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.

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