A Perfect 24 Hours in Paris

Here’s Fiona and Leo’s recipe for a perfect 24 hours in Paris, now that it takes no time at all to nip across from St Pancras.

We came on Eurostar, now making Paris only just over two hours away from London. Now that the city of light is so close, consider nipping over for just one night: here’s my recipe for a perfect 24 hours in Paris. To complement your trip, buy Paris Walks by Fiona Duncan and Leonie Glass, published by Duncan Petersen Publishing Ltd at £8.99. It’s a little out of date (the odd shop has closed or changed) but the walks still take you to some fascinating out of the way places. Paris is a great city for walking in…. we loved writing that book three or four years ago. I did all my walks in a brace because I’d done my back in!

Since you are going to be there for such a short time, you can devote yourself to fun. Paris may have lost its edge as a city of global significance, but it’s still all about l’art de vivre, astonishing views, great shopping and classic food and wine.

Forget the set piece sights like the Louvre.  Instead, concentrate on getting to know one area of the city well. In 24 hours you’ve got time for no more than two meals, an afternoon at leisure and a night’s sleep but for such a short trip to be memorable, all those elements need to be even more carefully chosen than for a longer one. You may have a favourite quartier where you would prefer to base yourself; if not, here’s my recipe for a stay on the Rive Gauche.

The Hotel

A perfect reason for basing yourself in Montparnasse and exploring the Left Bank is the new Hôtel des Arts et Academies (15 rue de la Grande Chaumiere; 0033 1 43 26 66 44; www.hoteldesacademies.com; doubles from £165 to £214 per night, including breakfast). The best hotel, in my opinion, to have opened in the city for some time, it’s happy proof that the small charming Parisian bolthole is alive and kicking. Husband and wife Laurent and Charlotte Inschauspé have created a spotless, highly individual haven, cosy yet contemporary and full of artistic flair, right opposite the art school where Gaugin and Modigliani took courses and a few steps from the famous artists’ cafés of Montparnasse.

Two artists have deftly created the hotel’s unique look: Jerôme Mesnager, whose joyous white silhouettes are painted directly on to bedroom walls and all the way up the lift shaft  (making this the most intriguing glass lift ride in town) and sculptor – and mother of Charlotte – Sophie Watrigant, whose equally endearing figures climb a dainty steel ladder from the bottom to the top of the five-storey stair well.

As for the 20 bedrooms, they are compact but have the classy feel of a top hotel and come in four distinct designs, all cleverly lit with stone-lined bathrooms, sculptured taps and exceptional beds. Room service is provided by the well-regarded restaurant, Wadja, opposite.

In the morning take breakfast (all fresh) in the tiny ‘petit bistrot’ or at a velvet sofa beside shelves stocked with art books. Or take a seat facing the wall screen and watch an art video as you eat, perhaps of Mesnager at work painting his white figures on to the hotel’s walls. Service is from smiling, smartly uniformed waiters, while receptionists are relaxed and warm. A perfect fusion of quality and character. There’s even a little Moroccan style spa downstairs, where treatments can be arranged at short notice.

Alternatives

Two other alluring hotels in the same area are the intimate Ste Beuve (9 rue Ste Beuve; 0033 1 45 48 20 07; www.hotelsaintebeuveparis.com) with double rooms from £132 to £282 per night, including breakfast, and the romantic Duc de St Simon, set around a pretty, secluded courtyard (14 rue de St-Simon; 0044 1 44 39 20 20; www.hotelducdesaintsimon.com) with doubles from £188 to £305 per night).

Lunch and Dinner

Leave London at breakfast, and you will arrive in Paris with plenty of time to check into your hotel and relax there before setting out for that all-important first French meal of the trip. It had better be good. Simple, but good. Which means knowing where to go in advance and not just plunging into the nearest restaurant you see.

You have to look much more carefully these days. Brasseries, in particular, are no longer to be relied on, however inviting they may look. Most are now run by chains and their food is at best predictable, at worst, dire. Instead, look for well established, privately owned bistros that still have integrity, and for the crop of tiny restaurants run almost single-handed by young, committed chefs.

Two such places can be found in Montparnasse. Le Timbre (3 rue Ste Beuve; 0033 1 45 49 10 40) is just that, a postage stamp of a restaurant, its kitchen open to view at one end. Here a modest self-taught Mancunian, Chris Wright, cooks for up to 24 people entirely without help, in domestic French manner, with admirable results. Choose from his weekly changing menu of three to four starters, main courses and puddings; nothing will disappoint but you shouldn’t miss the lambs’ kidneys if they are on, or the millefeuille de la maison.

 We met the owners of La Cerisaie (70 boulevard Edgar Quinet; 0033 1 43 20 98 98 and their baby, at Le Timbre. “Cyril cooks like a dream”, Chris told us. “You must go there”. This is another one-chef/one-waitress operation, with Cyril Lalanne producing delicious regional dishes (including cochon de Bigorre – pork like you’ve never tasted before) from his native southwest France out of a kitchen no bigger than a large cupboard. His wife Maryse is front of house, and everyone chats.

If you lunch simply at either Le Timbre or La Cerisaie, it would be fun to dine in style, maybe in the new clothes you’ve bought that afternoon. Of the famous grands cafés of Montparnasse, La Closerie de Lilas (171 boulevard de Montparnasse; 0033 1 40 51 34 50) is the one that feels most like a special occasion. Choose from the brasserie or the more formal restaurant, and be sure to have a drink in the piano bar before you eat. Alternatively La Coupole (102 boulevard de Montparnasse; 0033 1 43 20 14 20) still packs them, especially for birthdays, while Le Dôme (108 boulevard du Montparnasse; 0033 1 43 35 25 81) is the place to go for those fruits de mer platters one dreams of back home.

The Afternoon

Paris is made for walking, with a constant stream of diversions as you stroll. Close at hand is Jardin de Luxembourg, a sheer delight, as appealing to lovers as to mothers with children to entertain (model boats, Shetland pony rides, playgrounds and puppet shows). It makes the perfect start to a stroll along elegant rue Servandoni to St-Sulpice and on into the fashionable St-Germain district, perfect for shopping.

In rue de Grenelle you could pop into the refreshingly cool and tranquil Musée Maillol, and afterwards the diminutive cheese shop Barthélémy, where white-coated ladies dispense perfect cheeses which M. Barthélémy has personally criss-crossed France to find. Odour-proof bags are provided for the trip home on Eurostar.

If you want culture, the Musée d’Orsay and Rodin Museum are both nearby. Little known curiosities in the neighbourhood, off the tourist track but well worth seeking out, include the silent, richly ornamented Chapel of St Vincent de Paul and his eerie shrine in Rue de Sèvres, the bucolic Jardin Catherine Labouré, entered via Rue de Babylone, and Notre-Dame de la Médaille-Miraculeuse round the corner in rue du Bac, which reveals Catherine Labouré’s story.