Paris

Katja is not quite certain where the year has gone; it feels like it was only yesterday that she was drinking too much champagne and ringing in the New Year (well, it might have been only yesterday that she was drinking too much champagne…). She’s even less certain how it came to be April without her having left the country even once (so unlike her jet-setting self). She realized this was something that needed to be remedied immediately, and thus decided that a trip to Paris was in order.

There’s nothing like April in Paris (or so they say), and she thought it would be the perfect place to spend a long weekend filled with friends, food, wine, culture and more wine.

Katja loved her hotel, the newly opened Maison Souquet, a former bordello with lavish interiors designed by Jacques Garcia, and rooms named after famous courtesans.

Her room was dedicated to Hortense Mancini, a mistress of Charles II, whose rather adventurous life had Katja thinking that she needed to spice hers up a bit. The hotel bar’s cocktails were also named after courtesans, so she figured that drinking some of those would be a good start - perhaps they contained some magic potion that would increase her powers of seduction. And, even if they wouldn’t turn her into a femme fatale, they certainly tasted good.

Besides sipping cocktails and drinking lots of red wine (what else is new) with her Parisian friends, eating pastries was high on her agenda. She thinks cake is a perfectly suitable thing to have for lunch, and with all of the walking through the city’s charming neighborhoods and parks there was no need to worry about not fitting into her leotards upon her return home (they’re stretchy anyway). She’s a fan of the Mont Blanc, and as they, well chestnut desserts in general, are hard to come by in the States, she made certain to get her fill over the weekend.

She sampled her first at Jean-Paul Hévin, a rather tasty chocolate shop, and a praline version at Angelina, her favorite Parisian tearoom.

Katja was not surprised to learn that it was founded by an Austrian pastry chef – don’t tell the French, but Katja must admit that as much as she loves French pastries, she prefers Austrian cakes. And as much as she enjoyed the crepes smothered in chocolate and whipped cream that she had for dessert one evening, nothing quite compares to the Topfenpalatschinken with vanilla sauce from Demel, something she is still dreaming of from her trip to Vienna in December.

Of course Katja did more than eat and drink – she’s a cultured girl, after all, and a trip to Paris would not be complete without soaking up some of the cities many cultural wonders. Having already been to the big museums numerous times, and having no desire to join the hordes of tourists, she decided to catch some smaller temporary exhibitions, including a show at the Jeau de Paume of one of her favorite artists, Taryn Simon, and In the Time of Klimt, the Viennese Secession, at the Pinacothèque de Paris. She also went to an opening at the Marian Goodman Gallery of the Chinese artist Yang Fudong. Unfortunately she did not have time to see an opera or ballet, which is usually a must during her travels, but was at least able to pick up a few things at the Palais Garnier gift shop. When all else fails, go shopping…

Sadly the trip went by much too quickly (don’t they always), but her body was probably ready for a few days of less wine and more vegetables. Plus she’ll be back in Newark before she knows it, as she’s off to Los Angeles next month, and London in June.

Now if only she could get rid of her fear of flying...