39Vaugirard

I never knew this but I’m glad I found out here, rather than at poolside. In French public pools, to avoid swimming suit-like attire (cut-offs, shorts or worse), men must wear Speedos.

So Alton Towers has banned embarrassingly titchy swimming trunks at its water park. But spare a thought for France, where the opposite is true: local authorities regularly force men to ditch their Bermudas and parade in skin-tight budgie-smugglers for the greater public good.

In French public pools, from the racing lanes of Paris to the open-air lidos and water parks of the south, anything bigger than Speedos is banned and you must hoist yourself into a posing pouch as a civic requirement. French changing rooms are littered with the broken dreams of prudish males abroad who thought they could sneak in a few lengths without showing their contours.

[From Why Speedos are still huge in France]

This sounds like another attempt to shore up French industry, but it does have a certain logic in a country trying to welcome differences, but at the heart, trying to make everyone into a Frenchman.

Our friend Pierre surprised us by inviting us for a Sunday brunch at Kong. Our daughter was delighted with the manga-inspired witty decor of Philippe Starck. We were wowed by the panoramic skyline views. Food was nice enough but definitely an ‘inside’ experience, especially its kooky, disco-ball-and-kid-sumo-adorned bathrooms. Apparently, It was featured as a chic eatery in Sex and the City.

1 rue de Pont Neuf, Paris, 75001. +33 01 40 390 900.

One of the many luxuries of spending lots of time in Paris every year is freedom from the tyranny of “must-do” lists. Some days we don’t leave the apartment at all, bathing in the Buddhistic calm that comes with knowing that it’s all outside the door if were just to open that door.

At the same time, we also like to visit small Paris museums since they are as varied and plentiful as snowflakes, and usually provide a new perspective on French culture and art. Here are five museums (including one X-rated) that we haven’t been to, but will add to our “maybe today” list when we inevitably have to leave the apartment for coffee and orange juice at some point. And they often give us added incentive to get out of our neighborhood to see something different. Only one of these little attractions is in the 6th, just down the way on the rue Monsieur le Prince.

1. Musée d’Histoire de la Médecine.

Address : 12 rue de l’école de Médecine, 75005
Opening Times : 14:00 – 17:30 Monday to Saturday.
Price: € 3.50
Website: http://www.bium.univ-paris5.fr/musee/
2. Musée des Arts Forains

Fairground equipment from the 19th century. It’s used mostly as a backdrop to corporate events, but if you can organize 15 people, you can make a group visit.

Address : 53 Avenue des Terroirs de France, 75012
Opening Times : On appointment
Price: On appointment
Website: http://www.pavillons-de-bercy.com/EN/museum-fairground-art.html

3. Musée de la Préfecture de Police

Famous crimes and criminals in this hard-to-find museum inside a police station. You may have to ask a flat foot how to find it.

Address : 4, rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève 75005
Opening Times : 09:00 – 17:00 Monday to Friday, Saturday: 10:00 – 17:00; Closed on Sundays
Price: Free
Website: http://www.prefecture-police-paris.interieur.gouv.fr/connaitre/musee/musee.htm

4. Musée de l’Erotisme

Tasteful and informative, this museum is limited to adults over 18.

Address : 72 Boulevard de Clichy 75017
Opening Times : 7 days a week, 10am to 2am!
Price: 8 Euros (3 Euro reduction from website)
Website: http://www.musee-erotisme.com/fichiers/home.php?lang=en

5. Maison d’Auguste Comte

Apartment of the founder of Positivism and modern Sociology. Good view on how middle class lived in the 19th century and good counterpoint to the Jacquemart-André house/museum.

Address : 10, rue Monsieur le Prince 7500
Opening Times : Wednesday 2pm – 5pm
Price: Free
Website: http://www.augustecomte.org/site/index.php?id=34

For more description, see 5 Unusual Museums in Paris

And picking models that reinforce the identity of the hotel.

Le Meurice, the renowned hotel that occupies an 1835 palace across from the Tuileries, unveiled five retro-style bikes in the blue-green shade of the oxidized copper rooftops of the city, with matching helmets and front baskets emblazoned with the hotel’s gold logo. American and British guests in their 30s tend to be the most enthusiastic customers, according to the hotel; Le Meurice’s sister hotel, the Plaza Athénée, opted for zippy red bikes with panniers.

My husband and I always talk about being a month ahead of NY Times on finding and discovering new places in the neighborhood. Well, they beat us to this one. It’s on my list to try when we return this summer. A tiny, successful restaurant from the 11th Arr. decides to open Itinéraires, twice as large, in the Latin Quarter. And the proprietors are only 30 years old husband and wife team. What intrigued me was the blackboard menu: Jerusalem artichoke soup comes garnished with a granita of foie gras; roast cod is topped with layers of tempura vegetables; and pheasant breast is accompanied by dates, pistachios, fruit compote and the odd nugget of buckshot. All stuff I like. Apparently Itinéraires is already on the itineraries of many Parisians and visitors. Best to book ahead.

5 rue de Pontoise, 75005 Paris, 33-1-4633-6011

This is an interesting site that must access some database to record all crimes in Paris and in other areas of France. Interestingly, much of the site, including some awkward translations, is in French.   

You may want to check on the area you’re staying at or get a feel for the underbelly of the city. Some I quickly read:

Shootings at the base of Sacré Coeur.

Scammers stealing credit card numbers.

Pedestrian run over by taxi.

47-year old man dead lying by Métro.

Paris: votre quartier est il sûr? Mesurez votre coefficient de sécurité à partir de votre adresse. ( + de 500 lieux dans la base de données en 2007 des décès, morts, blessés par agressions, drogues, braquages,i ncendies, accidents auto…)

[From Paris et sa region: agressions, vols, des meurtres, incendies ,accidents automobile]

Paris Greeter was set up just so locals can share the Parisian experience. Local guides take you on tours of 2-3 hours and welcome children.

You are coming to Paris and want to live an unusual and exciting experience?
A Paris Greeter will make sure you discover the true Paris, the way Parisians live it and love it!
Paris Greeters are volunteers willing to share their knowledge of Paris in general and a specific neighbourhood in particular. They will take you to unusual and often hidden places, will tell you their history (and story!) and will give you tips on good places to go.

All our volunteers are Paris lovers who like to share the art, tradition and culture of this fascinating city. At the end of the walk, we really want you to have the feeling that you have not only discovered the city but also had an insight into what we call the “Parisian way of life.”

[From ParisianGreeter.org]

This sounds like a wonderful idea since who knows a neighborhood better than someone who lives there. We’ll definitely try it out on our next trip to Paris.

What do you know? Sometime it’s a month, but this time by a year. Sophie, owner of Parisianflat.com, who manages our apartment for us, took me to lunch at Huitererie Regis to meet her friend last June. She mostly wanted to patronize and support neighborhood restaurant as it is located half from her own place and our place in the 6th arr. For me, it was a chance to indulge in seafood… Here is the review in the NY Times and the location.

By MARK BITTMAN
Published: June 24, 2007

A one-dish restaurant as fun and unusual as Huîtrerie Régis is rare, so it figures you’d find it in Paris, but only if you’re steered there. (I was escorted by my friend, the food writer Dorie Greenspan, who divides her time between Paris and New York.) The tiny place — maybe 20 people could crowd in — is in the Sixth Arrondissement, just off Boulevard St.-Germain.

A huîtrerie is an oyster bar, and Paris is a town that loves its huîtres; most of them come from not-too-far-away Brittany. That’s what you get in this white, clean, pleasantly lighted place: fresh-shucked raw oysters. (Poached shrimp is on the menu as well, but no one goes there for shrimp; it’s on the menu, I would guess, for non-oyster eaters who are dragged along by friends.) The oysters are served with appropriate wines: Sancerre, Muscadet, Pouilly-Fumé, Chablis, a couple of rosés and light reds and more. There is real service, real silverware, plenty of ice (and seaweed), dark bread with very good butter and mignonette sauce.

The sauce is overkill; even lemon is more than enough because the oysters have so much flavor. There are usually two or three sizes of four varieties, one of which is the increasingly rare belon (and expensive, too; these top out at 30 euros a dozen, almost $3.50 each at $1.36 to the euro). They are coppery tasting (really), large and flat. The remaining oysters, on my visit, were classified as fines de claires, spéciales de claires and pousse en claires, whose names describe the amount of time each spends growing out in a cleansing pond and the amount of space each is given.

Fines de claires, the least expensive (as little as 10 euros a dozen), spend about a month in the pond, with 20 oysters per square meter (about 11 square feet), which sounds pretty roomy to me; but the pousse en claires can be limited to three per square meter and continue to grow for up to six months. These are so good that for the first time in my life the belons were not my favorite oysters on the table.

To specialize, Huîtrerie Régis really must sell the best oysters possible and charge whatever makes sense, assuming people will bear the cost. And they do. The place is often packed. And the oysters are spectacular.

Huîtrerie Régis, 3 rue de Montfaucon; (33-1) 44-41-10-07.