“Il faut cultiver notre Jardin [We must tend our garden],” Voltaire famously penned in his 1759 masterpiece, Candide.That bucolic phrase has travelled through the centuries, interpreted as an encouragement to tend to one’s own affairs. Yet, as humanity faces escalating heatwaves, floods and a multitude of social upheavals, the Age of Enlightenment, which Voltaire represented, has come under scrutiny. Back then the natural world was seen as something to be tamed. But we are part of nature, not apart from it. So if we’re serious about a climate-resilient future, nurturing the entire ecosystem seems to be a logical move.

With its Haussmannian vernacular, pitched roofs and bustling boulevards, Paris might not seem the obvious candidate for the gold medal in sustainability – but there is hurdle on the horizon; Paris could hit summer temperatures as high as 50c by 2050 according to a recent study.

The French capital offers remarkably few opportunities for nature to thrive. With only 1,883 hectares of publicly accessible green space – less than 9 sq m per capita – Paris trails far behind Vienna, Rome and London (the World Health Organization says the ideal is 50sq m). But plants still push their way through the concrete, and with them come ideas of almost revolutionary potential. We survey the city to find the places where green ideas are taking root.

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Nature Urbaine

Spanning 14,000 sq m, Nature Urbaine, or NU-Paris, is perched atop a pavilion in the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre. It is the largest rooftop urban farm in Europe. Fruit and vegetables are grown using a mix of hydroponics and aeroponics: coconut fibre is used to retain water and nutrients, while white, guttering-like structures tap the fresh air to allow plants to grow without soil. Roots are constantly misted with a nutrient solution for more precise control of the growing conditions. It’s a closed-loop system, recycling nearly 90 per cent of water. Six to eight tonnes of produce are harvested every season.

Strawberries dominate. “We’ve planted 20,000 seedlings,” says Flore Canonge, gardener and head of learning at Nu-Paris. Elsewhere, you’ll find tomatoes, aubergines, chillies and Armenian cucumbers. “We aim to offer a diverse array to satisfy the culinary needs of our clients,” says Canonge. Those include local gourmet spots such as Le Perchoir – sharing the same rooftop – and prestigious hotels such as Le Meurice.

Fresh produce is mostly delivered by foot, cargo bikes or public transport. Excess is collected by Re-Belle, an organisation aiding people’s reintegration into the workforce, transforming crops into jams and chutneys. “Anything that remains is composted, contributing to the virtuous cycle we strive to maintain,” says Canonge.

Is this a silver bullet to rising food insecurity? “Rather than a standalone solution, we see it as a powerful tool for reconnecting city dwellers with the origins of their food,” says Canonge. Both the corporate crowd and high-school pupils flock in to learn the art of growing everything from radishes to courgettes. Get in touch for a guided tour or community garden slots.
nu-paris.com

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Faculty of Pharmacy

A verdant oasis in the heart of Paris? This botanical haven belongs to the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universite Paris Cite, overlooking the entrance to the Zadkine Museum in the 6th arrondissement.

Founded in 1882, the enclave serves primarily educational and research purposes. “Students collect plants for identification. Occasionally, the pharmacognosy laboratory might request samples for extraction and analysis,” says Florence Chapeland-Leclerc, professor of botany and mycology in charge of the premises.

Here, nature isn’t admired for its aesthetics. “Most current medicines originate from plants or fungi. Efforts molecules, particularly for the development of new drugs,” she says.

The stakes lie in striking a balance between ensuring respect for traditional knowledge and sustainable practices while probing for potentially beneficial substances. “Our goal is to study them, under agreements signed with the countries concerned, of course, so that we can understand whether there really is an active compound of interest.”

The academic premises aren’t always open, but free guided tours and group visits are held regularly. To keep everything in place, head gardener Olivier Babiar indulges in his favourite activities: composting and propagating cuttings. “I have no favourite plants,” he tells Monocle, adding that all plants are his favourite. Naturally.

Only a fraction of the 400,000 known plant species have been studied so far. “A vast array of plants or fungi are still unknown. We estimate that the reservoir is extraordinary,” says Chapeland-Leclerc. An antidote to our ignorance of nature may be hidden somewhere too.

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Pepins production

Surrounded by a freight railway, the perpetually jammed Boulevard Peripherique and the river Seine, Bercy­ Charenton is a seemingly overlooked pocket of land with an industrial feel. But plans are under way for a new eco-quartier, a mixed-use development with 45 per cent greenery. Before that happens, time to play with the large brownfield site on the disused Petite Ceinture rail tracks.

Overlooked by Jean Nouvel’s imposing Duo Towers, two raised beds are brimming with cabbages, verbascums and passion flowers. Part of the Berey Beaucoup, it has become the latest outpost for Pepins production, a collective running neighbourhood nurseries or pepinieres de quartier.“The idea was to create a community around urban gardening, and to show that anyone can grow plants,” says project manager Eloise Bloit. With food prices soaring, Pepins production proposes a solution. “Eating fruit and vegetables has become expensive,” she tells Monocle. “So how can we produce them for less without compromising on the quality?”

Besides their Bercy site, other locations include a garden tucked behind a stone wall at the Belleville cemetery, or greenhouses nestled in a block of flats in the bohemian I1th arrondissement.There’s a social dimension, too: the nurseries serve as a work­ reintegration scheme for those who struggle to return to employment. “We like diversity in both people and plants. There’s plenty to cultivate,” says Bloit, hinting that the potential extends beyond mints and basils. The produce – predominantly medicinal herbs, edible plants, ornamental and wild flora native to the Paris region – is organically grown using recycled materials and peat-free soil made from leaf compost sourced from the suburbs.

Open days are regular, with plants available only to association members – options start at €2 per year.
pepinsproduction.fr

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Merci Raymond

“Paris is one of the world’s most densely populated cities. And the only way to embrace this, especially in the era of global warming, is to create space for greenery,” says Hugo Meunier, founder of Merci Raymond. Originally trained as a lawyer, he named his venture in homage to his nature-loving grandfather. At first responding to the millennial house-plant craze by greening offices and bistros with monsteras and fiddle leaf figs, nearly a decade later, their activities range from community gardens in banlieues to urban-redevelopment projects  in the corporate La Defense.

“We work on streets, in the courtyards and especially on rooftops,” Meunier tells Monocle. Edible gardens, such as the one at the Hotel des Grands Boulevards, are quickly becoming their clients’ favourites. Before the herbs make their way into the culinary creations of the hotel’s celebrated chef, Giovanni Passerini, they allow the guests to enjoy the perks of the urban version of farm-to­ table while attracting bees and butterflies.

Merci Raymond’s commissions include Pare de la Villette landscaping overhaul, becoming the French National Agency for Urban Renovation’s official advisors on urban agriculture-related matters. They have also taken part in the Pavillon d’ Arsenal’s Natures Urbaines exhibition.

For Meunier, rethinking public space is about fostering a relationship between people and plants. “The idea is that instead of seeing an empty space every morning and avoiding it, people should reclaim it and install a garden – and host birthday parties there.”
merciraymond.fr

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Roofscapes

“Every year the hot climate shifts away from the equator. But the cities are staying put. So they have to face temperatures vastly different from those they were built for,” says architect Olivier Faber. While visually striking, the iconic zinc-pitched roofs absorb substantial heat, exceeding 80C in summer and further exacerbating the urban heat island effect. “Zinc is both our greatest asset and our biggest thermal challenge,” Faber tells Monocle.

He and colleagues Eytan Levi and Tim Cousin propose an ingenious solution. Instead of dismantling what is effectively a French national treasure, they designed a modular, fully reversible structure that envelops the roofs in gardens full of lush greenery.

The trio met as undergraduates in Lausanne but reconvened in Paris to consider climate-adaptation issues; the Roofscapes studio was established in 2021. This spring they got the go-ahead from the Mairie de Paris, collecting several prestigious awards alongside.

Currently, a 1oo sq m pilot is under way at the Academie du Climat, Paris’s official climate education agency. A platform made from lightweight wood minimally contacts the building, blending seamlessly with existing rooftops. “This allows us to preserve the traditional craftsmanship of zinc workers, crucial for adapting to the new climate. Simultaneously, we create a space where both humans and other beings can thrive.”

For Faber, greener cities won’t save us from climate disaster unless they’re designed with a multi-species perspective in mind. “We need to give power back to non-humans and learn how they live,” he says.
roofscapes.studio

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4.
Have something made to measure

Sharp tailoring is always a good idea if you want to fit in with Paris’s well-dressed denizens. High-end tailor Charvet in the Place Vendôme remains the essential choice for classic gents in search of made-to-measure shirts. Meanwhile, Husbands is the place to go for an impeccable suit.

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7.
Find serenity at a historic chapel on the Rue du Bac

A popular pilgrimage site for those seeking solace, the Chapelle Notre- Dame de la Médaille Miraculeuse on the Rue du Bac is renowned for the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Catherine Labouré in 1830. This beautiful church is also a perfect spot for anyone wanting to rest their feet after checking out Le Bon Marché’s fada exhibition nearby.

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Read next: Monocle’s complete City Guide to Paris

Illustrations: Mathieu De Muizon

As the fashion capital of the world, Paris has always had a healthy supply of skilled tailors and cobblers. Preserving these businesses is a citywide effort: local authorities offer them lower rents and last autumn the government also introduced new legislation to incentivise Parisians to visit their local workshops more frequently. Since 2023, people have been able to claim back up to €25 of the cost of mending clothes and shoes in workshops that have joined a repair bonus scheme run by eco-organisation Refashion.

All this is a reflection of the city’s commitment to preserving its craft traditions and many Parisians’ desire to keep the fast-fashion cycle that has plagued the industry at arm’s length. Here, Monocle meets some of Paris’s experts, both new and well-established, who can bring your clothes back to life.

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1.
Veja General Store

After successfully launching repair services in Bordeaux, Berlin, Madrid, New York and London, trainer brand Veja recently added an outpost in Paris, the city where it was founded by Sebastien Kopp and François Ghislain Morillon. In line with its commitment to minimising fashion-industry waste, the label is now offering its customers the possibility to come into its new Rue de Marseille shop and have any trainers repaired (no matter the brand) instead of buying new ones.

Billed as a trainer repair “temple”, Veja General Store is home to cobblers who are trained in the specific techniques required to mend trainers, as well as a tailor who can give a new lease of life to clothing. There’s also a selection of high-quality products to encourage customers to keep their favourite shoes in mint condition, from laces, brushes and shoe creams to polishes. This one-stop shop ensures a smooth retail experience.

II Rue de Marseille, 75010 Paris

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Superstich MFG
After developing an interest in denim as a teenager, Arthur Leclercq set out in search of rare sewing machines, which he salvaged from defunct factories across the city that operated between the r92os and r97os, a period considered to be a golden age for denim.

One of the biggest highlights during his treasure hunt was getting his hands on a Singer 47w70, a vintage machine for repairing and reweaving denim, which can make any restitching almost invisible.

“Every single machine you see here has been taken apart and put back together again,” says Leclercq, as he shows Monocle around Superstitch, his Left Bank shop on the Rue Racine.

Superstitch started five years ago by offering to mend even the rarest vintage denim. Leclercq’s expertise has since led him to start creating his own designs, mostly oversized jackets and trousers inspired by I97os Levi’s designs and made with high-quality Japanese fabrics.

He also stocks a special washing powder and denim detergent, ensuring that you can extend the lifecycle of your jeans.

IJ Rue Racine, 75006

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L’Atelier d’Antoine

The profession of cordonnier (cobbler) is still alive and well in Paris, and L’Atelier d’Antoine is a case in point.

Nantes-born Antoine Rondeau’s passion for footwear has made him one of the most sought-after cobblers here. The loyal customers stepping through the door of his bright-yellow shopfront have included many famous Parisians committed to extending the lifespans of their footwear, former president Nicolas Sarkozy included.

After training under a master bootmaker and then honing his craft in Spain and the UK – where he discovered that, unlike shoes, languages were not his forte – Rondeau returned to Paris and worked for renowned footwear labels John Lobb and Berluti.

In 1996 he opened his own shop on Rue de Miromesnil and built a reputation as one of the city’s most skilled cobblers, particularly when it comes to reassembly. Rondeau can take shoes apart and restore them piece by piece.

The bigger the challenge, he says, the better. “I’m quite meticulous, I like everything that involves finishing,” he says. “Precision is something I enjoy and people recognise that.”

He also offers free postal delivery – a rare and valuable service that is appreciated by his busy clients.

75 Rue de Miromesnil, 75008

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Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche

Le Bon Marche, the storied Left Bank deparnnent store, has dedicated much of its third floor to repair services.

Here, a team of tailors work on bringing items back to life, from fixing a button to adjusting a suit or dress to fit perfectly. Simple fixes on items bought at Le Bon Marche are free for holders of the store’s sought-after membership card.

Alongside the repair counter, Parisian shoemaker Malfroid, a specialist in shoe patination and care, offers cobbler services within the men’s fashion deparnnent, working on everything from boots and trainers to leather accessories.

Meanwhile, L’Atelier Horloger takes care of watch repairs of all kinds, from adjusting a metal bracelet to a full restoration. It’s a bold statement from the LVMH-owned retailer, which chose to make the space a home for the city’s craftspeople and encourage its clients to shop more mindfully.

24 Rue de Sevres, 75007

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Frais Pressing

Jocelyn Pracca launched his dry cleaning company, Colporteur, in 2ou. Demand for clothing care services had been growing exponentially, yet he noticed that family-run businesses in Paris were closing down as their owners retired.

He launched Frais in 2020 to answer Parisians’ demand for repair services. It’s a one-stop shop for clothing care, with laundry services, a dry cleaner, cobbler and alterations services all under the same roof. Customers can bring sheets to be whitened a dress that needs adjusting or shoes in need of a polish.

“Our mission is to extend the lifespan of clothes,” says Pracca.

After the success of the first Frais outpost, located on the outskirts of Paris, he opened a second shop near the Canal Saint-Martin, which also stocks its own range of laundry products that are made in France using natural ingredients.

50 Rue de Lancry 75o1o

Read next: Monocle’s full city guide to Paris

As the oldest company of Parisian bistro furniture, Maison Drucker produces designs that are not only ubiquitous in the French capital, they are inextricable from its vernacular. Since its foundation in 1885, the company has helped define the city’s terrasse lifestyle with its chairs made from curved rattan frames and colourful woven seats. It has even been recognised with a Living Heritage Company label for its contribution to French culture.

Founded by Louis Drucker, a businessman of Polish descent, Maison Drucker thrived with the discovery of rattan, a malleable climbing palm that was imported from French and Dutch Asian colonies in the mid-19th century. The proliferation of cafés in Paris created a demand for sturdy outdoor furniture and Maison Drucker’s custom-made designs quickly became part of the identity of many establishments. The Fouquet’s chair, for example, is the oldest design and takes its name from the historic high-end brasserie on the Champs Elysées, while Café de Flore still depends on red-and-green Drucker Chairs to furnish its famous terrace.

Despite its deep roots in Paris, the company was failing when Bruno Dubois took over from the Drucker family in 2006. “Parisian cafés weren’t interested in rattan any more and wanted steel,” he says. “It was dying; we had to rebuild everything. But it’s an iconic Parisian object, so I knew that something could be done.” Dubois set up a base in Indonesia, where today 400 artisans work on large orders; custom pieces and the repair service are entrusted to a team of 30 craftspeople in Gilocourt, an hour and a half north of Paris by car. The structure of the chair is made using the age-old technique of heating the rattan and bending it into shape. The pattern on the seat and backrest is woven with strings of Rilsan, a bioplastic made from castor oil.

With dozens of models, motifs and colours, the possibilities are almost endless and Drucker has maintained its traditional Parisian identity while innovating with new designs. Over the past 10 years, Dubois has supervised collaborations with designers Mikiya Kobayashi, India Mahdavi and Christian Biecher, who have all brought their vision to the brand. The company’s almost 140-year-old archives are also a rich source of inspiration. “I found some old chairs at a flea market,” says Dubois. “And with that, we recreated an entire collection of 1920s armchairs.

The traditional bistro chairs are a mainstay of terraces across France but they have recently seen a surge in popularity abroad too. Today Drucker exports to businesses and interior designers in 52 countries who want a little piece of Paris for themselves. “Rattan came back into fashion about 10 years ago and we contributed to that,” says Dubois. “All trends fade away eventually but we can renew this one constantly and keep it alive for a very long time.”

Read next: Amid Paris’s everyday hustle, the city’s iconic Fermob chair is the perfect reminder to slow down – and take a seat

The baguette is a unique French icon. It would be gauche, however, to compare this humble yet noble loaf to a film star, a king or a celebrated artist because its appeal lies in its perfection of ordinariness. In this way this stick of bread, which typically measures about 65cm in length, is also a design classic in a slender pantheon.

It is a robust and unchanging doughy redoubt in a world in which fads and fashion have eagerly sought to reinvent the culinary wheel and deconstruct the gastronomic classics so that we can all, à les Américains, have an order of everything on the side. But no: the baguette offers a reassuring shrug. It is what it is. The traditional baguette is made from wheat flour, water, salt and yeast. It’s the sort of culinary product that contains so few ingredients that its elements have nowhere to hide in its making and then in the final, joyous eating. The boulangers apply their scrutiny and formidable skills to these constituent parts, which come under some 230c of heat.

The baguette de tradition Française has made a considerable comeback in this era of people wondering whether factories – which we all agree are fine for building cars, say, or computers – might not be the best places to make food. So the additives, preservatives and general nonsense that prevail in some baguettes are derided rather than devoured by the artisan bakers of France and their millions of hungry devotees. Glance at the list of ingredients, say the bakers. If it seems too long, then it most certainly is.

The baguette is also emblematic of larger ideas that the French hold dear. It is something of a human right. It is the daily bread of the Lord’s Prayer, the staff of life. It is simple enough to be perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner too, adept at being the vehicle to deliver your beurre sel et confiture or a happily messy slice of chaource cheese. But it will probably still emerge as the star.

The baguette’s status as a national staple has unsurprisingly been enshrined by a country that knows what it is good at and what is good for it. In 1920, France put in place a price cap to ensure that everyone could eat it; this was only lifted in 1987 but the belief in people’s inalienable right to a baguette endures.

In recent years of energy price rises and Europe-wide inflation, the baguette has become something of an economic bellwether. News crews and researchers in France scrutinise it, while wags overseas find it mildly amusing that – of course – they’re up in arms about French sticks.

In Paris, as in the rest of the country, you can pick up a baguette for less than €1 at a supermarket. The chances are that it’ll be a slightly saccharine flute – edible but nothing special. Instead, you should visit a boulangerie and ask for un tradition. For the slightly higher cost of about €1.30, you will receive in your hand what Emmanuel Macron once described as “250g of magic and perfection” (what a relief it is that he didn’t choose to measure its qualities by length). That’s a small price to pay for the keys to an unimprovable culinary kingdom. The baguette, simple yet highly effective, is a great leveller.

Out and about in Paris, hungry and with an eye on the culture of the boulangerie – particularly the status of the baguette in a city well known for its deathless traditions and nimble transformations – Monocle walked and saw and ate and asked. Bakers told us how they bake it; customers described to us how they eat it and when. We learned about the daily ritual of the boulangerie visit to purchase le pain quotidien, that secular sacrament, that bastion, that baguette.

For the first time in more than a century, Parisians have been allowed to swim in the Seine. Three outdoor bathing areas opened to the public this weekend amid a searing heatwave, though authorities had to temporarily close them in response to a heavy downpour as Paris’s 19th-century sewage system has a habit of overflowing. Nevertheless, residents turned out in force for their opening on Saturday, with many expressing delight at the opportunity to cool off, despite long queues. As the Seine is one of Europe’s busiest waterways, every swimmer had to be tethered to an unsightly inflatable yellow lifebuoy. Le Parisien is already asking whether the rubber-ducky hue of the ugly personal floats will be the colour of the summer.

The reopening of the Seine to the public for the first time since the 1920s is a triumph for the city’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo. She spearheaded the creation of these free-to-access swimming spots, which were promised ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. The initiative is part of the Paris Plages project, which was launched in 2002 by the then-mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, who sought to turn once-dull riverbanks into sandy beaches. 

Some €1.4bn were spent on cleaning up the Seine, while millions more were lavished on constructing the swimming spots. The vision of a Paris that makes full use of its famous waterway is finally starting to take shape.

The move is Hidalgo’s most significant step towards recentring the French capital around its public spaces. It follows her extension of Paris’s cycle lanes and the permanent closure of Rue de Rivoli to most private vehicles. The expansion of her ambition to the Seine’s waters is not only highly symbolic but also smart public policy: this month’s intense heatwave has underlined how unprepared Paris is for extreme weather. The city’s historic buildings, with their lack of air conditioning, are ill-equipped for the summers to come. A swimmable Seine will go some way towards making future heatwaves easier to endure. But the project will only be successful if its current capacity of 600 swimmers across three sites is increased and the city finds a way to keep people swimming throughout the summer.

Hidalgo has been criticised for some of her costlier efforts to remake Paris, which might have scuppered her one-time presidential ambitions. But a swimmable Seine is a big achievement for the capital, which has changed more during her stewardship than under any of her recent predecessors. Dive in and see for yourself: Paris has finally joined the ranks of great cities where it makes sense to keep some swimwear and a towel to hand as you explore. Just make sure that your trunks don’t clash with yellow.

Bouvier is Monocle’s Paris bureau chief. For more on city swimming and improving urban waterways, listen to our report from the Swimmable Cities Conference in Rotterdam. 

Tucked behind a red velvet rope in an inky side room off the main lobby, Le Bristol After Dark is delightfully unexpected – as if stumbling into a secret speakeasy in a palace. The nightclub stands in stark contrast to the famed 100-year-old hotel entrance – a grand space with ornate chandeliers, plush fringed couches and a painting of Marie Antoinette. In comparison, the club is lit with pink-and-purple neon lights, disco balls shining overhead. Partygoers sip Ruinart champagne and DJs spin disco and lounge tracks until the early hours of the morning. 

The perfect balance of tradition and trend is what allows Le Bristol to maintain its reputation as one of Paris’s most legendary hotels. Set in an historic building and a hop away from Parisian icons such as Palais Garnier and the Tuileries Garden, the iconic property has hosted everyone from Coco Chanel to Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dalí. Now celebrating its centennial, Monocle meets president and managing director Luca Allegri to discuss how the hotel maintains its relevance in an ever-evolving hospitality landscape. 

100 years of business is no easy feat. How do you stay timeless in a world that’s moving so quickly? 
We try to surprise our guests with new ideas – art, for example. [American contemporary artist] George Condo, a longtime guest, collaborated with us on the renovation of the Imperial Suite. We asked whether he could leave a small piece of art with us when the suite was ready. We have also hosted a pop-up with Gabriela Hearst, who has been staying with us since she was at Chloé. When she launched her own brand [10 years ago], we began a partnership with a retail installation. [Now, a decade later, another pop-up has been launched in a space created by Benji Gavron and Antoine Dumas of Gavron Dumas Studio.] 

There are some clients who only come to the hotel for Le Bristol After Dark. [The club] is a way for us to show that, while we have been around for a century, we are also contemporary. 

How do you maintain a strong heritage aesthetic while always offering something new?
The owners are heavily involved in decorating the hotel, which allows them to preserve its DNA while bringing some novel elements to the style. We are very privileged to have plenty of space, which has enabled us to increase the number of junior suites and bathrooms (two per suite). After speaking to our clients, we learned that this was what they wanted the most.

What kind of experience do you want to create for your guests?
A distinctly Parisian one. We are located in the heart of a neighbourhood with the most popular galleries and attractions in Paris, so we also attract the city’s residents with our food-and-beverage offerings. We have launched our own in-house bakery with a mill in the basement, where we produce our own flour for bread. We now have a chocolate factory, pasta-making facilities and a cellar too, [which is] likely the largest wine cellar of all the Parisian palace hotels. It’s about giving guests a unique experience with a level of personalisation that they won’t find elsewhere.

We want to give our visitors an incredible experience not only in Paris but throughout the rest of France as well. I’m the son of a concierge, so I understand firsthand how crucial this role can be. Interacting with clients and creating meaningful moments are the most important aspects of our jobs. On Wednesday afternoons, we host cocktail parties where we invite some of our frequent guests to meet different team members, such as the concierge, the guest relations or the rooms divisions [managers]. They mingle and meet other clients too – sometimes they even become friends. 

How are you managing your staff and their experiences in a way that might differ to other notable hotels? 
Leading by example is very important. We have members of staff that have been with us for 30 to 40 years. When employees reach a milestone – such as 20 or 30 years of service – we invite them to celebrate by bringing their family to the hotel or organising a party. We’re a family-run business, so we like to give [the staff] a sense of belonging and community. Le Bristol is not just a hotel or home for the owners – it’s also a home for the staff. 

How have you adapted to changes in guest preferences to ensure the hotel’s continued relevance?
Some 30 to 35 per cent of our clients are returning guests and we want to show them that their future stays are as important as their past stays. For example, we have a family from New York that has been staying in the same suite for the past 25 years. To show them how much we appreciate their loyalty, we approached them during the renovation of the suite to share the plans with them. We then designed the layout of the room together and they changed the placement of the bed. For us, adapting is a way of honouring such loyalty.

If you’ve ever strolled through Paris’s public gardens, you may well have stopped to take a seat on its outdoor furniture: green chairs and loungers scattered around fountains and flower beds. Any time the sun comes out, residents and tourists quickly take to the park, where patio furniture is arranged around a table for a group picnic or under a tree for a quiet nap in the shade. On a sunny day it can be difficult to find a free seat – they’re all taken by sunbathers.

Along with the Wallace drinking fountains, the rattan chairs lining café terraces or the iconic dark-green kiosks commissioned by Baron Haussmann in the mid-19th century, the chairs found in Parisian parks and gardens have become a symbol of the city. The sturdy, stylish outdoor furniture, which subliminally transmits a sense of Paris to millions of visitors, comes from a few trusted companies. One of the biggest suppliers is French manufacturer Fermob, whose chairs can be found in the Luxembourg Gardens, as well as on café terraces, squares and the banks of the Seine.

The idea to add lounge chairs to the Luxembourg Gardens was first proposed in 1843 by the French senate, which is housed in the Luxembourg Palace and still owns the green space and its tennis courts. It took until the 1920s for the first collection of chairs, made by the craftspeople at city hall’s Ateliers de la Ville de Paris, to arrive. In the 1990s, Fermob won a competition to produce a modern version and, in 2004, the company called on French designer Frédéric Sofia to redesign the seats in aluminium, making them lighter, more comfortable and easily collected and stacked.

The resulting sage-green “Luxembourg” collection (originally named Sénat) has since become synonymous with the Parisian park. “Our furniture creates a sense of connection,” says Fermob’s chairman, Bernard Reybier. “It’s recognisable and part of daily life and makes people feel that they are in a very Parisian setting. The idea is that you are part of the history of the city.”

Founded in 1890 in Thoissey by a family of blacksmiths, Fermob takes its name from the words fer (“iron”) and mobilier (“furniture”). It remained a small workshop until it was acquired in 1989 by Reybier, who oversaw the growth of the company and expanded its appeal by collaborating with designers such as Pascal Mourgue, Andrée Putman and Matali Crasset. Today the business has expanded greatly but all of its manufacturing still takes place in the Ain region north of Lyon.

Despite its production beyond the city, Fermob’s relationship will always be close with Paris – and it’s continuing to evolve. Last year the firm began furnishing another Parisian landmark, the Champs-Elysées, as part of a project to transform the avenue into a pedestrian-friendly garden by 2030. The Committee for the Champs-Élysées asked Fermob, along with other bistro-furniture manufacturers, to design a new chair for its café and restaurant terraces. “What people like best is a product that has both a good design and a history to go with it,” says Reybier. “The Champs-Élysées is a new story and we will see where it takes us. Maybe it will also become representative of the Parisian identity.”

Click here to enjoy Monocle’s full city guide to Paris

1.
Pulso Hotel
São Paulo

São Paulo, Brazil’s most sprawling metropolis, is the heartbeat of the nation – which is why Otávio Suriani decided to name his latest hotel in the city Pulso. “It’s a word that’s linked to music and movement, both things that we want to bring to the hotel,” he says. Designed by architect Arthur Casas, Pulso sits on the border between the Faria Lima financial district and the buzzy Pinheiros district. It offers 52 apartments and five suites, all dressed in elegant neutral tones. “Casas designed the entire complex, from the façade to the small details on the lamps,” says Suriani.

Pulso pays tribute to two of the city’s biggest strengths: nightlife and food. Chef Charlô Whately oversees the hotel’s Restaurante Charlô and Boulangerie Cha Cha, the latter of which is part bakery, part deli. “This is a city that never sleeps,” says Suriani. “Our nightlife is crazy.” You can experience it for yourself at Pulso’s Bar Sarau, which is always ready to welcome those craving a nightcap and some intoxicating bossa nova.
pulsohotel.com

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2.
Yoruya
Kurashiki

The city of Kurashiki in western Japan has long attracted enthusiasts of folk arts and crafts – it’s home to the Kurashiki Mingeikan, a museum dedicated to the subject – but it also has plenty to offer for those with more contemporary tastes. Fans of modernism will want to visit the Kurashiki City Art Museum, designed by Kenzo Tange, one of Japan’s great postwar architects. Day trippers, meanwhile, come to see the old buildings and tree-lined waterways. Until recently, however, anyone wanting to stay overnight would have struggled to find accommodation to match the surroundings. Now they have somewhere that fits the bill: Yoruya, a 13-room inn in a sensitively converted and extended former kimono merchant’s residence.

The century-old building’s original exterior has been retained, with a simple lantern above the door. Inside, the layout has been designed to mimic the traditional narrow streets known as hiyasai that are a distinctive feature of Kurashiki’s historic centre. Tokyo-based studio Simplicity has brought its signature modern craft style to the interiors – think white plastered walls, well-chosen Japanese prints and art books. The rooms couldn’t be more serene, with low mattresses, cotton pyjamas and baths that are open to the elements.

The operations team, Naru Developments, is led by hoteliers Yuta Oka and Fumitomo Hayase. They’ll be familiar to anyone who has stayed at Tokyo’s Hotel K5 or Onomichi’s Azumi Setoda. Dinner in Yoruya’s counter restaurant centres on local produce: chef Fumio Niimi prepares an omakase dinner that features such delicacies as clam cooked in a whole yuzu fruit and Okayama Nagi beef. Yoruya’s invitingly low-lit bar is open to non-residents; it’s well worth stopping in for a glass of wine or a local saké. Breakfast, best taken in the garden with its flowering crepe myrtle tree, is another treat. Expect fresh sesame tofu, grilled mamakari sardines (a regional speciality) and the chef’s homemade Japanese grape jelly. It’s a perfect start to the day before you hit Kurashiki’s streets to explore the city’s many cultural and historic delights.
yoruya-kurashiki.com

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3.
Hôtel Dalila
Paris

Stroll through Montmartre and you’re almost certain to spot a few flowers hanging from residents’ balconies. The recently opened Hôtel Dalila in Paris’s 18th arrondissement is fittingly floral. Its 49 rooms, breakfast area and workspaces were conceived by Bordeaux-based Giovanna de Bosredon (pictured) of Auguri Studio, who designed the seven-floor hotel to resemble a comfortably lived-in Paris apartment.

“Our work here was a combination of architecture, interior design and curating vintage pieces,” says De Bosredon. “Inside the hotel, the chequered tiles and caning are in Montmartre’s colour palettes: the green of its squares, the red of the wine and the orange of the famous Lapin-Agile cabaret.” Among the vintage pieces are a bistro bar made from zinc and metal lamps by French architect and designer Charlotte Perriand.

This mishmash of old-school elements is complemented by more modern Hay sconces, bold carpet colours and metal furniture that echoes the seats found in public parks. The finishing touch? A view of the Basilique du Sacré Coeur. Hôtel Dalila is a true neighbourhood gem. Bravo!
hoteldalila.com

Of all of Paris’s 20 arrondissements, perhaps the most vibrant and fastest changing are the twin neighbourhoods of Belleville and Jourdain. Once among the poorest parts of the French capital, they have become known for lively street markets, an eclectic mix of cuisines and tone-setting arts venues.

Today, the area’s Asian and North African communities rub shoulders with creatives searching for fresh opportunities and lower rents. Around Parc de Belleville, Chinese supermarkets and Tunisian tea salons vie with art galleries, natural-wine bars and the city’s best third-wave coffee shops (Paris’s less-than-stellar reputation for the beverage has long been a sore point). It’s a refreshingly well-integrated corner of the capital.

Venture towards Parc des Buttes Chaumont and you’ll find village-like Jourdain. Here, Haussmannian buildings mingle with low-rise structures and cobbled lanes, where apéros are sipped in the shadow of lime trees and the hustle of central Paris seems both easily accessible and worlds away.

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1.
Read
Les Misérables

Victor Hugo’s novel captures the soul of 19th-century Paris and its residents. Belleville and Jourdain are the city’s grittiest districts in this tableau of stark social contrasts, in which the lower classes face poverty, neglect and exploitation. Pick up a copy from Le Genre Urbain, a well-stocked bookshop with an extensive foreign-language selection that might not have thrived in Jean Valjean’s day.

2.
Stay
Babel

It took a while for small, independent and reliable hotels to arrive in this area but there are now several fine options. The 31-key Babel, near Boulevard de Belleville, is one of them, featuring Berber-inspired décor, an eclectic restaurant and an in-house radio station.
babel-belleville.com

3.
See
The striking view of the city from Parc de Belleville

For one of the best views of the Eiffel Tower, head uphill to the top of Parc de Belleville. In the evening, the park attracts residents who come to watch the sun set behind the roofs of Paris. Afterwards, move on to one of the bars on Rue des Envierges, where things stay lively well into the night. 

4.
Eat
Cheval d’Or

An unassuming 1980s Chinese takeaway façade belies one of the city’s most celebrated restaurants. Cheval d’Or stays true to its Asian roots and adds a little modern French bistronomy in dishes such as cockles in Provençal-style XO sauce and, to conclude, île flottante with black tea and tapioca pearls.
chevaldorparis.com

5.
Shop
Bokbar

Gothenburg transplant Natalie Magnusson opened Bokbar in 2022 to share her love for Swedish literature with the French capital. The bookshop’s wooden shelves are lined with translated works by Nordic authors that you can start reading at a table in the cosy on-site café.
bokbar.fr

6.
Drink
Soces

Jourdain’s Rue de la Villette resembles an entire neighbourhood condensed into a single street. From a friendly grocer to a quaint toy shop, you’ll find everything that you need and more. For an apéro, the go-to spot on the block is Socès. It serves glasses of crisp, sparkling Furlani and orange wines alongside just-shucked oysters. As the evening progresses, the menu expands to include more substantial dishes such as gratinated onion soup and tuna carpaccio.
soces.fr

7.
Buy
Harissa from Épicerie Le Caire

Though harissa, a much-loved staple of North African cuisine, is widely available in French supermarkets, nothing compares to the home-made version here. Prepared with red chilli, garlic and a closely guarded mix of herbs and spices, Épicerie Le Caire’s offering is fragrant, spicy and not for the faint of heart.

8.
Visit
Parc des Buttes Chaumont

In a city short on greenery, Buttes Chaumont is a welcome oasis. Once an industrial site, it was transformed into a public park in the 19th century by landscape architect Jean-Charles Alphand, under the guidance of town planner Georges-Eugène Haussmann. The result is a dreamlike garden with dramatic rock formations, a hilltop pavilion and lush lawns, all ideal for an autumn picnic.

9.
Order
A cortado at Candle Kids

In this once working-class district, a café such as Candle Kids would have been unimaginable even a few years ago. Across the street from a traditional PMU betting shop, the space represents a shift towards third-wave coffee culture, which Paris was initially slow to embrace. Come for the perfectly frothy cortados and stay for the interiors,with concrete finishes and custom-made wooden furniture by Studio Ebur.

10.
Don’t miss
Théâtre de Belleville

Parisians spend many an evening at their local theatre to engage with the latest plays by the country’s leading intellectuals. In a hall that dates back to 1850, the Théâtre de Belleville has hosted productions by acclaimed writers such as Léonore Confino and Laurent Gaudé. This a neighbourhood that knows how to put on a show.