By Johnny Lopes

I recently stayed near Stade de France, a popular stadium located in Saint Denis, Paris, France. On arrival, there was a rugby match between Racing Métro 92 and the local favorite, Stade Français. Not really being into sports, I was more interested in the nearby food and beer stands. This particular vendor caught my eye because
Read More →

L’Epi Dupin near Le Bon Marche is normally a quiet place full of neighborhood types and locals. Their course meal is a bargain. Old types sit and drink. The snobbery was at a low. When our mixed mash group of birthday celebrators reserved a month before,
Read More →

After a painfully long day of marching shop to shop near Opera, we needed to eat something. Anything. Shopping with CH and Angela was exhausting normally, but this was sale week in the fashion capital of the world, and it was intense. The hustle of sale week mixed with the extremely friendly Parisians bumping
Read More →

Recently a surge of concept stores and boutiques have marked our larger cities, the world over, from Paris to São Paulo, all bringing a bit of something new and curated. Concept shops like Paris’ overtly “cool” Colette throbs with waves of tourists, often fall short as many want to escape the untz-untz
Read More →

Paris is packed with things like bad service, people who don’t wear color, restaurants with funky bathrooms, people who embody blasé, park benches older than both of my countries, and street food that will screw your brains out, call you lover, and often never call you back.

For these reasons, I decided to
Read More →

My trip to France was my first international experience ever. As much as I tried to prepare, there really is just no preparing for the unknown. From walking a mile underground in between each subway line to the reality of the hotel rooms, everything seemed to be more difficult than I had anticipated. What do
Read More →

My family and I went on a flying visit to Paris again to rendez-vous with my dad (since he managed not to get his UK visa in time–visa people suck). Last year I gave him a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s memoir of 1920s Paris, A Moveable Feast, which he
Read More →

The French are famous for their cuisine and although it seems a daunting task to find the diamonds amongst the gazillion eateries in Paris, we had our trusty mother– with her Japanese travel guides– who took us seemlessly from one good restaurant and bistro to another. She likes to do
Read More →

You didn’t think we’d go to Paris and go on a sugarless diet, did you? Of course you didn’t. Angelina’s is a famous pâtisserie on rue de Rivoli across from the Tuileries Garden.We went there the first time we visited Paris as a family over 20 years ago where I remember eating
Read More →

It’s been universally acknowledged that August is the month of sloth. Is that a problem for me? Jamais! My parents are in town and apart from my mother who doesn’t seem to understand the word lazy, the rest of us are fans of the easy
Read More →