A Parisian (Design) Affair

A Mini Travel Guide to Paris, France

By Sarah Freeman

I marvel at the murals of peacocks, which appear to flutter in the morning sun streaming through La Samaritaine’s glass-capped atrium. No ordinary department store, the listed nineteenth-century monument—which faces the iconic Pont Neuf bridge in Paris—is one of the French capital’s earliest showcases of the art nouveau style.

Shuttered for sixteen years, it underwent a no-expense-spared renovation in 2021 by luxury giant LVMH. Outside, its Rue de Rivoli entrance commands attention thanks to a rippling glass second skin created by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning studio SANAA from Tokyo. In many ways, La Samaritaine’s past-present juxtaposition is a metaphor for Paris, a city that boldly pushes the boundaries of new design while celebrating its cultural treasures.

I swap La Samaritaine’s swirling wrought iron staircases for a royal chapel’s soaring stained glass windows that reach fifty feet for the heavens! Dubbed one of the gothic wonders of the medieval world, the eight-hundred-year-old Sainte-Chapelle was built as a shrine for the Crown of Thorns, now kept under lock and key at the Louvre museum. Like stepping into a real-life kaleidoscope, the cathedral’s upper level (reached via a stone spiral staircase) is a sight that soon renders me speechless.

My next Parisian pit stop is proof that fabulous decor needn’t be confined to terra firma. Described as the city’s first floating urban art center, free-to-enter Fluctuart is moored on the left bank of the storied Seine River, just opposite the Grand Palais. The converted barge’s first floor is glutted with works by street artists such as Banksy and Invader, aka the anonymous Frenchman behind some 1,500 ceramic tile mosaics across the city.

From its panoramic terrace, I drink in the twinkling Eiffel Tower, the ageless latticework beauty that continues to hold its own amid Paris’s evolving skyline.

Hotel Norman Paris | Photo by Mr. TRIPPER

On the other side of the Seine, another artist is the muse of one of Paris’s newest boutique accommodations in the eighth arrondissement (district). Situated a stylish skip from the chic Champs–Élysées, Hotel Norman is a love letter to the late American graphic designer Norman Ives, who was heavily influenced by the Bauhaus movement.

More akin to a private residence than a hotel, the thirty-seven-key property marks the fourth addition to French hotelier Olivier Bertrand’s family-owned collection. Within minutes of checking in, I’m reviving with an Asian-influenced cocktail in the sultry library/lounge/lobby lined with Ives’s striking typographic prints. The modernist aesthetic extends four floors up to my balconied corner junior suite. A textural and visual delight, the room is outfitted with woolen curtains, a custom-made oak minibar, and a mid-century leather chaise longue perfect for unfurling after a busy day of sightseeing.

Saving a dinner date with the hotel’s Thai-French fusion restaurant for next time, I hail a cab for the westernmost arrondissement (the sixteenth) for a taste of its bistronomy scene. Washed in cognac colors and outfitted with striped velvet banquettes, Lordy’s Paris Club marries French flair with English flavors on and off the plate. Parisian cutlery rests on oh-so-British antique knife rests, while the local beer-battered fish and chips main course arrives on French porcelain. The standout starter is the avocado and shrimp with champagne jelly, which I delight in scooping straight out of a martini glass!

A breakfast fit for Marie Antoinette sets me up for a guided tour of the crystal-strung salons, gilded grand foyer, and velvet-swathed auditorium of lavish Le Palais Garnier. The world’s first electrified opera house, the baroque beauty is most famous for being the setting for Broadway’s longest-running musical, The Phantom of the Opera. Meanwhile, its marble staircase’s bronze salamanders are the inspiration behind the crocodile-shaped confections sold at my next call-in. Opened on the legendary Avenue de l’Opéra in 2022, the striking white-gold interior of attorney-turned-chocolatier Jade Genin’s atelier is as handcrafted as her chocolates. I can’t resist taking a bite out of her signature pyramidions, which recall the golden tip of Paris’ three-thousand-year-old obelisk in Place de la Concorde. Filled with all-natural flavors like Tahitian vanilla and tamarind, the virtuous treats are preservative-, additive-, and aroma-free.

My sweet tooth sated, I follow my nose to another new(ish) address located nearby on Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Founded by Beirut-born musician and filmmaker Rami Mekdachi, Lola James Harper is the scent storyteller’s first boutique which is part perfumery and part gallery. Framed photographs from his family’s fifteen years of globetrotting decorate its walls, and artfully placed glass cloches lift the lid on candles that capture the aroma of a Parisian vinyl store and summer funfairs in Jardin des Tuileries, to name a few.

A Persian rug here and a tasseled chair there add to the eclectic charm and undone elegance, lending a lived-in feel to the year-old property

Trading perfume for pampering, I spend the rest of the afternoon holed up in Paris’s newest subterranean spa. Decorated in soothing greens and sunny yellows, La Fantaisie hotel’s dreamy spa is a far cry from its underground car park beginnings. I flit from the infrared chamber to the starlit hammam, finishing my experience in one of four hydrotherapy pools beautified with a botanical mosaic made from two million tiles. It’s a fitting tribute to the hotel’s Rue Cadet postcode, which takes its name from the local family of market gardeners who supplied the royal court in the 1600s. The natural world inspires everything from the hotel rooms’ whimsical bedside lamps to the chirping bird soundtrack of its elevator, which whisks me seven floors up to its rooftop bar, a maximalist sanctuary imagined by Swedish designer Martin Brudnizki. I savor a “Summer of Love Sour” cocktail beneath the rose-and-candy-stripe-wallpapered ceilings.

Floral flourishes also abound (albeit more understated) at my next five-star check-in. Like the nearby Norman, the thirty-seven-room Château des Fleurs claims a coveted corner address. But that’s where the similarities between the sister hotels end. Revived with modern touches, the Haussmannian mansion celebrates Gaudí-esque curves, belle époque detailing, and an altogether more feminine feel. Its lounge-like entrance leads me through to the hotel’s haute Korean restaurant, OMA, anchored by a veined marble, brass, and wooden bar. A Persian rug here and a tasseled chair there add to the eclectic charm and undone elegance, lending a lived-in feel to the year-old property.

Barcelona-based design firm Quintana Partners has also sprinkled its neo-art nouveau stardust on my corner junior suite, a vision in cable-pattern carpets, Murano glass, and vintage furniture. Clad in crimson-and-white tile and boasting an arched walk-in shower, the bathroom is also a thing of beauty. The single biggest indulgence (as I later discover) is being within tap-turning distance of the suite’s clawfoot bath while lying in bed!

Ending my Parisian getaway on a literal high note, I spend my last evening toasting to the City of Light from its loftiest rooftop bar. Crowning the Jean Nouvel-designed leaning twin towers in Paris’s not-so-unlucky thirteenth arrondissement is TOO Hotel’s TacTac Skybar, which bears the stamp of design polymath Philippe Starck. Digital installations make for an ever-changing backdrop to sharing plates of chicken yakitori skewers, salmon-and-crab gyoza, and beef crispy rice, best washed down with Starck’s own brand of beer. From its panoramic terrace, I drink in the twinkling Eiffel Tower, the ageless latticework beauty that continues to hold its own amid Paris’s evolving skyline.

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Daily flights to Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) are available from most major American airports. Rates start at $390 for a one-night stay at Hotel Norman (HotelNorman.com) and $370 at its sister property, Château des Fleurs (ChateauDesFleurs.paris).