I Prefer Paris

Courtyard Week 3: Hotel de Savourny, 4 rue Elzevir

Before I get to today's courtyard, I wanted to tell you that I am very proud of the cover article I wrote for the premier luxury gay travel magazine Passport, titled 10 Ways to Say I Love You in Paris. Click here to read it. You may also buy it at the newsstands.

This courtyard totally took me by surprise one day a few months ago. I had passed this building many times without giving it a thought. One day the doors  were open and inside was a most charming courtyard. The most pleasant part was the basin filled with goldfish swimming madly. Also quite striking was the indigo colored tiled wall with the quirky oval porthole. The only information I could find about the Hotel de Savourny was that it was built in 1586 by an Italian man.

Again, for all of you history sleuths, especially Yurly, I am enlisting you to see if you can find out anything more about the history of this building.

4 rue Elzevir, 3d arr.

Metro: St. Paul

 

 

Coming soon: Eye Prefer New York Tours

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Courtyard Week 3: 78 rue d'Assas

After my friend Linda and I snuck into the courtyard at the École Spéciale d'Architecture, we were walking up a small street near the Jardin du Luxembourg, and we noticed this intriguing courtyard through the window of the Jean Paul Hevin chocolate shop. We couldn't figure out exactly where it was and we kept on going back to the store to peer through their window to see exactly where it was. By the fourth time the people working in the shop must of thought we were casing the joint to make a big chocolate heist. (It's not such a far fetched idea-Jean Paul Hevin's delicious chocolate could drive someone to do that). We finally found it and the courtyard door was open because there is a pension, Residence du Palais, in the building.

I had Linda take the photos, since she had her big-ass Canon camera and I didn't trust my I-Phone to take good enough photos.  The courtyard looked so serene and inviting we wanted to spend the rest of the day relaxing on the chairs and benches among the flowering garden plants.

78 rue d'Assas, 6th arr.

Metro: Vavin

Coming soon: Eye Prefer New York Tours

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Courtyard Week 3: Hotel Chatillon, 13 rue Payenne

I have walked by this hotel particulier (private home or mansion) so many times and have been busting to get in. Finally, last February with a stroke of luck the beautiful, massive dark wood doors were wide open, as there was work being done in the courtyard. I love the way the wild vines are tangled and twisted, crawling up and down the walls, creating these intricate sculptures.

The Hotel Chatillon was built in the end of the 16th century and named after the owner Madame Chatillon (1627-1695). She was married to the Duke of Chatillon and her father, François de Montmorency-Bouteville, was decapitated in a duel with the duke d'Elbeuf. It was initially the home of Henri de Daillon, who became a duke in 1675. Francoise d' Aubigné, future Madam de Maintenon, lived there also. 

The last photo shows a sign saying it was a metal factory. Many of the hotel particuliers in the Marais were turned into factories or workshops in the 1800s after most of the aristocrats and families that lived in them moved out of the area in the early 1700s.

13 rue de Payenne, 3d arr.

Metro: St. Paul 

Coming soon: Eye Prefer New York Tours

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Courtyard Week 3: 12 rue Chanoinesse

Since Courtyard Week 2 back in January, I've been combing the city looking for more courtyards to bring my hungry readers who ask for more, more, more courtyards. To fill your unrelenting demands I have tirelessly scoured the city, practically breaking and entering and using Lucy Ricardo-type tricks, antics and ploys to photograph them. I even used my Eye Prefer Paris tour clients as innocent pawns so I can sweet talk my way into some of them. I think it paid off in spades, as I am delighted with this new series and I hope you enjoy it.

I discovered this breathtaking courtyard on the way to my Lunch with Lynn at the Au Bougnat restaurant on the Ile de la Cité. When I stepped inside I felt like I traveled into a romantic medieval fairy tale. I especially love the stone well in the center with the green iron buckets and iron frame with decorative flowers on top. The building was most likely built in the 1500s, as there is a small section of the Ile de Cité surrounding this area with other  medieval buildings with the streets including rues de la Colombe, des Ursins, des Chantres, and Massillon.

I couldn't turn up any more information about this building, so I humbly ask my readers who are so knowledgeable to see if they know something more to share with us. If you do, please put it into the comments section.

 12 rue Chanoinesse, 4th arr. on the Ile de la Cité

Metro: Cité

 

Courtyard Week 2: rue St. Antoine

I decided for my last Courtyard Week 2 posting I would give you a glimpse into my glamorous, star-studded, jet-set life. Oops! I'm confusing myself with George Clooney, who everybody says I look exactly like. Oops! There I go again comparing myself to god-like movie stars. OK, back down to earth now.

Different from most of the other courtyards I've shown you,the one in my building is an interior courtyard that can't be entered from the street. It's a bit modest compared to some of the grand ones I've shown you, but it's mine nevertheless. My desk/kitchen table with my computer overlooks the garden, so it is where a lot of inspiration comes from. I took some photos last August when it was almost in full bloom and some about two weeks ago covered in snow.

I have not put my address on the bottom of this post for fear I will be stalked like George. Or maybe I should, since having a stalker means you have attained a certain star status. Do I have any takers?

 

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Courtyard Week 2: 9 Place des Vosges

I am in the Place des Vosges almost every other day and I have passed this courtyard at #9 many times without ever venturing in. A few months ago I was invited to an event by Adrian Leeds at that address and discovered a maze of different courtyards, statues, cobblestone alleyways,and horse stables. I felt like I had stepped back in time to a day of horse-drawn carriages, royalty, privilege, and wealth. #9 was originally the Hotel de Chaulnes and currently houses the Academy of Architecture and one of the top restaurants in Paris, l'Ambroisie.

The Places des Vosges is the oldest square in Paris, built between 1605 and 1612 by King Henry IV. It was originally called the Place Royale because it was built for royalty (with separate buildings for the king and queen), although technically no royals ever lived there it was mostly aristocrats who resided there. It was the first instance of city planning with all the buildings being uniform and made from red brick with stone vaulted arcades. Some noted former residents include Victor Hugo, Madame Sevigne, Marion Delorme, and Cardinal Richelieu.

9 Place des Vosges, 3d arr. & 4th arr.

Metro: St. Paul, Chemin Vert, or Bastille

 

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Courtyard Week 2: 62 rue Charlot

What struck my eye about this courtyard in the Northern Marais were the grand stairways with chipped painted stairs,intricate ironwork,and unfinished painted walls behind them. I also liked the interesting perspective the refection from the mirrors gave.The apartment building was probably a hotel particulier(private home or mansion) constructed in the mid-1600s and most likely the stairways are original. 

62 rue Charlot, 3d arr.

Metro: Filles-Calvaire

 

 

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Courtyard Week 2: 15 rue du Cherche Midi

Due to the overwhelming accolades from Courtyard Week 1 last August, I am happy to bring you you Courtyard Week 2. Since last August I have tirelessly trolled the Paris streets ducking, sneaking, and fast talking my way into various courtyards.

After leaving Poilane boulangerie last month for my interview with Parisian of the Month Apollonia Poilane, I crossed the street and noticed the door ajar at 15 rue du Cherche Midi. Inside was one of the most elegant and gorgeous courtyards I have seen so far.  I couldn't believe how lush the foliage was considering it was December and a very cold one at that. I love the centerpiece of the garden,a moss covered sphinx/gargoyle-like statue. Does anybody know what kind of statue that is or what it is called?

15 rue du Cherche Midi, 6th arr.

Metro: Sevres-Babylone or Saint Sulpice

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Courtyard Week: 41 rue Jussieu & 28 bis rue Cardinal Lemoine

I wanted to show a courtyard in another part of the city besides the Marais. I ventured to the Ile St. Louis, pressing buzzer upon buzzer to gain entry to a courtyard but none of the doors opened. I ended up in the 5th arr. where I found two delightful courtyards to end my series.

The first was in a Haussmann Belle Epoque building constructed in the 1890s. I love the black iron entrance door with the curlicues (I almost saved it as a Door of the Month) and the limestone Corinthian columns in the lobby.I then walked through another even more fabulous ornate black iron and glass door to the courtyard where the centerpiece is a towering tree surrounded by a bed of red, white, and lavender impatiens and another bed of lovely impatiens in full bloom in each corner. The buildings around the courtyard are a soothing pink and beige stone and each have a handsome iron and glass portico canopy above the wood frame doors. 

 

 

 

 

The next courtyard was a around the corner and was once housing for students from the College du Cardinal Lemoine from the 16th century to the 18th century. Romantic is the first adjective I thought of with its rough cobblestone walls,rusted old lanterns and abundant greenery.The surprise of the ceramic urns angling out of the walls was so clever.

I hope you enjoyed courtyard week and I had a ball finding and photographing them.I would love your feedback to see if you would like me to do Courtyard Week 2.

49 rue Jussieu, 5th arr.
28 bis rue Cardinal Lemoine, 5th arr.
Metro: Cardinal Lemoine

 

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook. First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Courtyard Week: Hotel Charpentier de Fourcy

Hotel Charpentier de Fourcy is an impressive former private mansion that I surprise my clients with on my Marais tours. From the street the entrance has two lacquered royal blue doors with a sign spelling MIJE. When I first walked by it I never knew what was beyond the doors with the intimidating sign in big block letters. One day the door was open and I decided to satisfy my long time curiosity.  I was delighted by the beauty and charm of the courtyard with its incredible beamed ceiling in the entrance hall, the well with the hanging geranium plant, white iron cafe tables and chairs, and pretty plants and trees. What I was most impressed with was the outdoor wooden bridges connecting two of the buildings. I can only imagine a medieval damsel in distress calling for her prince to rescue on one of these bridges.

Commissioned by Gilles Charpentier, the son of the king's advisor, and built in 1677, Hotel Charpentier de Fourcy was built as a private mansion.It was converted into MIJE hostel in 1978. MIJE is an non-profit organization that has three hostels in former aristocratic residences in the Marais all within in a block of each other. The rooms are clean and very well kept, with extremely reasonable rates, starting at 49 euros for a single and 30 euros a person for 4 or more in a shared room including breakfast. The Fourcy branch has a restaurant that serves a three course dinner for 10.50 euros. All rooms have showers but no towels, and toilets are down the hall. There is no age limit except for children under 6. 

MIJE
6 rue de Fourcy, 4th arr.
Metro: St. Paul
+33 1 42 74 23 45
http://www.mije.com/index_individuels_uk.asp

 

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook. First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com