Lisa’s ‘Hood
While exploring my new neighborhood, I came across a shop that stopped me in my tracks. I whipped out my iPhone to snap a shot. The sign, written in English […]
While exploring my new neighborhood, I came across a shop that stopped me in my tracks. I whipped out my iPhone to snap a shot. The sign, written in English […]
La pendaison de crémaillère: the hanging of the iron rack thingie that suspends the cooking pot over the fire. It’s the French version of the word, “housewarming.” In centuries past, […]
When most people invest in a pied-à-terre in Paris, they settle in the central part of the city—the chic 6th or 7th arrondissements, or the trendy Marais—where resale values will […]
Today, in the subway station in Rockefeller Center, I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out two objects: my New York MetroCard, and a ticket for the Paris Métro. […]
The original tagline of my blog was: I Got an Apartment in Paris So I Could Buy the Butter. This is not me being clever; it’s the deep-down, primal, driving […]
During my first stay in my new Paris apartment, my main water pipe, located in my bathroom, sprang a leak. My contractor, who was on vacation, left it to me […]
It was my first stay in my new apartment after nearly three months of renovation. I arrived to find a perfect little gem. Everything was exactly as I dreamed it […]
Don’t you just love names that end in “-rama?” It just sounds like bigger and better fun, doesn’t it? Try it right now and you’ll see what I mean: take […]
[Note: This post had been unpublished while we filmed House Hunters International. I’ve recently republished it.] I hadn’t seen the apartment since June, when it was covered in an inch […]
A creature of habit, I stayed in the same hotel in the Left Bank every time I visited Paris. I grew very attached to the quartier, and to the hotel staff […]
I’d just arrived in Paris to oversee the renovation of my apartment and was profoundly jet-lagged. I threw myself on a bed, my limbs heavy, my head fuzzy. “Moins 30%” read the […]
I’m looking for a classic fauteuil to go with my chic canapé clic-clic, and a stylish tapis to tie it all together. A what, you say? Yeah, that’s how I felt, too. Then there […]
“Did you find the apartment—or did the apartment find you?” a friend asked me when I broke the news I’d made an offer on a place in Paris. In truth, the […]
Coup de coeur is a favorite expression of French real estate sites. It literally means a blow to the heart, which sounds like a bad thing, but it refers to […]