Bonjour, Friends!

The Tuileries Garden Christmas Market just opened for the season, and I took the tiny Lion and a friend to check it out (I put together a short video from our visit).

It is the biggest market in Paris, with rows of wooden chalets, a carousel, an ice rink, and plenty of food stalls. You can wander through stands selling French products and handmade gifts, and kids can even meet Santa.

Of course, there is all the good stuff to eat and drink: sausages, raclette, crêpes, waffles, and plenty of vin chaud (mulled wine) to keep you warm as you walk around.

Laura and I went to Notre Dame this week. We love it for its history and what it means to Paris, but with so many people inside, it honestly felt a bit like Disneyland.

We found ourselves missing the quiet, meditative feeling you get in some of the other churches here. Still, standing in a building that dates back to the 12th century is pretty incredible, and it really is beautiful.

📝 Visitors’ note: We visited without booking a time slot online and waited just 7 minutes and 6 seconds (yes, I used a stopwatch 🤣) from joining the queue to stepping inside the cathedral. Entrance to the main cathedral was free, but tickets (for a fee) are required to go up into the bell towers, and all time slots were sold out when we arrived.

I also spent some time at Paris Photo last weekend, the big annual photography fair at the Grand Palais. It was packed with hundreds of galleries and publishers from all over the world, and you see everything from classic prints to very experimental work.

I still lean toward museum shows over the commercial energy of a fair, but it is a fun way to get a snapshot of what is happening in the photo world right now. And visiting the Grand Palais is always a treat and worth the price of admission.

Oh, and get ready for our annual Back Friday photo print sale, which kicks off next week! It’s our biggest sale of the year.

We wish all of our American friends a Happy Thanksgiving!
xo, James & Laura

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If you are looking for simple, classic French food in Paris without a jaw-dropping bill, you will eventually hear about bouillons. These are traditional, value-focused restaurants where you can eat staples of French cuisine, such as onion soup, beef bourguignon, œufs mayo, and crème caramel, at prices that feel almost old-fashioned.

A bouillon is a type of Parisian restaurant born in the late 19th century, created to serve inexpensive, hearty meals to workers. The name comes from the broth, or “bouillon,” that was often part of these simple dishes.

The formula has not changed much:

Over time, bouillons developed a certain charm: soaring ceilings, mirrored walls, old-school décor, and a sense that not much has changed in decades. In recent years they have had a resurgence, attracting both locals and tourists looking for “real” French food without fine-dining formality.

The first bouillons appeared around the 1860s to early 1900s in Paris, designed to feed the city’s growing working class quickly and affordably. At their peak, there were dozens across the city. Many disappeared over the 20th century as dining habits changed, but a handful survived, and in the past decade, the concept has been revived and refreshed.

Today, names such as Bouillon Chartier and Julien Bouillon carry that history forward, blending the old working-class canteen spirit with a bit of Instagram-era nostalgia.

This week gave us a good chance to compare two bouillons.

Bouillon Chartier
We visited Bouillon Chartier (Here is their menu), one of the most famous and popular bouillons in Paris. They have three locations. We visited the one in Montparnasse after a stroll through Luxembourg Gardens. A few observations:

Overall, Chartier is a fun, very “Parisian” experience if you are prepared for crowds, noise, and close quarters.

Julien Bouillon
Meanwhile, Laura, without me this week, visited Julien Bouillon (here is their menu), and her impression was notably different:

Not all bouillons are created equal. Based on our experiences so far:

I shot this week’s photo about a month ago. It’s an abstract take on one of Paris’s most familiar monuments. In this series, I try to deconstruct what we think of as “reality” and invite a new way of seeing places we assume we already know.

How sure are we that what we see is what is really there, and how much is simply the way we are used to looking at it?

There is very little post-processing in this image, just a bit of exposure, contrast, etc. The effect is created “in-camera” with a long shutter and movement.

This week’s French song is “L’amour” by Saâne, a track that feels wrapped in candlelight. Her angelic voice pairs beautifully with our visit to one of the world’s most famous cathedrals this week.

There’s also something deeply introspective about this song that, for me, matches the turn in the weather as Paris finally tips into what feels like proper winter.

Custom routes. Real local stories. Zero tourist traps.