Pierre Cagnaire

Paris receives some compensation after being totally overshadowed by Tokyo in the latest Michelin restaurant-guide.

In the Restaurant Magazine’s recently released list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants no less than eight Parisian restaurants are ranked, which is more than any other city in the world.

Also on national level France is leading with 11 restaurants ranked on the prestigious top 50 list, which is formulated by a jury of 682 highly respected food connoisseurs.

However, Paris doesn’t offer the world’s best restaurant. For a third consecutive year, the father of molecular gastronomy Ferran Adrià’s restaurant El Bulli north of Barcelona was crowned the world’s best restaurant, followed by the inventor of snail porridge Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck in Berkshire (UK) and Parisian top scorer Pierre Cagnaire.

As the only one out of the top three restaurants, The Fat Duck can brag about being one of the sexiest restaurants in the world according to The Guardian. The newspaper has The Fat Duck as number 48 on its list of the sexiest places to be fed.

Written by David Rich Momondo 

It's just not fair! Why is it there are no super cool and sexy shoes for us men? At this point my biggest wish is to have Danish Camilla Skovgaard design her ultra cool and sexy shoes just for me. Yes, to have her measure my feet and during a long afternoon with a good cup of tea and scones together brainstorm about how a pair of shoes should be made for me and my delicate feet.

I would wear my glasses that I have bought at Luella (below), strap on the shoes that match them, get into my Camilla Stærk dress..

..and roam the streets of London like Batman's secret Drag Queen Lover. Skovgaard has had an adventurous life as a designer so far, designing clothes and shoes for the Gulf sheiks' wives and daughters. Then she went to London where she got a degree in shoe design and while still in school, she was headhunted to start designing for feet in need of elegant and edge shoes in materials such as eel and python leather.

The Times has said about Camilla's shoes "Think Arne Jacobsen in couture”. It is great to see young Danish women out in the world doing their thing. As mentioned in a previous post, there is another Camilla (Stærk)  who was recently in New York for the fashion week - she is also kicking some serious bum. Keep up the good work, and let me know when there will be some shoes in size 13 anytime soon.

Related posts:

About Camilla Stærk: "New York Fashion Week Spotlight: Stærk"
About Glasses: "I Wear my Sunglasses at Night"
About The Mustache: "Mustache is the New Black"

Paris store with Camilla's shoes:

Galerie Artcore
40 rue de Richelieu
FR-750001 Paris

Previosly Frankly has given you an historical introduction to our favorite Parisian neighbourhood, Le Marais (in the 3rd and 4th arr.) as well as tips on how to enjoy 24 hours or a weekend of luxury in Le Marais. This time we tip you on what we would do if we were so lucky to spend more than a weekend in Paris.  

Paris for the locals

If you count on spending more than four days in Paris, you should contact parismarais.com, which has a wide selection of apartments for rent in Le Marais. Everything from one room for two in ”antique” French style to medieval or modernly furnished ”Duplex Art Deco” for five people.

French every-day-kitchen

Renting your own apartment gives you a chance to buy groceries at Le Marché des Enfants Rouges on rue de Bretagne just like the locals – or in the favorite delicatessen of the Parisians at Le Bon Marché on rue de Sévres (7. arr.).

And you will soon discover that the best cafés are not located in rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie, but just around the corner. La Chaise au Plafond on rue du Trésor is one of them. Some good restaurants for classical French cuisine are Colimaçon and the slightly more expensive Nicolas Flamel.

A sweaty flirt

Gym Louvre on rue du Louvre (1. arr.) has a tricky strategy to make the gay community sweat in their gym: the cutest guys in Paris get a free membership. And the flirt gets very intense on the lower floor where there is a steam bath, a sauna and individual cabins. It gets even more straightforward in the combined training center and sauna IDM on rue du Faubourg-Montmartre (9 arr.).

If you prefer exercising – and flirting – in the open air, pull on your rollerblades and go to the large roads along the Seine where traffic is closed off on Sundays. You can even play volleyball here in the summer, when sand is spread out and two thousand palm trees are set up to create an artificial beach and beach volley lanes in between the historical buildings.

Author Walther Griesé

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Previously, Frankly has given you a historical introduction to Le Marais as well as tips on how to enjoy 24 hours of luxury in our favorite neighbourhood in Paris. This time we guide you through a packed weekend in Le Marais.     

A Packed Weekend

Hôtel Duo

Newly renovated Duo is a stylish boutique hotel in the very heart of Le Marais' gay area. Just a stone’s throw away from the main artery, rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie. You will get a good view of the street life and a cheap lunch in the sidewalk café, Open Café. For power shopping, try out rue des Francs Bourgeois and rue Vieille du Temple. This will give you a chance to discover the French brands like Loftdesignby and Paul & Joe, as well as exploring the truly charming places like rue de Poitou, where you’ll find the trendy shop Jacenko and the fetish expert Rex.

Enjoy the fact that Le Marais has tourist area status, allowing most shops to stay open on Sundays.

Once you get lost in the small streets, check out the Picasso Museum, which will offer you a peek into one of the most beautiful ”hôtels particuliers” in the area and a reminder of Picasso’s importance in 19th century art.

Shower on the bar counter

A good place to start a fun night out is the club, Les Bains Douches. They serve a good three-course meal while warming up for some of the best DJ’s in Paris and a throbbing dance floor. Les Bains Douches have a gay clientele on Fridays and Saturdays, but the rest of the week they host theme nights. So you should check out their schedule if you want to avoid a ”Bal du Jeudi” (Thursday ball-room dance) with kitschy French pop music.

Raidd Bar

If you’re more into the bar scene, Raidd Bar has the best-looking bartenders in the city. They take turns going under the shower, which is strategically placed next to the bar, and drop their clothes. The basement below Raidd Bar is very dark, so you have to feel your way around.

By Walther Griesé

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Last month Frankly gave you an historical introduction to Le Marais. This time we tip you on how to enjoy 24 hours of luxury in Paris' hippest neighbourhood.   

24 hours of luxury

The facade of one of Paris’ oldest buildings, Marais House, does stay discrete. The host has been searching all over France for antiques and curios, in order to recreate the perfect atmosphere of a medieval castle – and he is picky when it comes to his guests.

There is no sign on the door, and you will not be informed of the address until you have booked your room. You can also rent all five rooms and use the Marais House as your private Parisian residence.

Le Train Bleu

The atmosphere continues in the restaurant, Le Train Bleu, where waiters with starched white collars serve exquisite French Cuisine under the under the arched ceilings with intricate cuttings. The restaurant is situated at the heart of the Gare de Lyon on Place Louis Armand about 800m. from Le Marais.     

One stop shopping

Pierre Talamon

In designer Pierre Talamon’s new boutique, located in rue du Temple, you can get affordable tailor-made French fashion. If you prefer a large selection, you’ll find department store BHV (Bazaar Hotel de Ville) around the corner. They have gathered the best of all French men’s fashion designers on the fourth floor. True fashionistas will probably insist on going to the flagship stores of stylish Agnès B and flamboyant Jean-Paul Gaultier on rue du Jour (arr. 1) and rue Vivienne (2. arr).

Pamper yourself

Having lunch at Georges on top of the Pompidou Centre you’ll get spoiled with designer furniture, an innovative chef, a staff that looks like they were hired from a modeling agency and a fabulous view over Paris’ roof tops.

Continue on to Musée Carnavalet, which will provide you with a view into the history of Paris and the many historical buildings in Le Marais. In the afternoon, drop by Nickel where you can get their own brand of crèmes and lotions specially made for men and all kinds of beauty treatments in their clinic. You can even ask the masseur, Stéphane Prémeil, to show up in your hotel room with his massage bed – and your body will soon be floating on air. 

By Walther Grisé

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