PARIS UP CLOSE
TWO DAYS WITH VERONIQUE de LONGEVIALLE

DAY ONE

This morning we'll meet Gabriel and Anne-Olivia at the flea market of Montreuil, old friends from my student days. They are artists and kind of bohemian: they have 10 children! Gabriel is an architect and collects religious art of the 17th and 18th century. Anne-Olivia creates candelabras, mirrors, crosses with shells that she collects from all over the world. For more than 30 years, they have been roaming the flea markets of Paris, seeking antiques that are slightly damaged or simply dirty. If they're too busy, to join us for lunch we'll just stroll around the Grands Boulevards. I want to show you a new restaurant that I just discovered. It's Brazilian, not far from the Drouot auction house. If there is an interesting exhibition we'll go and see it. Later in the afternoon, I told Anne-Olivia that I would pop into her place, because I want to see her last creations and visit her studio. I will tell you a funny story about her house while we drive there; it's quite a place. Tonight I've invited a couple of friends for dinner. They are French but we met them in Washington, D.C. François works for the Direction des Constructions Navales, the French naval shipyard, and his wife, Véronique has been elected the mayor of their town. She is a connoisseur of Native American art.

DAY TWO

Tuesday would be a good day for shopping as most of the museums in Paris are closed. So today we should visit the open market of the rue Clerc, in the 7th arrondissement, not far from the Invalides. It is a very colorful and animated street where I used to go 20 years ago when I lived in Paris. There is a very famous cheese shop where they prepare special trays for appetizers, great when you only want to have friends for a wine & cheese evening. Of course, we'll stop for a petit café. Then I'll take you for a light lunch at Le Vauban, an elegant spot named after a famous 18th century military French architect, Vauban. It has a view of the Invalides dome just across the square. There's a an exhibit at the Invalides that's worth seeing, the Musée des plans reliefs, the only one of its kind in France: a collection of 17th & 19th centuries models representing fortified towns that architects built to show the kings so that they could estimate each town's ability to resist invaders. Afterwards we'll go the Ile de la Cite, and stroll through the marché aux fleurs, the flower market close to the Seine river. The scents are delicious, and you really want to go gardening right away! If you like old bookstores, there is the well-known Shakespeare & Company, where you night find a treasure. Also the much photographed bouquinistes along the river, who sell old and second hand books and antique prints. Do you like ice cream? I'll take you to Berthillon, who makes the most famous ice creams in Paris. We'll probably stay in town tonight, starting with a great meal in a nice restaurant: it's a surprise!