Paris Hot Spots: Spring 2013

Long days and blue skies make May and June the ideal time to enjoy the City of Light at her finest, before the summer crowds arrive. From dazzling museum shows and delicious neo-bistros to a princely hotel recently returned to its former glory, here’s why Paris shines brighter than ever this spring.

• Parisian Art Scene

• Le Fooding

• New on the Hotel Scene

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Contemporary art is filling the hallowed halls of Paris’s traditional museums. From Keith Haring in the Musée d’Art Moderne, to 34-year-old ingénue Loris Gréaud in the Louvre and Simon Hantai in the Centre Pompidou, these exhibitions are not to be missed this spring. Read more: Paris Art in the Springtime.

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Oysters and chocolates and bistros, oh my! (Or should we say, ooh la la?!) Les gourmands’ tongues are wagging about the hip Le Mary Celeste and Alain Ducasse’s La Manufacture du Chocolate. The nouvelle vague in Parisian dining is a fresh, inventive take on classic French cuisine. The prix-fixes at recently opened neo-bistros Roseval, Bones and La Régalade Conservatoire, feature exquisite reinterpretations of standard bistro fare, infused with unexpected and international flavor combinations.

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From the wrought-iron detailing on lobby elevator doors to the Tamara de Lempicka reproductions hanging in the guestrooms, the new and improved Prince de Galles pays homage to the hotel’s original glory days in the 1920s and ‘30s—when it hosted the likes of Winston Churchill and Marlene Dietrich. Today, brand-new amenities like the state-of-the-art fitness center and spa, insure that today’s glamorous guests will feel perfectly pampered.