Image by Pierre BISMUTH

La Cuisine is one of the the three restaurants of the Palace Hotel Royal Monceau, located in the Avenue Hoche near Place de l’Etoile in the 8th district of Paris. This restaurant, as the entire hotel, has been redesigned by the famous designer Philippe Stark, just to give you an idea of the decor of this place !

In France, and of course in Paris, you can book your table in a lot of restaurants via the website lafourchette.com, so you can profit from special offers when you eat in some places. Try to get a discount for the restaurant before booking, because it is really expensive, as a glass of champagne can cost you 33 euros.

But, in spite of the price of beverages, La Cuisine is definitely worth the try. Indeed, the price of the food can seem expensive, but becomes reasonable if you have the discount, and the dishes are excellent: vegetables perfectly cooked, grilled fishes not dry, but still soft and tasty, wonderful beef fillet and desserts performed by the famous French pastry chef Pierre Hermé (you’ll find boutiques either in the 6th district, M° St Sulpice, or in the 15th district, M° Pasteur, if you want to taste Hermé’s creations).

Try to find offers on www.lafourchette.com to taste this restaurant !

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La Cuisine | Restaurants (Intern.) | Main meal € 100
35 Avenue Hoche | Quartiers Chics
Till 22:30 daily

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Image by Frédéric Moussaïan

French Ligue 1 is probably not the most exciting football (soccer) league in Europe, and Paris, with only one team in the major domestic championships – which makes a big exception, if you think of London, Madrid, Rome, Moscow… – is not known as a big football destination. Though, all football fans I know who got the chance to enjoy a game at the Parc des Princes agreed it was an unforgettable experience.

Indeed, its impressive heavy concrete structure and its boiling atmosphere (the continuous concrete structure makes the sound of the choirs remain inside) are the two main characteristics of the stadium, a real « cauldron », and a fortress hard to take for opponents. The modern and better-known Stade de France, built for the 1998 World Cup in suburban Saint-Denis (North of Paris), might be a great piece of architecture and engineering, it will never equal the Parc des Princes for its soul, its passion, and its choirs, especially when the two main groups of fans sing, answering to each other.

The local team, the Paris-Saint-Germain, had its most glorious time in the 90s, competing with all best European teams and reaching 5 times in a row European Cup semi-finals (including a victory and a final), a rarely equaled performance. Now with the arrival of Qatari funds and world-class new players, the PSG is finally coming back to the top of the league! 

Tickets are unfortunately quite expensive especially if you don’t book or buy them in advance. Information here.

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Parc des Princes | Relaxing, Festivals & events | Match ticket from € 20
24 rue du Commandant Guilbaud | Quartiers Chics
Check the schedule

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Image by Pierre BISMUTH

This brand new restaurant is part of the Palace Hotel Bristol located practically in front of the residence of the French president, Elysée Palace. The Chef, Eric Desbordes, was chosen by the 3 michelin star Chef Eric Frechon, who runs the Bristol Kitchen, which is a reference in French Cuisine.

The most wonderful thing when you eat at a palace, is that you can order dishes even if there are not on the menu ! And, of course, the service is perfect, like everything in this restaurant. The decor is splendid, and the food incredible.

Last time I went there, I ordered “King Crab” Eggs with gingered mayonnaise, which was a total success, followed by the grilled sole perfectly cooked and, as dessert, an amazing “Fraisier”, which is a French cake with pastry cream and fresh strawberries. As always, in this kind of expensive restaurants, you can always eat for a much lower price when you come during lunchtime from Monday to Friday : for example, at 114 Faubourg, you can eat for “only” €46 instead of more than €100 if you choose your dishes individually.

This is definitely a place to know if you want to test french cuisine or if you want a romantic place to eat.

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114 Faubourg | Restaurants (French) | Main meal € 100
114 Faubourg St-Honoré | Quartiers Chics | +33153434444
Mon – Fri 12:00 – 14:30 & 19:00 – 22:30, Sat – Sun 19:00 – 22:30

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Image by Pierre Bismuth

Before or after going to the theatre du Rond-Point des Champs Elysées, you can go to a bar / restaurant called the Berkeley on the avenue Matignon.

When we were there with my wife, just a few weeks before having our third child, we used, as often, the service of www.lafourchette.com, because this restaurant was on 50 % discount, which tends to make it very affordable (otherwise, it is a little bit expensive, but what do you expect on the Champs-Elysees ???)

My wife tried the veal with pastas, which was a good choice as she told me the veal was excellent. I had the beef carpaccio and it was a success too, the only disappointment were the french fries, which could be better and home-made !

Another precision, as very often in the restaurants of the Capitale, the drinks can be very expensive, and that’s the case for water in this restaurant : 8 euros for a bottle of water is exaggerated.

But I can say that the place is quite nice, the service is professional too and the food is very honest for this location. You can go there without any hesitation. 

If you prefer, on the Matignon avenue, there are lots of trendy lounge bars & restaurants you can try, but beware of the prices, which can be pettry high !

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Le Berkeley | Bars, Restaurants (French ) | Full meal from € 30
7, avenue Matignon | Quartiers Chics | +33142257225
08:00 – 00:00 daily

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Image by Pierre Bismuth

Le Théâtre du Rond-Point is a public theater which lies in the middle of the Eight district, at the angle of the Avenue du Président Roosevelt and avenue des Champs-Elysées. And as it is a public theater, the prices of the seats are very cheap compared to the private theaters like the Théâtre Marigny.

In january, the theater presents the work of t$a very famous french humorist : Guy Bedos, whose is a fervent supporter of the socialist party in France. This guy invented the press review on stage, which is always a very funny exercise.

I saw him at l’Olympia 10 years ago and it was quite an experience. Of couse, it is in French, but if you are interested in the politics in France, you will not be disappointed.

In general, this theater presents a really original programmation, which tends to honor the french or foreign authors specialized in “nonsense” or absurd.

I hope you’ll enjoy assisting at a representation. 

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Theatre du Rond Point | Theaters | Entrance from € 16
2bis avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt | Quartiers Chics | +33144959821
Mon – Sat 11:00 – 19:00, Sun 12:00 – 16:00

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Image by Frédéric Moussaïan

If you are a modern art enthusiast planning to visit Paris, you probably already heard of the Centre Pompidou (which is also a great relaxation site), this multidisciplinary cultural centre that, among other things, hosts the National Museum of Modern Art and organizes really interesting exhibitions.

But what you may not know is that the city of Paris also has its own modern art museum, and that its collections have no reason to be jealous of Centre Pompidou’s, recently enriched by 61 works by Giorgio De Chirico.

Immediately after the entrance hall, you can visit the impressive room dedicated to Raoul Dufy’s La Fée Electricité, one of the biggest paintings in the world, which retraces the history of electricity through the ages. Collections are downstairs (free of charge, like in other municipal museums), and exhibitions on the main floor.

The Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (full name!) is located in the East wing of the Palais de Tokyo, near Chaillot hill, in the aristocratic 16th district. Mostly visited for the Eiffel Tower, this area is also full of museums, some of which are part of “Colline des Musées” discount programme:

- the West wing of the same building hosts the Palais de Tokyo centre for contemporary art (and a cool trendy restaurant: Tokyo Eat)

- Musée du Quai Branly: primitive arts, on the other bank of the river, next to Eiffel Tower

- Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine (architecture and town planning museum).

And also (not included in the programme):

- Musée Guimet: Asian arts

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Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris | Art & culture | Free
11 avenue du Président Wilson | Quartiers Chics | +33153674000
Tue – Sun 10:00 – 18:00

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