Palais Royal

The Palais Royal was just that...a royal palace where Louis XIV's mother, Anne of Austria lived before the young king moved into The Louvre next door. It has since become the home of the Comédie Française and office to the Cultural Minister. It is a lovely, charming and romantic place that seems to always be less on crowds and full on ambiance. It charmed American fashion designer enough to open his first Paris store there. There is a comfortable garden in the center that is formal enough to give a sense of history, yet relaxed enough to allow a person to feel it is more than okay to sit, read a book, talk with friends or just regard the ever changing sky. (The building frames the sky almost perfecting.) It was actually the first place I visited on my first trip to Paris. I had read so much about a perfumier, Salons Shiseido, which is a subsidiary of the Japanese cosmetics brand. It's founder Serge Lutens is legendary and I grew up seeing his ads for Shiseido in magazines. I saw a small photo of the store and was mesmerised by how exotic it looks. It was Etruscan, Roman, vaguely Egyptian...the colors of lavender, deep berry and shiny black, all with an iron spiral staircase in the middle. Even if I would hate the perfume, I wanted to see the store and get the full feeling. I went and was instantly transported. It was all I imagined and more. What the photo could not convey were the scents. They all had exotic names to go along with the feelings the scents evoked. One whiff and you are instantly sent off to Morocco or Tunisia. Another whiff you are sent to farthest Asia to a night blooming garden. Yet another whiff and you are in a french lavender field. At the same time the scents are not clichés. They are complex with hints of the known and the unknown. I bought a bottle instantly and have recommended Salons Shiseido to everyone I know. Walking around in my perfumed haze I fell in love with the Palais Royal. It is slightly shabby, like the best places in Paris are in my opinion. There are interesting shoppes which have been in operation for multiple generations, with items you can not find anywhere else. Where else can you buy old military medals in gorgeous condition because many have never been worn? Where can you find a store stocked to the rafters with smoking pipes of every decade since the early 1800's? Where else can you dine in a restaurant that played a pivotal role in the French Revolution? It is really these things that make Paris so special. Okay, I know that often I relay my opinions about loving the history of this city and it's places, but I am not being nostalgic, after all, I am not french and did not grow up in Paris. I know that there is history in the US in which much of the world really knows nothing about, that is just as interesting and dynamic as what you can find Paris. The circumstances are perhaps different, but it is there. Actually, what I am pointing out with my suggestions is that there is history still coexisting with today. This is a concept, unfortunately, unique to a few cities in the world now. The urge to do away with history and create something new is not necessarily a new concept, even Paris did it in the 19th century, but Paris is doing well in preserving it's history while creating modernity along with it. Parisians decorate their homes with a Napoleon III commode and will put a plastic Kartell chair next to it. History and the modern easily exist side by side. Next to the Palais Royal is Maison Martin Margiela. Martin Margiela is Belgian, but has been part of the french fashion world for decades. He has completely changed fashion and the role, and appearance, of the fashion designer. First off, he has never been photographed. He does not allow it. No one knows any real information about him. He speaks through fax or through Maison Martin Margiela representatives. It is avant-garde maybe, but totally modern. He makes the clothes speak for him. The stores are white spaces. The staff wear white lab coats and it all makes sense when you see the clothes. They look and feel familiar. The leathers feel worn. The fabrics are soft. The details change the way the wearer moves, stands feels about themselves. His fashion influence is everywhere on the streets of Paris. It is the tall boots worn with a jersey "sweatshirt" dress and a little washed leather jacket. You see these women walking, in every age group and they always look seductive. They may wear their hair up, or down, like they just got out of bed. None, or very little make-up. A confident stride. They always catch your eye. This is part of the Margiela language that allows the person to get noticed with as little as possible. This modern look is just as much Paris as the grand architecture of the 17th century and before. This duality is Paris.

I have photographed the Palais Royal many times and have visited even more. I love it's calm nature and it's quiet chic. If shopping or fashion does not really interest you, it is a great place to just go and not worry about crowds. There are some lovely, discreet restaurants and cafes where you can sit for hours sipping a single espresso. It is civilized Paris and just a few yards away from the madness that is The Louvre. Everyone I have suggested the Palais Royal to have thanked me and made it a place they often visit. It is a truly special place.