Trips to Paris [2026]
I’ve made several very quick trips to Paris over the past two months (sometimes same-day round trips from Lille) and took the opportunity to visit some museums, exhibitions, and see suppliers.
Let’s start with the Boulevard de Bonne nouvelle area. I went there to pick up some tailoring sewing supplies from Lafayette Saltiel. And I took the chance to visit Maison Sézane for the first time. It’s a brand I really don’t like, because their fans follow blindly like sheep. I found the place gorgeous, with beautiful ceiling height, plenty of space to move around, look, take photos. I don’t know if the purchase is satisfying, as there seems to be just one size per model and there are plenty of signs saying you’ll find more on the website. Of course, I didn’t buy anything. I learned from a former Sézane employee that the decoration of the boutiques is always done with care and that the founder was heavily involved in the decor.
Right next to it was the The Hoxtonhotel. I don’t know how it got pinned on my Google Maps, probably because a friend recommended it. The hotel bar is open to everyone and they have a pretty nice courtyard (but full of smokers), and small tables here and there for non-smokers seeking a bit of privacy. The drinks are just okay, but for meeting a friend, it’s perfect.
Now, let’s move to the 6th arrondissement. I saw a photo of the parchments sold by Relma and wanted to come and see. The parchments I currently have don’t satisfy me. At Relma, I found parchments of exceptional quality. Quite transparent and smooth on both sides as I’d like. However, the price reflects that quality: €100/skin, twice as much as what I have now.
I went to Gibert Joseph and loved browsing the “art books” section. There are tons of books on current and past exhibitions in Paris. I came across a used book “Professsion Artisan d’art”, highlighted and annotated everywhere. It’s very disrespectful to sell such a book to the public (the buyback service poorly inspected the book), and even more disrespectful to its “artist/artisan” owner to pass it on to the bookstore. Here you can see the annotations from its previous owner. I don’t know if he managed to launch his artistic career, but can someone with such little integrity create something beautiful? And his strategy lacks artistic coherence.
I cross the Seine to see Notre-Dame de Paris, but I have too little time to visit the inside. Next time!
Musée de Cluny
Officially named the Musée national du Moyen Âge, the Musée de Cluny is a private mansion filled with beautiful objects. I think I visited it when I was in high school, but I didn’t recognize the place. I think it’s because of its 11 years of renovation, I don’t recognize anything anymore, except for the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries. I particularly liked the collection of ivory and gem-covered objects. Unfortunately, there are too few books; I would have liked to see illuminated manuscripts.
Massage
My Vietnamese masseuse being on vacation, I had to go get a massage from the Chinese ladies at Lanqi Spa. It’s always just as good; a 1.5-hour massage cured my hands, which suffer from saddle stitching (leatherwork), and my back.
Hôtel de la Marine
This building housed, before the Revolution, the Crown’s Garde-Meuble (furniture repository) under the authority of an intendant. You can visit the intendant’s apartments. It’s quite empty compared to the musée Jacquemart-André , which is filled with a private collection of art objects. I find the entrance ticket a bit high (€17) for the collection, but it’s still nice and cute if you have a bit of time in the neighborhood.
I take the opportunity to visit the “Joyaux dynastiques” exhibition. The jewels mostly date from the Gilded Age, so the artisans who crafted them have much more advanced dexterity and technology than what you can see, for example, in the Vatican treasures. The gems are better cut, and there are even some pieces with Van Cleef’s mystery setting, colored gems with very few settings and in remarkable sizes. The saddest part is that some jewels stolen from the Louvre were meant to be part of the collection, so they are still printed in the official catalog, but obviously not present at the exhibition. The super high-tech helmet that comments on each object as soon as you’re in its zone is provided with the entrance ticket, but the commentaries are way too long, so you stay a good 5 minutes in front of each object while the commentary goes off into a dissertation that no longer has anything to do with the object; in a super small space, which prevents you from fully enjoying the commentaries and the objects on display.
Of course, every time I’m in Paris, I try to pass through the 13th to get a bun cha.
That’s the recap of my trips to Paris.
