#21 | Paris this Spring
I hope you are doing well and feel vigorous about the week ahead. I just landed back from a quick Spring Break in France. I go often but not as often as my French soul needs. My days in Paris were filled with nice people, good food, culture, shopping all wrapped in calm yet fulfilling days.
I will not be doing a new Paris guide - I did one just a few months ago - but I will update you with new things I have done this time around, knowing that I privilege going back to old favourites as well as trying new things here and there.
Jess
A different kind of Olive Oil
Inspired by their Italian roots but made in France, the brand Le Sorelle ("the sisters" in Italian) showcases a beautiful offering of exquisite hand pressed Extra Virgin olive oils. I discovered them through Chacha, one of my favourite tiktokers, and I ordered their delicious original EVOO as well as their Olive Oil pressed with oranges, which I was most intrigued about.
To top it all off, they also sell unique ceramics. These are great to serve our olive oil. I love adding some fleur de sel or balsamic vinegar to put it on another level. But nothing prevents you from repurposing them to put in your jewellery by your bedside too...
...and a Vinegar to match it
We discovered the La Maille store by Place de la Madeleine a few trips ago and we made a haul. I am not a mustard girl - and the store smells a lot like mustard, so one needs to be brave! - but I love putting the tiniest bit of Dijon in some salad vinaigrettes. Or in a cold lentil salad with a poached egg, which was one of my favourite quick lunches when I worked a La Défense years ago.
La Maille is the best place to try different types of mustards but not only. They also offer great vinegars and I first fell in love with the Mango one. More recently we purchased the raspberry purée vinegar and these blends completely elevate our salads.
The unforgettable night at the Opera Garnier
Whenever I have a trip booked to Paris, I go to the Opéra National de Paris website to check what they have on the programme. Most times, I am unsuccessful in booking anything because they quickly sell out. This time around I had some time distance and was lucky enough to find tickets for the ballet Empreintes (which can be loosely translated to Imprints), which ran during the month of March.
This was a great ballet experience (and a first one for my husband) as we had two very different scenic interpretations on how art is imprinted in us.
The first act called Arena was conducted by the British duo of choreographers Morgann Runacre-Temple and Jessica Wright and the second act entitled Étude was created by Marcos Morau, a Spanish choreographer.
In Arena, we feel the power of how we stand before a camera and the power of influence. How we repeat things we see through a screen, creating a sense of community and belonging whilst still feeling a sense of solitude.
In Étude, we have the loneliness and persistent discipline of ballet, how one can belong to a corps and be a part of a group yet have to stand on their own essence. I like both acts but Étude left me in tears. It was one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen.
The chocolate tasting experience not to miss
A few days before our trip, I added a "Secret Date" event to my husband's calendar. He loves chocolate and I thought it would be a great idea to book us into one of the most exquisite of workshops...
Jess
A book with a movie adaptation... and a scandal
I first heard about the book The Salt Path in a Lydia Millen vlog (she is one of my favourite British youtubers), where she spoke about how the book was transformative and impacting her while she was reading it. I added it to my TBR list, bought it some time later and set it as a bookclub read in September last year.
The memoir written by Raynor Winn takes us back to a dire moment in her life when her husband and she lost their house after a bad investment. As they are about to become homeless, they decide to walk the South West Coast Path in southern England. She wrote the book as a birthday gift to her husband and it became a massive international success and was followed up by two books, forming a trilogy.
Personally, I found the book too descriptive and repetitive. There are countless pages about materials and foods to bring in camping, which is an activity I just do not connect with and several repetitions especially at the beginning (walk - meet people - find food - set tent - sleep - repeat). I did not feel connected to their story in itself. Albeit homeless, I found them very privileged to roam through a country knowing they would not be called on by the police for camping in the wild.
Nevertheless, as I was always very intrigued by the Western & Southern British coast and would love to visit sometime, I pushed through and finished the book. There is a movie adaptation starring Gillian Anderson as Raynor and Jason Isaacs as Moth, her husband. I just watched it and tremendously enjoyed the scenery. It was also one of the reasons I loved Playing Nice's adaptation on screen, the views were to die for. Although it was not the profoundest movie ever, the story is more condensed in it and I enjoyed it more than the book itself.
As both are huge literary and on screen successes, the author and her story have been recently plagued by scandal. I listened to The Observer's Tortoise podcast which details the real circumstances and facts around the Winns's homelessness and financial issues. I love investigative journalism yet I always take it with a pinch of salt. True or not, The Salt Path might just be good fiction, I find it unfortunately easy to dismiss people after they reach success.
If you read the book or saw the movie, let me know what you thought about it all.
By the way, I am committed to reading a book per week in 2026, so I need permanent recommendations at this point.
What have you read recently and just loved? Do share!
The fast beauty product to survive frequent travel
I have had dark circles around my eyes since I was a child. With age and frequent sleepless nights, the situation is getting worse and I look like a panda before applying makeup. I try to be thorough with my antipigmentation SPF and serums, but I just discovered the holiest of grails: eye patches!
I had seen them everywhere before but I just did not believe them until I tried them. I used one of these individual pair packs from Patchology after a knackering trip. In just 20 minutes, my under eyes were the clearest they have ever been. Also, it's quite a refreshing and soothing experience.
But I need your help. I must confess I need help to decide how to best apply it: slimmer side on the inner or outer corner of the eye?
The slow beauty device that delivers
Eye Patches are great but they are on the fast beauty spectrum. I also believe in slow beauty for long term results and I just took the deepest dive: I bought my own red light therapy mask!
I tried my first red light mask at the Bobbi Brown counter at Le Bon Marché in Paris last year. I wanted to try their foundation and the exquisite vendor asked me if I wanted to try a 10-min red light session first, as they were partnering with the French brand Nooance. She shared the benefits for my skin and how it would enhance her applying some skincare and said foundation. I was a bit scared but immediately sold and went for it. On a more discreet corner of their stand, I sat, put the Le Professionel mask on with a timer and relaxed.
Moving a year forward, I looked into red light masks and two brands came on top of my research: Currentbody and Nooance. As I had tried the French one and was headed to France for the holidays, the decision was easier. I opted for the Elite x600 mask, with 600 medical grade lights with 2 different wavelengths to stimulate collagen production and cellular energy. The mask has a facial architecture and fits in perfectly with the jawline (which the Professional one did not do as well) and I tried it for the first time yesterday. It has a 10-minute timer and I put it on with a 10-minute meditation audio. Call it double stacking!
I still have to adapt to the feeling of "being trapped" and the very mild skin sensitivity thereafter, which subsides quickly. This morning my skin was absolutely superb for skincare and makeup application. The mask promises results if you use it 3 times a week for at least 4 weeks. I will come back with a more thorough article and results.
Long due, next month I am preparing an updated "What I Have Been Wearing" article to share with you. I am doing my best not to wear my usual uniform!
This edition has come to an end. Thank you for reading this far! I have written more content for you in the articles below. In the meantime, follow me on Bluesky. Or Tiktok. Or Youtube. Or Pinterest. Share with a friend. Whatever tickles your fancy.
I hope you feel hugged, loved and celebrated every day of April, making it a great one.
See you in May!
Je t'embrasse fort,
Jess
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