A shopper’s dream, Paris, and the holidays can make even the steeliest of natives all giddy with delight. The lights, the decorations, the delicate wrappings and colorful parcels, Paris decorated is Paris at its best. You won’t mind at all when the cold...
Author - Heather Stimmler
American-born travel journalist and non-profit media specialist living in Paris since 1995.
Wednesday, December 1st was the twelfth annual World AIDS Awareness Day, just in case you missed all of the red ribbons. Even here in Paris, we are not free from HIV. While gay men remain the largest at-risk population, with IV dug users close behind...
Paris is a very pedestrian-intensive town. I grew up in a place where people got into their cars in their garage attached to their house, then drove to a large parking lot and went inside a huge shopping mega-mall. Food, clothes, toiletries, pool cleaner...
Back where I grew up, shopping for groceries was a chore. Get in the car, drive five miles, find a parking space within a mile, walk up and down the aisles for an hour under fluorescent lights and constant sales announcements. Not that the food in Paris...
As a former supposed illegal alien in Paris, this series on living in Paris illegally is in celebration of my recently conferred ‘resident’ status, complete with requisite ‘carte de sejour’ and all of the benefits and duties attached...
Oh, what a perfect day…a sunny and warmish October 30th, the leaves are finally taking their dive, the skies are clear, and Mr. Hall and I have actually managed to get out of bed this Saturday before noon. But it’s not just the weather. It’s not the pre...
Of course you aren’t running loose in Paris after the Metro has closed its door for the evening. You’re in bed, a productive little expat you are. But let’s just say, for example, that your pals have popped over on the Eurostar for three...
Paris may be deceptively cosy, but this is a big city and there’s more going on under our feet and above our heads than anyone can ever keep track of. Today’s guide is tomorrow’s garbage.
The French really, really, want to eat the pumpkin. Because they’re new at this Halloween thing, and have their own cult of culinary craft, I’ll forgive them. Besides, they’ve come a long way since I was a student in 1995.
Can you imagine how wonderful it would be to live in Paris, the City of Light? Do you see yourself shopping each morning in the open-air markets? Having a quiet café on the sidewalk terrace of your favorite bistro? How about spending your whole weekend...


