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Cabinet of Chic Curiosities
Category / Paris Like a Local
September 7, 2018

Our Top 5 Paris Obsessions for La Rentrée

Paris is back in full swing for la rentrée, the annual ritual of Frenchies returning from their god-given right to a long summer holiday and starting a fresh. And that goes for us too here at the MessyNessyChic HQ. This week we’ve been on the hunt for new hidden gems and stuff to wow and inspire us…
September 4, 2018

Hiding Out in Paris’ Littlest-Known Medieval Tower

Hiding in plain sight, sandwiched amongst Haussmann buildings on the right bank, is one of Paris’ grandest but littlest-known surviving medieval towers– and former home of one of the city’s more villainous citizens, Jean the Fearless. The Tour de Jean Sans Peur has been lurching over the heart of the city since 1411, but it took even…
August 9, 2018

A Lost Breed of Parisians

Without them, Paris would’ve stood still. They were immortalised in song by Serge Gainsbourg, and put into poetry by the cheeky Raymond Queneau. But by 1975, Paris’ metro ticket punchers, or poinçonneurs, were a dying breed. Their rise and fall traces the streamlining of the whole métropolitan system, which was inaugurated at the 1900 Paris World’s Fair to a crowd in…
June 15, 2018

How to Save the French Brasserie

I‘m a gastronomic moron when it comes to the classic French brasserie. I really have no idea if the food is any good because I’m too busy side-eyeing the floor tiles, the typefaces, ogling at the glass ceiling and imagining the entire scene exactly as it was 50 or 100 years ago. Walk into any of…
June 1, 2018

Parisian Fast Food: Web Series Mini Bites

Okay, so we took a bit of a hiatus on the web series there. We’ve got tons of footage and not enough time to edit it. The good news is, we’re back– but with mini-bites … snackable little episodes of Don’t be a Tourist. In today’s mini bite, I’m sharing my version of Parisian Fast Food,…
May 2, 2018

Inside the Lost “Harvard” of Paris

Gustave Eiffel, the Michelin brothers, the Peugeot family– they were all educated by one of the oldest, most prestigious universities in France– which no longer exists. In its heyday, this ‘Harvard of Paris’ was housed in an extraordinary 17th century Parisian mansion, one that if you’ve been to Paris, you’re most likely very well-acquainted with. You see,…
March 23, 2018

Inside the Secret Workshop of the Louvre

In a vast warehouse at the edge of Paris, artisans are working around the clock on a clandestine operation entrusted to them by the Louvre: recreating France’s most iconic sculptures and prints for mysterious clients the world over. And unbeknownst to most of Paris, its doors are open to anyone curious enough to come knocking.…
February 20, 2018

The Louvre’s Secret Apartments

The Louvre; or, as we’ve prefer to call it, Paris’ most exhaustingly gorgeous tourist trap. In the MessyNessy guide, Don’t Be a Tourist in Paris, there’s even a chapter called, “Anything but the Louvre” that steers folks away from its selfie-stick jungles, and into the arms of more overlooked museums in the city. But this weekend, we decided to pay…
February 9, 2018

The Last Makers of the Parisian Café Chair

Stepping inside Maison Gatti is like entering Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory for Francophiles and furniture connoisseurs alike. Nestled in the Parisian commune of Fontainebleau, the atelier is the last of its kind — and one of the few surviving sources for authentic Parisian bistro chairs. As such, Gatti has become the guardian of a long-standing…
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Mum & Dad named me Vanessa, but you can call me Nessy.