Recently in Paris Category

While most of us have already plodded our way through the expansive galleries of the Louvre to get a glimpse of its most famous lady, the Mona Lisa, we can't really claim to know all that much else about the museum's 35,000 piece collection now can we? It would take a lifetime of exploration to truly get to know all of the masterpieces that fill the former palace. But we'll take up a challenge when we see one. And with the introduction of the museum's new "high tech tour guide" we're one step closer to success.

Touted as "the first handheld multimedia player designed specifically for museums and art galleries," the XP-Vision plots out several different routes, tailored to taste. Tours are customized for both adults and children, and lead visitors through the 60,000 square meter space, like a GPS. But instead of the "turn left now" commands that your TomTom likes to bark, you're instead guided along by music, images, and informative voices that reveal details only an expert would know. And if you ever fall astray among the Michelangelos and Botticellis, a virtual map points out your exact location, which is never very far from your home base, The Westin Paris. Within walking distance of the museum, the magnificent hotel is currently offering an "Explore Paris" promotion that includes a pair of tickets to the Louvre when you book your stay.

France is covered in beautiful bastions of art and culture. But all too often visitors only seek out the top hits, the Louvre, the d'Orsay, the Pompidou... leaving some of the nation's most special museums empty, their collections rarely seen. All that's about to change, or so they hope. As part of a little experiment to attract more visitors to the nation's lesser known museums, fourteen of them are free through June.

Paris is home to three of these little gems which lie about two miles apart from each other. Geographically they form a perfect isosceles triangle around The Westin Paris, which itself lies about a mile away from each museum. Sounds like some Da Vinci Code stuff going on here. Anyway, guests of the luxurious hotel can easily hit up all three. The Musée des Arts et Métiers is fascinating and unique. It's dedicated to scientific inventions like Foucault's Pendulum, and features an exhibition on Benjamin Franklin. Cool! The Musée National du Moyen Age includes exceptional tapestries like The Lady and the Unicorn, and other enchanting objects from the Middle Ages. And the Guimet Musée National des Arts Asiatiques hosts an array of Buddhas, vases, and more from Egypt, China and beyond. Through April 21 highlights of its collection are on view in the exhibition "From India to Japan - 10 Years of the Guimet." If you stay at the Hotel Prince de Galles - Paris Champs Elysees, this museum is only about a 300 meter stroll away. I can't wait to find out the conclusion to the experiment. My hypothesis? Record sales at the gift shop!

Guests at the Trianon Palace & Spa, a Westin Hotel, already know what it's like to be treated like royalty, but to see how actual French royalty lived back in the 17th and 18th centuries, take a tour of the nearby Palace of Versailles. King Louis XIV moved into this opulent palace in 1682 and lived here quite comfortably until his death in 1715, completing one of the longest reigns of any monarch in history. The Château de Versailles remained the seat of the monarchy until the royal family returned to Paris in 1789, but it's been kept up quite nicely in the years since, becoming a major attraction for people looking to spend a few peaceful hours wandering the halls like a member of the House of Bourbon. Visitors today have an added attraction: the Hall of Mirrors is once again open to the public following a three-year restoration project. Gaze at yourself admiringly in one of 357 mirrors, and appreciate the one thousand square meters of painted and sculpted decorations by Charles Le Brun, first painter to the king. The castle's ornate (some might say ostentatious) interior is only the half of it: after the tour, make sure to take a stroll through the royal gardens and groves, which feature acres of winding pathways, beautiful plants, and some of the earliest fountains ever created. Wander around aimlessly if you like, or else follow the itinerary written by the Sun King himself called The Way to Present the Gardens of Versailles. Any way you experience it, Versailles provides a vivid look at what life was like for the royals at their most powerful, and it's an awfully nice escape from the modern world.

When Ricki Stevenson was 3-years-old she saw Josephine Baker perform in Los Angeles. Now the African-American historian and journalist leads visitors to the Montparnasse theater where the iconic dancer graced the stage. Stevenson founded the fabulous "Black Paris Tours" a decade ago, providing the only in-depth look at the French capital's robust African history. Starting on the Champs-Elysées, Stevenson guides you to major sites like the Arc de Triomphe where freed American slaves enjoyed a liberating view of the city; and Sacre Coeur, where black artists in the 1920s and 30s gathered. But she also reveals hidden spots like the one where a statue of Alexandre Dumas, whose mother was Haitian, stands; a hotel where W.E.B. Du Bois hosted the Pan African Congress; and the last jazz club clarinetist Sidney Bechet opened.

Throughout the tour Stevenson shares her encyclopedic knowledge, describing the atmosphere that existed when famed photojournalist Gordon Parks and author Richard Wright hung out, and why Thomas Jefferson paid frequent visits to the home of his late wife's black half-sister, Sally Hemings. Stevenson calls the 18th arrondissement "Little Africa." She guides you through the market area filled with fruits and spices, where women wrapped in colorful prints fill their baskets. After the full day (90 Euros), or half day (50 Euros) tour comes to an end, I know the perfect place to discuss everything you just saw and heard; Le Méridien Etoile’s jazz club, Lionel Hampton. Best thing is, your bed's right upstairs. And after all that traipsing around Paris, you'll be ready for it.

Couturier Christian Lacroix knows a thing or two about fashion. He debuted his first collection twenty years ago, and quickly made a name for himself. Literary masters like Julien Gracq and Joseph Delteil; the British elegance of Cecil Beaton; the outrageous nightlife of 1970s Paris; and 19th century issues of La Mode Illustree, discovered in his Grandmother's Arles attic all contributed to a stylistic stew of inspiration that influenced an oeuvre of exuberant colors, embellishments of lace and tulle, and swept up hair styles festooned with a rhinestone brooch, or feather plume. "History and revolution" Lacroix says, are the basis of his work.

The designer, who studied art history at the Ecole de Louvre, takes his unique brand of historical fashion expertise to Paris' Musee de la Mode et du Textile. Located at 107 rue de Rivoli, the museum lies adjacent to the Louvre and can be reached from your hotel, the Westin Paris, via a stroll through the Tuileries. Lacroix's retrospective of French fashion titled "Histoires de Mode", features four hundred exquisite evening gowns, wedding dresses, cocktail frocks, and business suits, by Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, and more. On display through April 20, 2008 it's the result of one year Lacroix spent rummaging through the museum's collection, which dates from the 18th century. A large selection of his own designs join this lavish profusion of the couture craft. Fashion enthusiasts of all stripes will go gaga.