second glance until the day when, on the recommendation of a friend, I stepped inside. Wen Zhou has since become a firm favourite in our family - and judging by the number of other regulars we've spotted there, we're not alone. My personal favourite si the pork and herb ravioli and my daughter always goes for the sautéed Shanghai noodles, or 'fat worm noodles', as she calls them. 

If you were ever to leave this city, what place would you most miss?

I don't think I'd miss any one particular place. But when I travel elsewhere I miss the reliability of the Paris métro, I realise how wonderfully compact and walkable Paris is compared to so many other capital cities. And I'd miss little things like the smell of baking bread as I pass a boulangerie, the way you can linger over a single coffee in a café without anyone passing comment.

Photo: Graphistolage

Catherine Sanderson is currently finishing her second book, due to be published by Penguin in August 2009. Her first book Petite Anglaise is on sale now (UK/USA), and she continues to write about life in Paris on her blog of the same name.

Go further:

Local view: Jerome Weatherald's London

Local view: Melissa Maldonado's Berlin

Local view: Lauren Elkin's Paris 

Local view: Sebastian Horsley's London

Local view: Gilles Valentin's Istanbul

Local view: Adam Kuban's New York  

Paris has loads of public baths. Both luxurious spas and Arabian hammams. Here is a handful of Momondo-writer Louise Sandager’s personal favorites.

Mint tea and bath slippers

One of the best bath houses is Les Bains du Marais in rue des Blanc-Manteaux. When you walk into the lobby, you immediately feel yourself thrown into a gentleman’s study in colonial North Africa. Here there are thick, old Moroccan wooden panels, palm trees and tall glass cupboards with lotions and soaps rich in vitamins.

In the subterranean hammam you are equipped with a pair of well-fitting bath slippers and after five minutes you have forgotten all about parking problems and the early morning rush. Here you move lazily between the steam bath and the rest lounge, which is at bit cooler. If you pass by then book an appointment with Jama. A little, chubby Moroccan lady in a bathing suit, who is full of vitality. She’s in charge of gommage, the scrub, where the dead skin is rubbed of and every single infiltration is massaged away with a heavy brush. You are even rubbed between the toes and behind the ears.

Afterwards, there is steaming hot mint tea in the tea salon, where the neighborhood’s gays, artists and communication workers enjoy a healthy lunch amidst ladies in bath robes, saving their spa trip for the men’s only day.

Les Bains du Marais, 31, rue Blancs Manteaux. Metro: Rambuteau.

Happiness at Chunwa

Recently I had been working my garden for en entire weekend and my whole body was aching. I thought about going to Ronald, the American - and quite handsome - shiatsu-masseur at the elegant institute Carita in rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré. He has previously straightened me out.But then it so happened that I read about Les Portes de Bacopa. A big luxury flat on one of Paris’ most fashionable addresses. Transformed into a wellness-cave where stressed Parisians can take a time-out from there hectic lives.

I went there a Tuesday afternoon. Two floors op the wide staircase, where Madam Evelyne received me, as if I was a long awaited guest. Inside, behind the heavy door, I landed in the middle of the set for one of those French movies about Indo-China in the 50s. There was low Asian furniture, palm trees, birds’ chirping and a scent of Oriental incense.

In advance I had chosen my Massage Volupté, which in French means something like sensual enjoyment, and I didn’t regret it for at minute. As a stroke of good luck I got the young Korean Chunwa as my masseuse. She has recently been praised in the most flattering terms in a spa-supplement in the big, snobbish Parisian newspaper Le Figaro and honestly: It was an hour and a half of sheer pampering.

I lay there on a bed of luscious terry cloth, the floor covered with rose petals, while Chunwa kneaded every inch of my body. She’s a trained cosmetologist and has since, from her employer, received additional massage-training at private schools in Paris.

Les Portes de Bacopa, 45, avenue George V. Metro: George V.

100 euros for the cellulite

If you’re looking for real luxury, then try Espace Payot in rue Pierre Charron in the 8. arrondissement. It has in just a short time – and deservedly – become one of the hottest public baths in town.

1.200 square metres with everything a tired body can dream of. Here there’s a hammam and sauna, bubbling spa, hairdresser, manicure, pedicure and of course loads of masseurs ready to knead the muscles. For an additional 100 euros you can even have your cellulite rubbed.

It’s all first class surroundings and aesthetic and all that. But still, I think it’s almost comical when you have to pick from a menu whether you want to lie on crystals, have a spinal manipulation or be rolled in vanilla oil. Somehow, it feels slightly over the top. But luxurious none the less, of course.

Espace Payot, 62 rue Pierre Charron. Metro: George V.

Paris Tourist Office/David Lefranc 

It was never a conscious decision, but for some reason I always stayed out of the 13th arrondissement. I only went here if catching a movie on Place d’Italie or if I had to buy dried noodles or erotic drinking glasses in the Chinese area (the ones where you see naked women at the bottom when you pour alcohol in!).

The 13th arrondissement has no distinctive reputation. There are some ugly high-rises inhabited by thousands of Chinese immigrants and the hospital where Lady Diana passed away. But I’ve never bumped into anything memorable here.

Paris Tourist Office/David Lefranc

That is, until I discovered Butte aux Cailles. A tiny neighborhood in the 13th arr. concentrated around a few streets on a hill behind the metro station Corvisart. I’ve never felt so far from Paris inside of Paris. Narrow streets and town houses, small court yards with cabinetmaker’s workshops and bars with peeled paint on the walls and crochet curtains. Like a small village, where time hasn’t changed and you can still get sausage from Montbéllard with lentils and bacon for 8,50 Euros.

In Café du Commerce on rue Cinq Diamants, the waiter will make you a damn good cup of coffee with warm milk, and the chef suggests you try their terrine de boeuf. On Sunday afternoons there is a jazz concert with free admittance. But get there early, since the café is no bigger than a living room.     


By Louise Sandager, extract from the travel guide PARIS mon amour!, published by Gyldendal.

Paris is home to the world’s largest amount of movie theaters within one city. Huge multiplexes where Hollywood blockbusters can be seen on gigantic screens and tiny art house theaters where you can rediscover old movies. Any week of the year, 200 different films are shown in this cinema city.

If you want to go for a drink or a stroll on the waterfront before or after the film experience, go to MK2 at the Villette bassin. One of the city’s most wonderful movie houses is located here, in a centenarian warehouse with a café terrace on the quay.The building is an experience in itself.  Ancient iron and modern glass panes decorated with painted words like amour, democratie, femmes and verité.

This is where I saw a dead body for the first time in my life. He was lying on the sidewalk as the police was sketching him on the ground and people were rushing by. Just like in the movies. Later, I read that he had been stabbed in a drug encounter. But just to reassure you: I’ve been there many times without seeing any dead people!

On summer nights, hanging out along the floodgates all the way from the 10th arrondissement, arriving early, sipping a green mint sirop, watching the boats go by.

The theater mainly shows European films, so this is not the place to catch the latest Rambo flick. MK2 on the Seine is very quality conscious – or snobbish, if you will - and a short film is often screened before the actual movie. And there are lots of great French, Spanish, British and more exotic films to be discovered here.

The wine that is being served in the restaurant and the bar has been selected by the director Claude Chabrol. I don’t know whether he is a wine connoisseur. But it’s fine.

By Louise Sandager, exctract from her book PARIS mon amour!, published by Gyldendal.

Go further: Watch movie in the old-style DDR Kino International in Berlin.