Everyone visiting Paris heads to the Ile de la Cité, the large island in the middle of the river Seine, to visit Notre Dame Cathedral. However, the smaller of the two islands, Ile Saint-Louis, can easily be overlooked.
It has retained its 17th century charm, most of its magnificent historic buildings, and its medieval streets.
I’m often asked for shopping tips by those off to Paris, especially since many people know I spent about 35 years in the fashion industry. Where I like to explore isn’t the usual suspects such as St Germain des Pres or the big department stores (although I don’t ignore those). Instead, one of the first neighourhoods I head to for some fashion retail therapy is the 3rd arrondissement, the Haut (Upper) Marais.
If you’re heading to Paris this year, you’ll make the most of your stay by checking out well in advance what exhibitions will be on. The French are great exhibition goers, and if there’s something important at one of the many venues in the city, you can bet your life the locals will be there in droves. Add large numbers of visitors and it’s easy to see why whole weeks, if not an entire season, can be sold out before you even hit town.
The wonderful market at St Tropez’ Place des Lices is reason enough to visit this famous coastal resort town on the French Riviera. Despite the celebrity reputation of ‘St Trop’, the market is still a traditional gathering place for visitors and locals alike, selling a huge range of the best Provençal produce, as well as a great range of other must-have goodies.
We’ve known and loved this market over many years, and if we’re heading to southern Provence, we make sure that we plan our visit to take in at least one of the two market days.
We first visited this lovely little town a couple of years ago. It was an unplanned day trip from Paris, as we were knee-deep in the renovation of our apartment. Our good friend and colleague in charge of the works urged us to escape the dust and mess for a while—a not-so-subtle way of getting us out from under his team’s feet for a few hours!
