Meridian

A private travel office · Amsterdam You were given a word.

Paris · In season March to July and September to October and December

Paris

Little has been left unsaid about the city of light, and little needs adding. There is not much Paris is not good for — art, food and history are impossible to miss, whichever corner one turns.

Eat

  1. Septime A modern neo-bistro, creative but simple and forward — and the hardest reservation in town. The surprise menu, for those prepared to commit.
  2. Merci The concept store against which the genre is measured — furniture, jewellery, fashion and books, every purchase a charitable contribution. Coffee or lunch at La Cantine below.
  3. Septime La Cave A very small natural wine bar in a former shoe shop, little sister to Septime across the street — a glass and a small plate while the table comes free.
  4. Vivant 2 One of the stars of the city’s natural wine turn. The wine is the draw; the cooking is the reason to stay.
  5. Le Clown Bar In the 11th, chic and watched — the room to see and be seen in, with intriguing small plates that hold their own.
  6. Bistrot Paul Bert Bistro classics done to the letter — steamed artichoke, steak frites — behind a reservation that takes persistence. It repays the effort.

Stay

  1. Hotel Costes Red velvet, antique wallpaper and a charming courtyard. The bar is the after-dinner room of record, the people-watching reliable, the house music its own signature.
  2. Hôtel de Crillon The landmark neoclassical palace of 1758, back from a five-year renovation in which nothing was overlooked — the address for a weekend done properly.
  3. Château Voltaire Among the thousands of hotels in Paris, the insiders’ boutique choice — small, assured and unbothered by fashion.

Do

  1. Bourse de Commerce The Pinault Collection in the old Bourse de Commerce — recently opened, and already among the essential rooms in Paris.
  2. Musée Rodin Rodin gave France his collection in 1908 on condition that the Hôtel Biron become its museum. His workshop and showroom remain one of the most peaceful places in central Paris.
  3. Ambassade Biologique Recherche The spa that takes skin as seriously as the city’s reputation suggests — the facial treatments are the point.
  4. Jardin des Tuileries The urban park where the monumentality of Paris is best observed — a running loop from Les Invalides to the Grand Palais crosses it, over the Seine and back.

Shop

  1. Du Pain et des Idées Bread and pastry with no serious rival nearby — the address when only the reference loaf will do.
  2. Hermès Needing no introduction, and getting none — window or otherwise, the shopping is the point of the address.

The office can arrange any of this.

You were given a word.