As the city of light gears up for another season, you are left wondering, What To Do in Paris? From design events, where galleries, museums, concept stores, and renowned antique shops get in on the action, to unexpected launches, exquisite installations, and inspiring shows, it can be a bit overwhelming when planning a trip.
Paris shows the world how to properly introduce the international design season in September, proving why it is the perfect destination for cultural tastemakers and why its potential for design inspiration is endless. Key influential professionals from the fields of design, decoration, fashion and art meet up and gather for talks and conferences, setting new discussions topics with forward-thinking and taking the upcoming year into the next level.
You never lack great reasons to visit Paris. Great cafes, boutiques, restaurants, good food, good wine and authenticity, this enchanting city has it all. From great buildings to small streets and charming hidden gardens, you will feel the urge to explore its beauty in every corner.
If you are searching for exclusive design, unexpected views, and unforgettable cuisine, Paris is your dreamland.
MAISON ET OBJET 2020
Location: Paris, Nord Villepinte
Date: 17-21 of January
During five amazing days, the event invites French and international professionals and the general public to discover the best international design in Paris. Maison et Objet Paris brings together the talents, forces, and inspiration of renowned luxury design brands and artists.
BOCA DO LOBO & COVET HOUSE AT M&O
HALL 8 | C3
For many years, furniture brands such as Boca do Lobo mark their presence in what is considered to be one of the biggest tradeshows of the world. 2019 couldn’t be any different, and after the January edition, Boca do Lobo in partnership with Covet House, will bring to Paris its exclusiveness and exclusive design.
Fascinating Art Galleries
Galerie BSL
Founded by Béatrice Saint-Laurent, one of the best European curators, Galerie BSL promotes, produces and exhibits refined artworks that challenge the established borders of art and design.
Location: 14 Rue des Beaux Arts, 75006 Paris, France
Carpenters Workshop Gallery
With influence all over the world, the gallery is known for its desire to break the boundaries of art and design, merging them. Many of the exclusive, limited edition and unique collectible designs that the gallery exhibits were also created inside its facilities by talented artists and designers.
Location: 54 Rue de la Verrerie, 75004 Paris, France
Galerie KREO
At Kreo, the founders, Clémence and Didier Krzentowski, create and exhibited the best limited-edition art pieces by the greatest contemporary designers, such as François Bauchet, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Pierre Charpin, Naoto Fukasawa, Konstantin Grcic, Jaime Hayon, among many others.
Location: 31 Rue Dauphine, 75006 Paris, France
Negropontes Gallerie
In the heart of Paris’ antique quarter and just a stone’s throw from the Musée d’Orsay, the art gallery presents exceptional creations made by craftsmen of unmatched skills, reviving the tradition of French Decorative Arts with a resolutely contemporary vision.
Location: 60 rue de Verneuil 75007 Paris, France
Maison Rapin
Philippe Rapin creates its “Maison”! The designer/exhibitor gathers all its activities under the label Maison Rapin: two galleries in Paris, Quai Voltaire and Rue de Beaune and Kam Tin Furniture. All the universe and the artistic tastes of an eclectic Art dealer.
Location: Maison Rapin, 25 quai Voltaire 75007 Paris, France
Hervé Van Der Straeten
The Van der Straeten Gallery, which opened in the Marais neighbourhood of Paris in 1999, includes one of a kind or limited-edition piece grouped in thematic exhibitions.
Location: 1 Rue Ferdinand Duval, 75004 Paris, France
Gagosian Gallery
The art gallery’s contemporary program highlights work by the best international artists. Georg Baselitz, Ellen Gallagher, Andreas Gursky, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Anselm Kiefer, Ed Ruscha, Richard Serra, Taryn Simon, and Rachel Whiteread are some examples.
Location: 4 rue de Ponthieu 75008 Paris, France
Galerie Kamel Mennour
The gallery Kamel was brought to life in 1999 and owns not only three areas in the sophisticated city of Paris but also a London space in Mayfair. In these galleries, the outstanding works of about thirty young and internationally celebrated contemporary artists are often showcased and admired.
Location: 47, rue SaintAndrédesArts 75006 Paris
6, rue du Pont de Lodi 75006 Paris
Bugada & Cargnel
Founded by Claudia CARGNEL and Frédéric BUGADA in 2002, BUGADA & CARGNEL (formerly known as COSMIC GALERIE) occupies 500 sq. meters in a freehold industrial building, a former garage forms the early 30’s and represents French and international emerging or established artists.
Location: 7-9, rue de l’Équerre – 75019 Paris, France
Galerie Alexandre Guillemain
Since 1999, the Galerie Alexandre Guillemain is specialized in midcentury design and decorative arts. In its two exhibition spaces in the heart of Saint-Germain des Prés it proposes a rigorous and cutting-edge selection of furniture and objects. The Galerie Alexandre Guillemain showcases world-famous designers and artists.
Location: Galerie Alexandre GUILLEMAIN – Artefact Design 21, rue Visconti 75006 Paris France
NOTEWORTHY MUSEUMS
Louvre Museum
The Louvre Museum is unquestionably one of the finest art galleries and one of the best modern art museums in the world. Home to hundreds of thousands of classic and modern masterpieces, the Louvre is the icing on the cake of French culture and a testament to European art history.
Location: Musée du Louvre, 75058 Paris, France
Musée des Arts et Métiers
This ‘arts and crafts’ museum is, in fact, Europe’s oldest science museum, founded in 1794 by constitutional bishop Henri Grégoire, initially as a means to educate France’s manufacturing industry in useful scientific techniques. Housed in the former Benedictine priory of St-Martin-des-Champs, it became a museum proper in 1819 – and contains a vast, fascinating and attractively laid out collection of treasures.
Location: 60 Rue Réaumur, 75003 Paris, France
Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais
The huge, sprawling galleries of the Grand Palais were originally constructed for the Exposition Universelle of 1900 – so it’s no surprise this place is the definition of grand. The exterior is in the Beaux-Arts style and dominated by an eye-catching steel-framed glass roof. Almost a century after it was built, in 1994, the Grand Palais was closed for some much-needed restoration, but it reopened in 2005 and has since put on huge exhibitions on the likes of Irving Penn, Marc Chagall, and Paul Gauguin.
Location: 3 Avenue du Général Eisenhower, 75008 Paris, France
Musée des Arts Décoratifs
Alongside the Musée de la Mode et du Textile and Musée de la Publicité, this is one of the world’s major collections of design and the decorative arts. Located in the west wing of the Louvre since its opening a century ago, the venue reopened in 2006 after a decade-long restoration of the building and with 6,000 of the 150,000 items donated mainly by private collectors. The major focus here is French furniture and tableware. From extravagant carpets to delicate crystal and porcelain, there is much to admire.
Location: 107 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France
The Centre Pompidou
The use of primary colors, exposed pipes, and air ducts make the Centre Pompidou one of the best-known sights in Paris. Pompidou holds the largest collection of modern art in Europe, rivaled only in its range and quality by MoMA in New York. The multi-disciplinary concept of the modern art museum, library, exhibition, performance spaces, and repertory cinema was revolutionary.
Location: Place Georges Pompidou, 75004 Paris, France
Musée d’Orsay
The old Belle Époque Orsay train station was converted into the Musée D’Orsay in 1986 to be the home of one of the world’s largest collections of Impressionist and Post-impressionist art. Aside from works by Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, and Toulouse-Lautrec, you’ll find an elegant collection of decorative arts from the Art Nouveau era and a wide range of 19th-century sculpture.
Location: 1 Rue de la Légion d’Honneur, 75007 Paris, France
Petit Palais
Opposite, on the other side of the road from the Grand Palais, you’ll find Petit Palais. Although it was also built for the 1900 World’s Fair, its warmly known as Grand Palais’ younger sibling. Behind its Belle Époque exterior, visitors can lay their eyes on some of the city’s most wonderful fine art and sculptures, including works by Poussin, Doré, Courbet and the Impressionists. Art Nouveau fans are in for a treat downstairs, where you’ll find jewelry and oddments by the Belle Epoque references Lalique and Gallé.
Location: Avenue Winston Churchill, 75008 Paris, France
Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine
Open since 2007, this architecture and heritage museum impresses especially by its scale. The expansive ground floor is filled with life-size cathedral frontages and ancient buildings, and interactive screens place the models in context. Upstairs, darkened rooms show full-scale copies of medieval and Renaissance murals and stained glass windows. The highlight of the modern architecture section is the walk-in replica of an apartment from Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse in Marseille.
Location: 1, Place du Trocadéro et du 11 Novembre 75116 Paris, France
Musée du Quai Branly
Surrounded by trees on the banks of the Seine, this museum, is an extraordinary building by Jean Nouvel, with a vast showcase for non-European cultures. Dedicated to the ethnic art of Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas, it joins together the collections of the Musée des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie and the Laboratoire d’Ethnologie du Musée de l’Homme, as well as contemporary indigenous art. Treasures include a tenth-century anthropomorphic Dogon statue from Mali, Vietnamese costumes, Gabonese masks, Aztec statues, Peruvian feather tunics, and rare frescoes from Ethiopia.
Location: 37 Quai Branly, 75007 Paris, France
Musée National du Moyen Age – Thermes de Cluny
The national museum of medieval art is renowned for the beautiful, emblematic Lady and the Unicorn tapestry cycle, but it also has important collections of medieval sculpture and enamels. There is also a worthy program of medieval concerts in which bards reflect the museum’s collection and occasional 45 min musicales in a similar style. The building itself, commonly known as Cluny, is a rare example of 15th-century secular Gothic architecture, with Gothic doorways, hexagonal staircase, and domed chapel. It was built from 1485 to 1498 – on top of a Gallo-Roman baths complex. The baths, built-in characteristic Roman bands of stone and brick masonry, are the finest Roman remains in Paris.
Location: 28 Rue du Sommerard, 75005 Paris, France
Musée Jacquemart-André
Long terrace steps and a pair of stone lions escort visitors into this grand 19th-century mansion, home to a collection of objets d’art and fine paintings. The collection was assembled by Edouard André and his artist wife Nélie Jacquemart, using money inherited from his rich banking family. The mansion was built to order to keep their art supply, which includes Rembrandts, Tiepolo frescoes and various paintings by Italian masters Uccello, Mantegna, and Carpaccio. The adjacent tearoom, with its fabulous tottering cakes, is a favourite.
Location: 158, boulevard Haussmann 75008 Paris, France
See Also: Dior Paris Apartment Envisioned by Carpenters Workshop Gallery
FRANCE’S FINEST INTERIOR DESIGNERS
Jean-Louis Deniot
Jean-Louis Deniot is a Paris-based architect and interior designer and one of the most influential and best interior designer in the world. Deniot is known for his eclectic interiors that brilliantly combined classic element with contemporary design. His interior design projects are splendidly layered, cleverly combining patterns, textures, colors, modern furniture and fine art pieces from different periods with refined elegance.
Philippe Starck
Philippe Starck is an internationally acclaimed French creator, interior designer and architect that considers having the duty to share his ethical and subversive vision of a fairer planet, creating unconventional places and objects. According to him: “No one is forced to be a genius, but everyone has to take part.” Besides his design projects and his relation to world fame, Philippe Starck has a huge humanitarian side – he has a mission to make life better for the largest number of people.
Charles Zana
Based in Paris, Charles Zana’s architectural practice creates exceptional spaces all over the world. As one of the best interior designer and architect, he considers his own style as modern classic and that shows in his works, from residential and exhibition design projects. Within his most important design projects were a London’s Kensington House Hotel and a Guy Martin restaurant at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Joseph Dirand
Joseph Dirand is one of the best interior designers in Paris nowadays. The Parisian architect has made a name for himself by creating linear, monochromatic spaces for luxury brands, like Givenchy, Alexander Wang or Mayfair. He usually works in residential, commercial and hospitality interior design projects with the mastery of few. Joseph Dirand’s style is immediately identifiable: a quintessentially French style of exclusive design combined into otherwise minimalist contemporary interiors design.
Alberto Pinto
Alberto Pinto Interior Design, under the direction of Linda Pinto, with a team of different experts employed, strictly maintains the success achieved since the beginning. Eclecticism, luxurious details, and refinement are the keywords when it comes to creating personalized environments for prestigious and world-renowned clients.
Gilles Et Boissier
Patrick Gilles and Dorothée Boissier are opposites that attract. Joyfully engaged in a constant, creative disagreement, they find inspiration: more, it’s precisely this ceaseless game of verbal and mental ping-pong that gives form to their ideas. Partners in life and in design, each one has a specific role and style, but together they form a unified whole as Gilles & Boissier, designing some of the best luxury hotels of the world.
India Mahdavi
India Mahdavi studio is known for the delighted projects that can take to a colorful wonderland like no other interior designer. Her interior design projects are elegant, fluid, and reflect the essence of their location. Mahdavi has become more than an exceptional interior designer, she is also a brand, interprets her rich mix of cultures and colors, into a high-end, joyful, and happy interiors.
Jacques Grange
Known for his exclusive design style, characterized by a harmony between traditional and contemporary tastes, Jacques Grange is one of the very few interior designers who received a strict, classical education in the field. He decorated and designed interiors for some of the biggest and most respected personalities and tastemakers. His main customers included Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, for whom he decorated the Château Gabriel, in Benerville-Sur-Mer.
OTHER WONDERFUL TREATS TO ENJOY
There are a number of unique and exclusive experiences in Paris. The capital of France is synonymous with luxury living and is totally worth the splurge. We present to you What To Do in Paris, a modern restaurant where you eat the famous French cuisine dishes, a luxury hotel where you can sleep and all the magical places to visit in Paris. Get inspired, fall in love and bon voyage!
WHERE TO EAT
Le Meurice
The bold but elegant modern style of young chef Jean-Francois Piège’s new Le Grand Restaurant makes this one of the best restaurants in Paris, which was just awarded two Michelin stars.
Location: 228 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France
Beefbar Paris
Under the gold of the old Fermette Marbeuf, discover Beefbar, an antithesis of the steakhouse which owes its international success to a direct supply of the best meats in the world, cooked without complex between grill and luxury street food. A restaurant with a very exclusive design.
Location: 5 Rue Marbeuf, 75008 Paris, France
Guy Savoy
One of the most luxurious restaurants in Paris occupies a suite of 18th-century salons overlooking the Seine on the first floor of the Monnaie de Paris.
Location: Monnaie de Paris, 11 Quai de Conti, 75006 Paris, France
Le Grand Restaurant
Wondering about what to do in Paris? And what about where to eat? The bold but elegant modern style of young chef Jean-Francois Piège’s new Le Grand Restaurant is one of the top restaurants in Paris, which was just awarded two Michelin stars.
Location: 7, Rue D’ Aguesseau 75008 Paris, France
Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée
Ducasse’s most ambitious project to date, this three-Michelin-starred restaurant takes an architectural approach to dining.
Location: 25, Avenue Montaigne 75008 Paris, France
Le Jules Verne, Eiffel Tower
Located on the second level of Eiffel Tower, Le Jules Verne is an exclusive French cuisine restaurant. With bold modern interior design by Patrick Jouin and cuisine by the already known Alain Ducasse, it offers a classic French menu with contemporary twists and with rigorously selected ingredients.
Location: Avenue Gustave Eiffel, 75007 Paris, France
WHERE TO STAY
La Réserve Paris Hotel and Spa
Located in the well-known eighth arrondissement of Paris, the hotel exudes old elegance but is barely four years old. While it is furnished with antique decor, modern amenities make the grand hotel a state-of-the-art stay. As many travelers remain interested in boutique hotels, La Réserve Paris offers luxury resort perks in a small setting. U.S. News & World Report ranked the luxury hotel as the No. 1 hotel in Europe in 2019.
Location: 42 Avenue Gabriel, 75008 Paris, France
Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris
Just a few steps away from the Champs-Elysées, featuring private terraces with commanding Paris city views, signature lavish flower displays, top-of-the-line spa treatments, and Michelin-awarded dining, Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris is one of the most expensive hotels in Paris that redefines luxury in the City of Light.
Location: 31, Avenue George V, 75008 Paris, France
Mandarin Oriental Paris
Mandarin Oriental Paris is a haven of elegance and understated luxury. With an exclusive design, this is one of the most exclusive hotels in Paris. The look throughout the hotel is cool and contemporary, served up with a slice of the Orient in the form of cherry wood paneling and fine silks.
Location: 251, Rue Saint Honoré, 75001 Paris, France
Ritz Paris
Located in Paris, 500 meters from Opéra Garnier, Ritz Paris is one of the most exquisite hotels in Paris that boasts a selection of bars and restaurants, a fitness center and a spa and wellness center which includes a pool, sauna and massage facilities.
Location: 15, Place Vendôme, 75001 Paris, France
Le Bristol
The palace hotel Le Bristol Paris, one of the top hotels in Paris. It offers a rooftop swimming pool with an authentic inner French garden and views of Paris rooftops, the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre in the background. The hotel comprises the award-winning spa & wellness center Le Bristol by La Prairie, which includes a solarium, and where massages and La Prairie treatments can be provided.
Location: 112, Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris, France
Shangri-La Hotel
Shangri-La Hotel, Paris, offers unmatched views on the Eiffel Tower and all the famous monuments of Paris. Be amazed at the impressive architecture of the end of the 19th century.
Location: 10 Avenue d’Iéna, 75116 Paris, France
Le Meurice
The original palace hotel in the heart of historic Paris, Le Meurice with its splendid newly-restored rooms and suites is the very epitome of quiet elegance and is alive with the artist’s soul of wit and magic. Le Meurice is an inspirational and fascinating place where 18th-century splendor and the most innovative modern comforts sit happily side by side. So much more than a luxury hotel, this is a gallery, an adventure, a living work of art.
Location: 228 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France
The Peninsula
Perfectly situated at 19 Avenue Kléber, The Peninsula sits in the heart of Paris within walking distance of some of the world’s most famous monuments, museums, and luxury shopping districts. The Peninsula houses 200 luxurious rooms, including 86 suites. Inspired by Haute Couture, the theme suites at The Peninsula Paris hotel – some of the French capital’s most spacious and the world’s most highly customized – are veritable showcases of French heritage and savoir-faire.
Location: 19 Avenue Kléber, 75116 Paris, France
Hôtel Esprit Saint Germain
Hotel Esprit Saint Germain was designed with the idea of a private residence. 28 rooms and suites ideally located in the heart of Paris, on the left bank of the Seine in Saint Germain des Pres, between the “Jardin du Luxembourg” and the “Boulevard Saint-Germain” where literary and artistic legends surrounding Paris have been written.
Location: 22 Rue Saint-Sulpice, 75006 Paris, France
Hôtel Plaza Athénée
True to its extraordinary city, Hôtel Plaza Athénée is no ordinary hotel. Here, on the prestigious avenue Montaigne, the tree-lined boulevard of French fashion, our hotel proudly offers guests the very best of Paris.
Location: 25 Avenue Montaigne, 75008 Paris, France
WHERE TO SHOP
Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche
An elegant atmosphere and a refined selection of high-end products and services make Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche the most selective department store in Paris.
Location: 24 Rue de Sèvres, 75007 Paris, France
Galeries Lafayette
The iconic Galeries Lafayette dates from the late nineteenth century and has become a genuine symbol of the “City of Light”, visited by over twenty-five million people each year.
Location: 1912, 9º arrondissement de Paris, Paris, France
De GOURNAY
De GOURNAY‘s uniquely hand-painted wallpapers could be the special touch you were looking for for your home with a very exclusive design. Bring the best of Paris home decor into your own house wherever it is located in the world!
Location: 15 Rue des Saints-Pères, 75006 Paris, France
Printemps
Created in 1865 by the visionary Jules Jaluzot and listed as a historical monument, Printemps Haussmann is today one of Paris’s leading department stores. More than 44,000 m² devoted to luxury goods, fashion, glamour and dream products.
Location: 64 Boulevard Haussmann, 75009 Paris, France
Roche Bobois
Shopping in Paris doesn’t have to be too hard. This French luxury brand has its amazing gems spread all over the city with stores in practically every single iconic Parisian corner.
Location: 84-92 Avenue du Maine, 75017 Paris, France
52 Avenue de la Grande-Armée, 75017 Paris, France
8 Rue de Lyon, 75012 Paris, France
Gucci Home
This luxury brand not only has been one of the leading luxury brands in the fashion sector but also in the home decor aspect. Recognized to be one of the best and most luxurious high-end brands, Gucci Home‘s collection is colorful, bright and flamboyant!
Location: 60 Avenue Montaigne, 75008 Paris, France
What To Do in Paris?
See Also: Beefbar Paris, the New Jewel of Interior Design
