Just when I felt my obsession with The Elegance of the Hedgehog subsiding, I found myself in Paris, in search of 7, rue de Grenelle, the hotel particuliere where the story takes place. Adding to my urgency to find that residence: en route to Paris I had read Gourmet Rhapsody, Muriel Barbery’s prequel to Hedgehog, which is set in the same place.

The year 2001 was not a good year for Americans. It was a double whammy for me. Just weeks before the terrorist attack, I was diagnosed with a serious illness. The recovery from both would be slow and painful.

Adding to that pain, I had to cancel that year’s “Paris Fix.” It would be nine years before I saw that treasured city again. During that time, I moved from New York to San Francisco. I think San Francisco is part of the reason I stayed away from Paris so long. I now lived in the American Paris and could enjoy the wonders of these sister cities without enduring a thirteen-hour flight.

Want to live forever? Nicolas Flamel did.

Yes, Nicolas Flamel of Harry Potter fame was a real person. Some believe he is a real person.

Flamel was born in 1330 in Paris or its immediate environs. He achieved success as a scrivener and book seller in Paris. He and his wife, Pernelle, spent their later years in a house at 51, rue de Montmorency. Built in 1407, the house is the oldest in Paris still standing. You can literally get a flavor for Nicolas Flamel’s home by dining in the restaurant that occupies the building’s ground floor, the Auberge Nicolas Flamel.

I’ve been to Paris a gazillion times, lived there for months, get around without a map. I not only have favorite restaurants, I have favorite dishes at them. I’m looking right now at a concert stub from a top-ten-ever Bruce Springsteen concert at the Bercy Arena. And, for an English major, I have read a shelf of French history and fiction.

My mental bags are packed and I guess it shows.  The reliable driver will be outside the door on the dot tomorrow morning—or, if he’s showing off, a minute early—then the miserable airport, a flight blurred out of feel and focus by food and alcohol, if possible, afterwards two days of jetlag.  A walk around the neighborhood, one I don’t know at all well, sounds like a good idea given my mood, and off I go, heading nowhere as usual and trying to feel pretty good about it.  But today there is no eye contact from people in the street, none of that normal French politeness that recognizes another human being who happens to pass by with a nod or maybe a grunted bonjour.  Richard Strauss conjured a heroine with no shadow: today I am all shadow and no me, and no one says hello to a shadow let alone to an absent person.

Didn’t make it to the Chanel runway for the unveiling of Lagerfeld’s prête-a-porter collection for the coming season?  Or perhaps you did, and yet are still craving more.  In either case, modistes will not want to miss the Madeleine Vionnet exhibit on display at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs, which features over one hundred of the French designer’s confections, predominantly from the 1920s and 30s.  Contemporary designers including Issey Miyake, and before him, Christian Dior, cite Madeleine Vionnet as one of the most influential designers of the 20th Century, earning her the distinction of “le couturier des couturiers” in the fashion world.

The Louvre is the planet's premier name in art. And the leader by a large measure --- the Louvre is home to 35,000 of the most precious objects collected from the back room of time to the 19th century. Its collection is housed in a building bigger than Donald Trump's ego. Nine million visitors a year stroll through its galleries. (In New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art draws “only” 5.2 million.)Why did an institution that is the gold standard agree to host a McDonald's in the shopping plaza underneath its pyramid --- essentially, at its main entrance?

I fell in love with Montmartre in November 2007. Actually ... no, first I fell in love with an apartment in Montmartre in 2007. It was Thanksgiving Day and a friend of mine had been invited to a dinner soirée on rue Houdon. The festivities comprised of an intriguing mix of Americans and Parisians. I spent much of the evening chatting with Didier, a handsome French photographer. As engrossed as I was in flirting, I was also falling in love with Erica’s one-bedroom apartment.

deserve a short vacation from your vacation!  Take advantage of Paris’ great public transportation system and venture out to see some of the glorious sights in the nearby countryside.  I’m highlighting three of my favorite day trips from Paris for you to enjoy. You can do all three of these excursions using organized tour companies, but if you prefer to schedule your own day, and save some money, don’t be afraid to venture out on your own!  Plus, all of these excursions will get back in time for dinner at your favorite Paris bistro.