🇫🇷 💌 The Paris Love Letter #145

Linking You to Paris

➡️ 33 best restaurants in Paris to try in 2026: House & Garden rounds up 33 of the best restaurants in Paris for 2026, spanning classic bistros, Michelin-starred spots, and trendy new openings across neighborhoods.

➡️ The Giants of Parisian Street Art: UP Magazine profiles foundational figures in Parisian street art, highlighting how artists like Blek le Rat, Invader, Miss Tic, Jef Aérosol, JR, and Levalet helped shape a thriving open-air museum.

➡️ The most romantic restaurants in Paris to visit this Valentine's day: House & Garden shares its editors’ picks for the most romantic restaurants in Paris for Valentine’s Day, with atmosphere-forward suggestions ranging from classic bistros to candlelit dining rooms.

➡️ A Guide to Belleville, Paris’s Bohemian Enclave: Frenchly offers a guide to Belleville’s bohemian, immigrant-rich hilltop neighborhood, covering its radical history and today’s street art, parks and views, Chinatown food scene, and local spots to eat.

VISITING PARIS
If You Only Have Three Hours in Paris

I often meet travelers who only have a few hours in Paris, whether it is a long layover or a quick day trip. Their first instinct is usually to try to see it all by hopping in and out of taxis. My advice is always the same: There’s a better way! This is also true if you have never been to Paris before and want to understand how the city is laid out.

If you have three hours, the best thing you can do is walk the spine of the city. I call this the Paris Welcome Walk. When you are in a car, you are isolated from the city by glass and speed. You see Paris as a series of disconnected images.

But when you walk, you are part of the surroundings. You feel the change in temperature as you cross the water and feel the shift in the city's energy from one neighborhood to the next. It is the most natural way to get your bearings.

The Route:
Start near the historic islands where Paris was born over 2,000 years ago. From there, follow the river as it flows west toward the Eiffel Tower. This path follows the historical growth of Paris, moving from its ancient heart toward its modern icons.

You will cross bridges, explore the islands, and move between both banks. Along the way, you will see Notre Dame, the oldest bridge in Paris, the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Tuileries Garden, the Eiffel Tower, and so much more.

This walk lets you witness the layers of history that live right alongside daily life. You see the grand monuments, but you also see the locals sitting on the stone quays and the movement of the river traffic. It is the most honest way to see the big sites while still feeling the soul of the city.

Want the full stories behind this walk?

I have distilled everything I know from leading hundreds of tours along this exact route into a digital guide. It includes an interactive map, my favorite café stops, and the hidden history most people walk right past.

PHOTOGRAPHING PARIS
The Paris You Don’t Photograph

Paris is the most photographed city in the world, and for good reason. The grand monuments and the sweeping views along the Seine are spectacular. But as a photographer, I have found that the images that stay with me the longest are often the ones I didn't expect to find.

They are the small, quiet details that you only see when you stop hunting for the "perfect" shot and simply enjoy being where you are.

It is the way the morning light catches the steam rising from a coffee cup on an old zinc bar. It is the specific shade of blue on a weathered door discovered down a side street, or the way a bookseller carefully arranges their vintage prints along the river wall.

These aren't the "big" moments we see on postcards, but they are the ones that make the city feel alive and personal.

I have learned that the best part of carrying a camera in Paris is that it forces me to slow down. It gives me a reason to stay in one place a little longer and watch the world move.

When I stop chasing the famous angles, I start noticing the character of the city. It’s found in the way a neighborhood wakes up, in the patterns of shadows on the pavement, and in the small rituals that happen every day.

There is a real joy in discovering these "in-between" moments. They are the textures that fill in the gaps between the landmarks and make your experience of Paris unique to you. This week, I hope you find a few of those quiet, beautiful details that belong only to your day, wherever you are.

FRENCH SONG OF THE WEEK
Stacey Kent - Les eaux de mars

Stacey Kent has a way of singing that feels incredibly intimate and light. I love the delicacy of her voice and the rhythmic, almost hypnotic way she delivers this song.

"Les Eaux de Mars" is essentially a poem made of small details: a stone, a glass, a light, a step. It celebrates the tiny fragments that make up a day. It is the perfect companion for anyone looking to notice the "unphotographable" details of Paris.