By Karen

P

aris in January is dark and chilly. The perfect setting for fabulous museums and hearty meals with robust red wines. And, of course, the weather is always good for strikes (this time protesting an increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64.)

We stayed at the Lutetia. A glorious building with a complex past. Nothing is really reasonable in Paris but in this very off-season, prices are less insane. The hotel is beautifully staffed, has great views, and recently underwent modernization, for better or worse. There are a couple of lively lounges and a great breakfast buffet.

The museums were packed, as in sardine-like. Had my travel agent, a/k/a husband, not insisted on getting tickets months ahead of time, we would have been out in the cold. In January!

Thanks to him, we had a fabulous tour in the Louvre, which started a litte late because the guards inside were apparently discussing whether or not to commence their own strike a day before the big one. Our guide was Susan Taylor Leduc, an American expat Ph.d, very learned, and very amusing. We spent another lovely morning wandering around the Musee D’Orsay—wonderful building, great paintings, two especially splendid, very different places to dine. One, the Musee D’Orsay Restaurant, is a regal, chandeliered, gold-mirrored, historic chamber, while the other, Cafe Campana, is a stunningly designed modern space. Both are delicious.

It was poignant, somehow, to see YSL’s studio in the gorgeous Yves Saint Laurent Museum. The current exhibit, entitled Gold, showcases YSL’s love of the metal. Buttons, piping on blazers, shoes, jewelry—and we saw an amazing dress made with glamorous gold fabric, inspired by Egyptian sarcophagi—and the movie Cleopatra—that moves like fluid. What genius. I want one.

The Galerie Dior, also in an historic building and also including the designer’s studio, was resplendent. You have probably heard about the amazing staircase decorated with tiny models. Such fun.

No need to go to a museum for Yayoi Kusama. All over Paris were references to Louis Vuitton’s partnership with her, including a Kusama robot in a prominent Louis Vuitton store window. Polka dots on everything—bags, clothes, windows, walls, and shiny silver spheres sprouting from any building LV has access to, as far as I could tell.

We checked on Notre Dame. Furious work going on, but not yet open to the public.

Of course we window-shopped. If you go, you must visit the Hermes store, in a building that used to house the pool for the Lutetia. Amazing decor. You must also visit Samaritaine and go up the escaliers to the top floor, maybe even have lunch. Remarkably painted. And do browse E. Dehellerin, a three hundred year old kitchen store. Decor is as basic as can be, but the stock is exciting—fabulous implements, including knives and copper pots.

Make an appointment for an excursion to Salon Septieme, a little boutique for women’s clothes in a beautiful building that is part of a Napoleonic courtyard in the Seventh. Nancy Pedot, another American expat, will have you trying on clothes you will swear you would never wear, only to discover that you look ravishing in them. She will become your best friend!

And then there is food. Of course. Restaurants in beautiful buildings with a view of the Eiffel Tower include Monsieur Bleu, in the Palais de Tokyo. Its terrace would be divine in warm weather. And Girafe. Before you dine, go at night to an adjacent plaza to see a lively crowd and millions of small sparkling Eiffel Towers. (LouLou, our favorite for sitting outside and watching the actual sparkling tower, was closed for renovation. It would have been too cold anyway!)

Away from the Tower, Au Sauvignon is a splendid bistro in a great location. Septime, in the Eleventh, serves really excellent, nontraditional cuisine in a very low key, highly regarded establishment. Reserve way in advance. Have Italian food at Le Cherche Midi, a wonderful restaurant on one of our favorite streets. And try a hole in the wall called Pottoka, apparently named for a breed of pony in the region, that serves amazing Basque food.

Leaving Paris, we spent a couple of days in even colder Normandy. (Luckily Normandy is Calvados country.) We walked on Omaha Beach and through the adjacent cemeteries. Moving. Here, the war does not seem very long past, and of course new wars reverberate. Americans are loved and Canadians revered. Watch The Longest Day to get a sense of the challenging terrain, and the history that still animates the region.

Caen was our base of operations. We wandered around the Chateau de Caen, enormous and extraordinary, built by William the Conqueror, and had pizza nearby. Dinner at Michelin-starred Ivan Vautier was excellent. We did not love its adjacent hotel, though the staff is special, but most of the hotels in Normandy are apparently closed at this time of year. Keep that in mind when planning your visit.

Then we drove to Mont Saint Michel, which rises from a flat plain like a spaceship, seemingly parked briefly before ascending back to the farthest galactic reach. An ancient town, topped by a cathedral, winding around an unlikely prominence. If you hear bells tolling it could be because the tide is coming in and you will be stranded if you do not leave. If you see people in shorts, without shoes, they are there to guide you through the quicksand. Really. We had a fine lunch of buckwheat crepes in one of its restaurants, though you are really supposed to have the five egg omelet at La Mere Poulard.

On to Rouen, to see an astronomical clock dating from 1527, the public square where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake at the age of 19, and the magnificent cathedral painted over 30 times by Monet. (We were told the real number, if you count sketches, is 400 or so.) The history here too is palpable, both ancient and more modern, as Rouen was repeatedly bombed in World War II.

After that, we had to hustle back to Paris to get ready for an early plane home.

We felt as if we had been in a different world for quite a while—the sign of a great short trip, any time of year. And yes, the good stuff will go on the Lustre List!