First stop is always for coffee and pastry at Fauchon, Place de la Madeleine.  Founded in 1886, the grand epicerie, patisserie, restaurant, and  delicatessen, is a culinary masterpiece and foodie’s heaven.  I return many times over my visit to Paris to refresh myself, shop for exotic products such as vadouvan, and purchase tantalizing gifts for friends back home.  Fauchon’s blueberry confiture (jam) is a favorite petit cadeau for my stateside friends.  Always wonderfully elegant, even the plastic spoons used to stir your coffee are Philippe Stark.  In my whirlwind gastronimic tour of Paris, Place de la Madeleine, home to not only Fauchon, but also Hediard, Laduree, Maison de Truffe, and now Mariage Freres, is always ground zero.

Flying into Paris always fills me with that anticipatory internal tickle I experience when something truly exciting looms on the horizon.  My head swims with the million or so things I hope to accomplish when there.  To divert my racing mind, I watch the movie “Funny Face” on my IPhone.  And while the improbable relationship between the aging Fred Astair and the pixie-like Audrey Hepburn has all the chemistry of a visit to a convalescent hospital, the glorious sight-seeing scene set to the song, “Bonjour Paris”, always thrills me and sets my mouth to watering over one of the most wonderfully vibrant cities on earth, Paris, France!