Issue No. 13

The secret garden of the Hotel de
Sens, a medieval palace where a
Queen once lived. The palace is
now home to a library and art
gallery - Bibliotheque Forney. it's
undergoing renovation and reopens
February 2017. You'll find
it not far from Notre Dame, at 1
rue du Figuier
WIN A COPY OF
THE PARIS
LIBRIARIAN BY
MARK PRYOR -
SEE PAGE 78
But the ultimate meal, and it was good
enough for me to send my characters
Hugo and Claudia there on a date, was at Il
Vino on Boulevard de la Tour-Maubourg.
The best because the vegetarian meal they
prepared for my wife was as good as, if not
better, than my own fabulous four courses.
And again, fun service with the waiter
taking great delight in making us guess
each of the different wines he served us
with each course.
Paris is more than food and the famous
sights we all know about (and the wonder
of them all being so close, so walkable!)
The thing about Paris is that you can find
havens of peace amid the pomp and
glamor.
Step one way and be in the mix, eyeing the
stunning Louvre before walking five
minutes to a place of peace and quiet like
the Jardin de l’Hôtel de Sens, where you
can sit on a park bench and watch the
pigeons, and the clouds.
Even places like the American Library in
Paris can surprise. An unassuming
frontage, yes, the usual rows of book
shelves, of course, but did you know, the
place has a secret door? Oh yes, and it’s to
be found in the basement, a place that has
its own delightfully eerie ambience.
There is one secret magnet in Paris for me,
though, the place my wife and I know to
meet if phones are lost and rendez-vous
missed. It’s a spot that gives us a choice of
two cafés, a place where three beautiful
streets come together, funneling tourists
and locals past as you watch and sip
coffee. I won’t tell you where exactly, except
that it’s in the Sixth Arrondissment, I can’t
because it’s mine. Ours.
Well, maybe I will if you ask nicely.
After all, Paris is love, and love is for
sharing...