LIFE IN PARIS
Award-winning Australian actor Melissa George and architect Diego Delgado-Elias reveal her favourite design destinations
George, whose recent roles include TV series The First in which she plays opposite Sean Penn, is currently filming The Eddy, a new Netflix series about the jazz world of Paris, directed by Alan Poul, Houda Benyamina and Oscar winner Damien Chazelle of La La Land fame. “Paris is elegant, chic, buttoned-up, tasty, seductive,” says George. “My love for the people and city of Paris is so large that I feel closer to Paris than anywhere else in the world. She has become my total being.”
The actor first met fellow Francophile and Peruvian-born architect Delgado-Elias in 2018 after a mutual friend introduced them. “I wanted to be immersed in the design side of Paris, I wanted an education, and she suggested I talk with Diego, as he was looking for an intern. I was able to shadow him for a short period of time and he showed me some of the greatest places. I am also looking at decorating my own home and Diego and I have plans to make something that no one has seen before. Together we will embark on a gorgeous journey.” Here, the creative friends share their secrets on the best sources for design inspiration in Paris.
Melissa and Diego’s locals’ guide to Paris
LIVE THE PARISIAN FANTASY
Rue Lepic My dream future neighbourhood is the street rue Lepic. The cafe from Amélie is here: Café des Deux Moulins. It’s also a hub for many different types of delicatessens. One of my favourites is a cake shop called Les Petits Mitrons. 26 rue Lepic, Paris 75018
EAT, DRINK AND FLÂNEUR LIKE A LOCAL
Le Grenier à Pain The best boulangerie ever. Last year, I rented a home in Montmartre and the director of Amélie, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, lived across from us. He told me about this place, and my sons and I would walk daily to get baguettes and deliver them to him and his wife Liza. legrenierapain.com Marché des Enfants Rouges In Le Marais, this 17th-century covered market is the oldest of its kind in Paris. You’ll find food from all over the world and stands with fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish and cheese. It’s named for the orphanage that was once here — the children wore red jackets.
39 rue de Bretagne, Paris 75003
Le Petit Saint Benoit For a serve of history with your lunch, this traditional, intimate, chic and cosy bistro on the Left Bank fits the bill. petit-st-benoit.com
Le Baron Rouge The best time to visit this busy wine bar is on Sunday afternoons after a trip to the nearby food market. It’s small with wine barrels lining the walls so you’ll often find a crowd spilling onto the street eating cheese and charcuterie around tables made of crates and wooden boards. lebaronrouge.net
Restaurant La Mosquée de Paris There’s an amazing, cool vibe here at this eatery near the mosque. Enjoy mint tea and pastries in the courtyard that smells like fleur d’oranger (orange blossoms). la-mosquee.com
OTHER GOURMET DELIGHTS
Verlet A warm and inviting tea and coffee shop with the most fragrant lapsang souchong. verlet.fr
La Grande Épicerie de Paris You probably know it, but this large and luxe delicatessen is worth the visit. Wandering through the aisles and seeing picture-perfect pastries in glass display cabinets is bound to make you feel like a true Parisian. lagrandeepicerie.com
G. Detou If you love cooking and discovering new and unique ingredients, come here.
58 rue Tiquetonne, Paris 75002
The eateries on rue Lepic, including
Le Comptoir Colonial for spices, tea and coffee, lecomptoircolonial.com and Le Coq Rico for slow-cooked chicken. lecoqrico.com
EXPLORE THE WORLD’S BEST FLEA MARKETS Marché aux Puces de Vanves If I had to choose just one Paris market to visit, it would be this one in the south-west. pucesdevanves.fr
Marché Bastille This is a huge market — one of the biggest in Paris — that’s renowned for its food stalls. On Saturdays, it becomes the Marché de la création Bastille, where art and hand-crafted goods are on sale. Boulevard Richard-Lenoir, Paris 75011
Marché d’Aligre Enjoy fresh food and peruse the antique shops for homewares, old books and fabrics at this partially covered market. Also take a moment to marvel at the breathtaking architecture.
Rue d’Aligre and Place d’Aligre, Paris 75012
“What do I love about Paris? It’s Paris! It’s utter perfection,” says actor Melissa George of her lifelong love affair with the city she and her two French-born sons, Raphael and Solal, call home. “I have been coming to Paris since I was 18. I would make several trips a year to shop for antiques and fashion and be inspired. My first home in LA was full of finds from Paris back in 1998.”
“I wanted to be immersed in the design side of Paris, and a friend suggested I talk with Diego. I was able to shadow him for a short period and he showed me some of the greatest places”
MELISSA GEORGE
SLEEP IN THE FINEST LINENS & FABRICS
Marché Saint-Pierre At this textile market in Montmartre, the store assistants serve you as if you were a queen. Windows in traditional buildings here can be three or four metres tall, so you can never find curtains to fit them, and this is the place to buy fabric to have them made up. I think they should always be lengthy enough — they must hang like trousers that are far too long. marchesaintpierre.com
D Porthault After you buy your first set of floral sheets, you cannot imagine ever having a bed dressed in blooms for the rest of your life. And if you buy D Porthault, you have arrived as the perfect Parisian. dporthaultparis.com
Pierre Frey To walk into Pierre Frey, take home samples of wallpaper used in the Palace of Versailles and then mix different prints together with abandon is the beauty of the French way. pierrefrey.com
SHOP THE ULTIMATE IN FURNITURE & HOMEWARES R&Y Augousti My favourite design hotspot. The gorgeous accent furniture is heaven. I have had desks and furniture made and shipped to New York by husband-and-wife team Ria and Yiouri. Great Art Deco shapes, fine materials and beautiful colour palettes. augousti.com Hermès When you want to shop Hermès, go to the store in the 6th arrondissement, which was formerly home to a swimming pool. I’ve had my Hermès cup since my sons were born. I definitely have French kids — they still comment, “That’s Mummy’s Hermès cup. Don’t break it.” They’ve watched me sip tea from my gorgeous, happy blue mug for years. hermes.com
DINE LIKE A PARISIAN
La Mine D’Argent This is silverware heaven. My dream is to never use anything to eat with other than solid silver. Why save it for dinner parties? I have many pieces from here. You can even create your own unique collection by hunting for odd silver knives and forks at flea markets — then have them all monogrammed to pass down to future generations. 108 rue de Bac, Paris 75007
La Vaissellerie This is the place for white plates, hotel-style chic and all things French for your kitchen and table. lavaissellerie.fr
La Bovida Kitchenware that’s out of this world. labovida.com ››
“Paris is elegant, chic, buttoned-up, tasty, seductive” MELISSA GEORGE
AND FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT…
Moulié Fleurs The greatest flowers. The way the shop puts them together is like one hot French mess — sexy, vibrant and overflowing with grace and elegance. mouliefleurs.com
Bazar des Ecoles A must-visit. Thousands of items for the home with everything from mops to impossible-to-find silver bayonet light bulbs. 20 rue Montagne Sainte Geneviève, Paris 75005
Hector Saxe A couture-level maker of board games. You’ll find the most gorgeous chess, backgammon and travel board games made from the finest materials. hectorsaxeparis.com
Rougier & Plé Floors filled with all kinds of art supplies, from canvases and watercolours to oils, inks and as many weights and types of paper as you can dream of. rougier-ple.fr
Librairie Gourmande This is the ultimate cookbook store. It sells new and antiquarian books — buy just one or two titles to sit next to your blush-pink La Cornue oven. librairiegourmande.fr
a detail of the Louis Vuitton Foundation designed by architect Frank Gehry. George at Bois de Boulogne park in the 16th arrondissement.