The Earful Tower: Paris

This week, Lina and Oliver discuss how to entertain children in Paris. 

Even if you're not visiting with kids, you'll find some good tips in this episode. As usual, everything is written in full, with links and more details, on the website here. Below is a short version.

This season of The Earful Tower is brought to you by the award-winning travel company My Private Paris, which specializes in tours in Paris, day trips outside Paris, and travel itineraries. See what they offer here. 

Get more from The Earful Tower by becoming a Patreon member, or a Substack member, or exploring the official site here.

1. Atelier des Lumières – an art gallery, housed in a large industrial space, where paintings by famous painters (such as Van Gogh, Chagall and Monet) are projected on the floor, walls and ceiling. It feels like you’re inside the artworks.

2. Palais de Tokyo – an expansive art museum, near the Eiffel Tower, with plenty of space and lots of interesting exhibitions.

3. Aquarium – an aquarium in central Paris? It doesn’t get much more fun that that.

4. Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature – a fun, adventurous museum which you might not initially consider, but there’s a full-size stuffed polar bear. What more could you ask for?

5. Deyrolle – technically a shop, but you are welcome to visit. It’s off the beaten path and stuffed full of fascinating creatures.

6. Natural History Museum – nothing short of stunning. An exceptional interior and captivating exhibits.

7. Zoo – across the park from the Natural History Museum, this is a compact zoo, which has been entertaining families for over 150 years.

8. Greenhouses – five tropical greenhouses with plants from across the world.

9. Maze – yes, you read that right, a maze in central Paris. Amazing.

10. Natural Science Museum – weird and wonderful. The displays will leave you spell-bound.

11. Bateaux Mouches – avoid walking too much and getting tired. The most thrilling and beautiful way to see the best of Paris.

12. Pony Riding – in Parc Monceau, Luxembourg Gardens and the Champ de Mars, which also offers go-karting.

13. Jardin d’Acclimatation – not a garden, but an amusement park. Fairground rides and rollercoasters galore.

14. Big Zoo – in the heart of the Bois de Vincennes. Exceptionally good, for a city zoo.

15. Ice skating at the Grand Palais – returning after a long closure. Is there a more beautiful place to ice skate in the world?

16. Ground Control – not especially central, but worth the commute. A huge abandoned train depot that houses diverse food stands, with interesting shops and games.

17. Comptoir Général – a roomy, buzzing canal-side club by night and restaurant by day. Keep your eyes peeled for the pirate ship.

18. Crèpes on the go – if in doubt, pick up a crèpe and go.

19. Pain d’Épices – a charming, independent toyshop in one of the most beautiful passages in Paris.

20. Red Wheelbarrow – three connected bookshops, next to the Luxembourg Gardens, including a shop for children’s books only. You’re sure to find our books there.

21. Le Bonmarché – an iconic, Left Bank department store which sells children’s books, toys and clothes. What makes this place different is it offers a babysitting service.

Here are the main mistakes to avoid if you're visiting Paris, according to this week's guest, writer and social media star Anna Kloots.

Anna has lived in Paris for five years - and I've been here for 10 - so this list is based on 15 years of Paris experience. 

Watch the YouTube version of this chat, filmed on the streets of Paris, right here.

For more from Anna, find her on Instagram here and Substack here.

This season of The Earful Tower is brought to you by the award-winning travel company My Private Paris, which specializes in tours in Paris, day trips outside Paris, and travel itineraries. See what they offer here. 

Get more from The Earful Tower by becoming a Patreon member, or a Substack member, or exploring the official site here.

What's a baguette? A long loaf of bread, surely. WRONG! A baguette can be one of 15 different things. Here's how I found out - and a few baguette-related language facts to impress your French friends. 

Featuring, ever-so-briefly, the voice of Véronique from France with Véro. And here's the full French dictionary listing for 'baguette'.

This season of The Earful Tower is brought to you by the award-winning travel company My Private Paris, which specializes in tours in Paris, day trips outside Paris, and travel itineraries. See what they offer here. 

Get more from The Earful Tower by becoming a Patreon member, or a Substack member, or exploring the official site here.

Here are our six golden rules for visiting Provence, based on over a decade of visiting the region.

In fact, we just got back to Paris after another visit to the sun-soaked region and now it's time to share what we've learned.

In this episode, you'll hear Lina and I walking in a quiet and beautiful part of Paris, while discussing Provence. You can watch the video on our YouTube channel.

After our chat, Marie Segura from My Private Paris talks about the upcoming reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral.

This season of The Earful Tower is brought to you by the award-winning travel company My Private Paris, which specializes in tours in Paris, day trips outside Paris, and travel itineraries. See what they offer here. 

Get more from The Earful Tower by becoming a Patreon member, or a Substack member, or exploring the official site here.

Meet Céline Flores-Tavukcuoglu. She is a Texan in Paris who runs Céline Concierge, a private concierge service that specializes in Paris. 

She shares her five golden rules for if you're thinking to move to Paris (or indeed, France). And even if you're not thinking to make the move, this conversation will shine a light on life in the French capital.

Follow Celine on YouTube here and explore her website here. 

After Celine, Marie Segura from My Private Paris talks about the upcoming closure of the Pompidou Center.

This season of The Earful Tower is brought to you by the award-winning travel company My Private Paris, which specializes in tours in Paris, day trips outside Paris, and travel itineraries. See what they offer here. 

Get more from The Earful Tower by becoming a Patreon member, or a Substack member, or exploring the official site here.

It's time for a day trip to the Champagne region!

This week, I'll show you a great way to visit the Champagne region with the help of Bertrand d’Aleman from award-winning travel company My Private Paris.

We took the train to Reims, then hired a car to get to the Pommery house, followed by smaller Pierre Paillard house, which has been in the same family for eight generations. 

My Private Paris is a local deluxe agency, crafting itineraries for tours in Paris and beyond (including, of course, Champagne). See what they offer here. 

Music: Pres Maxson. 

Become an Earful Tower Patreon member to unlock the replay of the live stream we filmed at Pierre Paillard.

Meet Romu Oudeyer, a top private chef in Paris. We talk about cooking for celebrities in Paris, France's relationship with food, and how to find good restaurants in Paris. 

Follow him on Instagram here and explore his website here. To read the full menu from the home-cooked lunch we discussed, click here.

This season of The Earful Tower is brought to you by the award-winning travel company My Private Paris, which specializes in tours in Paris, day trips outside Paris, and travel itineraries. See what they offer here. 

Get more from The Earful Tower by becoming a Patreon member, or a Substack member, or exploring the official site here.

What’s the most “fitting” thing to find in each of the 20 Paris districts? Something – a bar, a cafe, a street, a park… something that’s representative of its neighbourhood?

For example… the eighth arrondissement is something of a business district that’s affluent and beautiful. What site matches that energy? (Spoiler alert: a private art museum).

We posed the challenge to Bertrand d’Aleman from award-winning travel company My Private Paris. Here’s what he suggested. 

My Private Paris is a local deluxe agency, crafting Paris itineraries. See what they offer here. 

This week I finally got into the Hotel de Beauvais, the 400-year-old aristocratic mansion in the Marais. Here's how I did it, and how you can too!

Address: 68 Rue François Miron, 75004 Paris

More info on the Heritage Days: https://journeesdupatrimoine.culture.gouv.fr/en/

Become a member! For $10 a month you can join the other Patreon members and unlock almost endless extras including bonus podcast episodes, live video replays, special event invites, and our annually updated PDF guide to Paris. 

Membership takes only a minute to set up. Thank you for keeping this channel independent. 

For more from the Earful Tower, here are some handy links:

Website 

Weekly newsletter 

A mysterious email from Will asked for the ideal itinerary for a 12-hour layover in Paris. 

Hosts Oliver and Lina went head-to-head suggesting their own versions of the perfect one-day plan. 

But who is Will? Could he really be a Wall Street hound with expensive taste? Or a med student who prefers cheap lunches and riding bikes? 

We have no idea - but we tried to help! 

Find Oliver’s economical itinerary here.

Find Lina’s luxury itinerary here. 

This episode was released early to The Earful Tower's Patreon members, who voted on their favourite itinerary and who chose the winning plan.

For $10 a month you can join them and unlock almost endless extras including bonus podcast episodes, live video replays, special event invites, and our annually updated PDF guide to Paris. 

Membership takes only a minute to set up. Thank you for keeping this channel independent. 

For more from the Earful Tower, here are some handy links:

Website 

Weekly newsletter