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Paris' Coutume Café Boasts Imported Beans and a NYC-Imported Barista

This week, Jaunted correspondent Heidi Atwal takes us along to Paris, uncovering the hidden bits found in between sessions of copious macaron and butter consumption. And we do mean copious. Make sure to check in daily for dispatches from the City of Light.

It was a passing tip in a free magazine we picked up on London's streets that led us to Paris' Coutume Café, a coffee shop as decidedly anti-Starbucks as it gets. With a barista flown in from New York to head up their java producing operations, a carefully curated selection of imported beans, and monthly coffee tasting sessions for hardcore aficionados (think wine tasting, only sniffing and dry tasting rather than swirling and sipping), it's clear that Coutume is a place where the art of Joe is taken very, very seriously.

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Wish You Were Here: Paris' Jardin des Tuileries

Overcast, sure, but the Jardin des Tuileries still offers undeniably pretty views.

This week, Jaunted correspondent Heidi Atwal takes us along to Paris, uncovering the hidden bits found in between sessions of copious macaron and butter consumption. And we do mean copious. Make sure to check in daily for dispatches from the City of Light.

Exhausted after braving throngs of too-cool-for-their-own-good shoppers at Paris' Colette boutique, we stumbled away from Rue Saint-Honoré with a boxful of Pierre Hermé macarons under our arm in search of some late afternoon respite. Wandering just up the way we found our way to the Jardin des Tuileries, which lies in between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde and affords visitors a great opportunity to people watch and take in amazing views of the Eiffel Tower.

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The Newbie Traveler / Paris Travel / France Travel / Tourism / Tourists / Eurostar / Culture Shock / Andy Miles / Travel Tips / → All Tags

An American in Paris...Does His Laundry

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled to Europe? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties is embarking on his first trip to the continent and walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler. Read his previous adventures and follow along all week as Andy takes us along on his inaugural Euro journey.

Romance is not lost on me. I like fine wines, nice dinners, and I'm not above admitting that Love Actually is one of my favorite films. However, just because you're in Paris doesn't mean it can be all moonlit meals and strolls by the Seine 24/7. I don't care what country you're in—dirty socks are dirty socks. Even Napoleon had to wash his pantaloons now and again.

Without the creature comfort of the washer and dryer back in my San Francisco apartment, I was forced to seek laundry asylum elsewhere. Luckily, there was such an establishment not far from my hotel. I packed up my unmentionables and headed out in search of cleaner pastures.

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The Newbie Traveler / Paris Travel / France Travel / Tourism / Tourists / Eurostar / Culture Shock / Andy Miles / → All Tags

The Newbie Traveler Says Bonjour to a Very First Visit to Paris

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled to Europe? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties is embarking on his first trip to the continent and walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler. Read his previous adventures and follow along all week as Andy takes us along on his inaugural Euro journey.

It's already been one year since my first international trip—to London. It seems like only yesterday I was basking in the glow of the on-demand entertainment system of the Boeing 777 that whisked me up and over the United States through the cold, maple syrup-flavored airspace of our northern comrades only to touch down several "Frasier"-filled hours later in the United Kingdom. However, this time around, instead of just being a newbie in London, I was a newbie in three other amazing cities: Paris, Rome, and Zurich.

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Paris Loves the Romance of Gum Chewing, the Resulting Mess on Sidewalks Not So Much

This sign might not have been charming if it was in New York’s subway system, but when we spotted this traveling around Paris we thought it was something pretty special. We’re hardly experts when it comes to French—our knowledge is based purely on those old infomercials for Muzzy—but we kind of knew what they were talking about when we spotted the sign.

It doesn’t take much to understand that the city doesn’t want chewing gum left behind on the trains, but it’s the way in which it was written that we found charming. Even without too much mastery of the French language it was pretty easily to see that the whole thing rhymes—kind of like a public service sonnet.

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The iPad Arrives at the Eiffel Tower for Just $10 Per Hour

After huffing and puffing our way up the stairs of the Eiffel Tower—we don’t know what we were thinking—we stumbled upon a new way to experience one of Paris’ most famous tourist attractions. Instead of simply enjoying the views of the city from high above the ground, there’s now the option to digitally explore things thanks to the landmark’s very own app.

If you’re brave enough to download something despite the international roaming fees, you can add the Eiffel Tower app right onto your device, but what we thought was even more interesting was the opportunity to borrow an iPad right at the top.

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Paris' Vélib Bike Sharing Celebrates Four Years, Raises Prices

If you’ve been to Paris in the last few years, you’ve probably seen all those Vélib bicycles ready for tourists and locals alike to take them for a spin. We’ve even had the pleasure of pedaling one with a baguette in our basket, so it’s with great pleasure that we wish them well on their fourth anniversary this summer.

However, it’s pricey to keep all those seats nice and cushy, and it looks like the bike sharing program is going to cost everyone a few more euros and cents. Starting at the beginning of May—that’s like this week—prices will rise by around 70 cents. Now one-day tickets will set you back €1.70, where things were previously just €1—that’s roughly $2.50 for those of us that have credit cards based in the nifty fifty.

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Hugh Jackman Loves Paris in the Springtime

Hugh Jackman brought his wife Deborra-Lee Furness, and their kids, Oscar and Ava, to Paris for spring break this week where they've hit some of the city's best museums and restaurants just like any other tourists.

Yesterday, the actor was spotted chasing after Ava outside the Musée Rodin, which was opened in 1919 in the Hôtel Biron and displays the works of sculptor Auguste Rodin. The museum is actually a great place to bring kids because they can play in the surrounding gardens, not to mention they get in for free! The museum is open between 10 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. daily. Adult Admission ranges from 1€ to 12€. For more information visit Musee-Rodin. fr.

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Wine Travel / Paris Travel / France Travel / Eric Rosen / Food Travel / → All Tags

How and Where to Go Urban Wine Tasting in Paris

Going to France, but don't have time to get out of Paris to visit the country's famous wine regions? Turns out wine-tasting in Paris isn’t that easy to find since the city doesn’t have too many tasting-style wine bars like we’re used to back Stateside. Now, however, you can sip and sample wines from all over France at these three fantastic, and distinct, tasting rooms without ever leaving the city.

· O Chateau

The latest addition to Paris’s wine bar scene is this fantastic find right in the heart of the city’s first arrondisement, about five minutes’ walk from the Louvre. This isn’t tourist central, though. Rather, it’s close to the charming pedestrianized streets around Montorgueil, and is located in the ground floor and basement (or cellar we might say) of a historical building.

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Inside Air France’s Salon d’Affaires at Paris-Charles de Gaulle

Maybe it’s just us, but every time we fly out of Charles de Gaulle, we end up getting delayed for a few hours. After our recent trip to Paris, that delay turned out to be four hours all told, so we figured we might as well check out Air France’s Salon d’Affaires, and doesn't it sound so much better than “airport lounge?"

So, for the next installment in our Airport Lounge Series, we’re taking you for an inside look at the Salon d’Affaires, and its many amenities both bon et non:

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Start the Week Off Right with a Contest for 5 Nights in Paris and a DVF Shopping Spree

Let's start out this new week the right way: by daydreaming about being anywhere but back at work. Like Paris, maybe. You like Paris, right? Well luckily Tablet Hotels is using January as a month to give away a free 5-day trip to City of Lights, plus a couple more perks that really made this travel contest stand out for us.

If you win the 5-night Paris stay at the Hotel de Sers, then you're also going to be the winner of round-trip airfare for two to get there, and (this is what really makes this great) a $2,500 shopping spree at Diane Von Furstenberg.

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Bulgari Brings Elizabeth Taylor's Gems to Show Off at Paris' Grand Palais

If you're one of the lucky bunch heading to Paris for Christmas or New Years, or perhaps you just scored that Paris flight deal we told you about yesterday for early January travel, then you're in for a treat.

Many ask for jewelry for holiday gifts, but who receives an entire exhibition dedicated to the haute skills of the Italian brand Bulgari? The city of Paris, that's who. From December 10 to January 12, the City of Light's Grand Palais is hosting the glitziest examples of the last 125 years of jewelry awesomeness produced by the brand, including the jewels of both Elizabeth Taylor and famed Italian actress Anna Magnani.

The entry fee is 12 Euro per adult, which is quite a small price to pay considering how many priceless objects with which you'll soon be sharing the same air. See all the exhibition details here.

[Photos: Bulgari]