Ten ways to say I Love You in...
PARIS
by Richard Nahem
Few people will argue that Paris is one
of the most romantic cities, if not the most romantic
city, in the world. From the top of the hills of Montmartre,
to the luscious Luxembourg Gardens, to the bridges on
the Seine with jaw-dropping views of the city, Paris is
just oozing with romantic spots. We know that you are
a savvy, sophisticated traveler, and you gravitate to
the coolest places, but we invite you to indulge your
inner tourist a little and fulfill some of the Paris stereotypes
like climbing to the top of the Eiffel Tower, sipping
cheap Champagne while watching the tacky but fun Moulin
Rouge show, or having a street artist draw a caricature
of you and your lover at the Place du Tertre in Montmartre.
Here are ten ways to say je t’aime in the City of
Light.
At The Perfect Love
Pad
Nothing will set the mood better for your
romantic Paris sojourn than the perfect hotel room.
The best place to start is to search the comprehensive
list of gay and gay-friendly hotels listed on www.parismarais.com,
the gay-owned site all about the Marais, the top gay
area of Paris. From charming, inexpensive small hotels
to penthouse suites in chic boutique hotels, you will
find many wonderful options here.
One of the only four-star hotels in
the Marais, Pavillon de la Reine, is tucked away
in an ancient courtyard in front of the handsome Place
des Vosges Square. The hotel speaks quiet elegance and
54 individually decorated rooms and suites are accompanied
by a newly opened Carita Spa for the ultimate in relaxation.
A more rustic choice would be Hotel Bretonnerie
in the heart of the gay Marais, housed in a former 17th-century
private mansion. Ask for the attic rooms with slanted
ceilings and wooden beams. For decadent, modern luxury,
the Murano Urban Resort Hotel is the place to
stay. To fulfill your ultimate Paris fantasy, book the
spacious 700-square-foot deluxe suite with mood lighting,
private swimming pool, living room, sunbathing deck,
two slate bathrooms, Bang & Olufsen sound system,
and a Nespresso machine. Sorry to disappoint, but George
Clooney doesn’t come with the room, even though
it costs over $2,000 a night.
If you are in a more uptown mood, the
Hotel Costes on the rue St. Honore (the designer
paradise shopping street) is a hip, happening hotel
where the very stylish stay during Paris Fashion Week.
The sumptuous Napoleon III-style rooms by Jacques Garcia
are dark and elegant and the lobby bar is the place
to be seen. Linger over a long lunch in the fab, open
terrace restaurant and purchase one of their music CDs
specially mixed for the hotel by hot DJ Stephane Pompougnac.
The quieter, more bohemian left bank
offers the intimate L’Hotel, where Oscar
Wilde spent his last nights holed up in his suite. Get
the star treatment like other famous guests Princess
Grace, Frank Sinatra, and Elizabeth Taylor with a one-star
Michelin restaurant, pool and hammam for hotel guests
only, and personalized service.
Get under the sheets with Christian
Lacroix who designed the whimsical rooms at the conveniently
located Bellechasse Hotel, across from the Musee
Orsay. The seven categories of rooms have names like
St. Germain, Avengers (a wink to Emma Peel), and Jeu
de Paume with décor that ranges from modern sleek
to baroque and cozy. Request a room that has a white,
shiny bathtub in the center of it.
In Montmartre
Perched on a hill almost
1,400 feet above the city, Montmartre has some of the
most breathtaking panoramas of Paris. The name means
“mountain of the martyr” for which Saint Denis,
the patron saint of France, was decapitated for his
sins in 250 A.D. Until the late 1800s, Montmartre was
a separate village outside of Paris, and since it didn’t
incur the same high taxes on wine and spirits as Paris,
it became the hotspot for nightlife in the late 1800s
with the famous nightclubs and cabarets Le Chat Noir,
the Moulin Rouge, and the Lapin Agile. Starving artists
of the day (Picasso, Dali, Modigliani, and Monet) all
had their studios in Montmartre and frolicked away their
days and nights in the local cafés while creating
their masterpieces.
Feast your eyes on the creamy white
domes of the Russian influenced Sacré Coeur,
one of the most beloved churches of Paris. Discover
the haunts that precocious Amélie used to frequent,
including the café where she was a waitress,
Les Deux Moulins. Mosey down the winding streets
with quirky, private homes, buy a clichéd painting
of Paris in the Place du Tertre, and feed each other
sweet crepes made fresh by the local street vendors.
On A Seine River Cruise
Did you ever dream about
sailing down the Seine in the evening, maybe like Cary
Grant and Audrey Hepburn did in the 1963 romantic thriller
Charade? Bateaux Parisiens fulfills the dream
with three-course dinners plus wine and Champagne on
a sleek, modern boat. An orchestra and a singer will
serenade you while you gaze into each other’s eyes
with magical Paris in the background.
Less intimate, but just as romantic,
are the 70-minute Bateaux Mouches cruises, which
run every 20 minutes from 10:15 A.M. to 11 P.M. from
April till September, with longer intervals the rest
of the year.
For a very special voyage, the Romantic
Refuge is a tastefully refurbished barge available
for private dinner or lunch parties for up to eight
people. A private chef cooking an all-organic menu will
cater to your every whim, and the unlimited organic
wine will be flowing.
 Sweets
for Your Sweet
Chocolate is an aphrodisiac, so be careful or you may
turn into a sex maniac with the dizzying amount of chocolate
available in every corner of the city.
Jean Paul Hévin, Patrick Roger,
and Michel Cluizel, known for their dark, intense
chocolate, are the premier chocolatiers and their shops
stock every form of chocolate imaginable, from chocolate
stilettos to designer versions of Nutella. (Don’t
be embarrassed if you like milk chocolate, it’s
also available). Truffle hounds will go crazy over the
sinful, velvety truffles lightly dusted with cocoa at
Jean Charles Rochoux, a tiny shop on the Left
Bank.
If you prefer your chocolate in liquid
form, Cathy, the genial proprietor of tiny Comme
à la Maison (just like home) café
prepares homemade to-die-for hot chocolate, which is
pretty much like drinking a melted chocolate bar.
Parisians take their pastries very seriously,
and there are many players in the high stakes Paris
pastry world. Pierre Hermé is the master
of the universe, with his modern and inventive confections.
Fans line up single file at the minimalist boutique
for his famous macarons in traditional flavors like
raspberry, coffee, and lemon and unusual combinations
like strawberry and wasabi, passion fruit and milk chocolate,
and white truffle and hazelnut.
His sweet rivals include Gerard Mulot,
who makes the most delicious classic French pastries
and Ladurée, also known for their large
assortment of macarons.
Meanwhile, Legay Choc boulangerie
and patisserie bakes its naughty Baguette Magique, a
creative brioche sculpted like a penis, once a week.
If chocolate and pastry ever had an
official house of worship, Jacques Genin would
be it. The stunning shop and café in the northern
Marais, is as much a feast for the eyes as it is for
the taste buds with its grand metal staircase, stone
walls from the tenth century, and sleek leather club
chairs. Don’t let the interior distract you from
the most orgasmic salted caramels; delicate, exotic,
flavored chocolates; and mouthwatering pastries you
will ever taste.
A Sensual Spa Experience
After your long days of
wearing down your Pumas on the cobblestone rues and
being weighed down by shopping bags, a delicious reward
of a massage or spa treatment can be just the thing.
Anne Fontaine, famous for her
shops filled with pristine white blouses, has opened
her first spa in Paris. Anne was baptized in the rainforests
of the Amazon so her treatments have a South American
theme to them. Your body will feel like swaying to the
samba beat after The Girl from Ipanema package with
a guarana scrub, 12-coconut massage, and invigorating
seawater bath.
Il Fait Beau in the Marais is
a day spa and well-being space dedicated to the beauty
of men. Hot stone and aromatherapy massages, seaweed
and mud wraps, light hair removal, and mani-pedis are
just a few of the choices from the large menu of treatments.
Are you missing your workout and feeling a little flabby
after eating so many buttery croissants? Drop in for
a quick Power Plate session to tone your abs.
For the ultimate in pampering, treat
yourself to the Dior Institut at the Plaza Athénée
Hotel (where Carrie from Sex and the City had her disastrous
affair with Baryshnikov). Indulge yourself with five-star
luxury and haute couture service with an anti-jet lag
facial, a detox energy treatment, or the reviving leg
treatment, which will resuscitate your weary shopping
legs.
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