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The Essential Paris Cafe

The Cafe Select in Paris is a famed Montparnasse watering hole.

There are few things more associated with Parisian life than taking some time to people-watch, think and dream in one of the city's thousands of cafes. Many of the more traditional cafes have succeeded in retaining a certain old-Paris glamour.

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Paris Travel Spotlight10

Travel Tip: Paris Bakeries Open in August

Wednesday July 6, 2011

If you've spent months fantasizing about getting your hands on a sublime, crusty Paris baguette, be forewarned when visiting in August: many of the city's bakeries, including the cream of the crop, close shop for the summer season. The spectacle of tourists wandering around confused at the sight of boarded-up bakery windows is a common one in the summer. Luckily, though, a long roster of bakeries keep their ovens going during the season. Check out our new guide to find a Paris bakery open in the summer near where you're staying.

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Image credit: Getty Images

Now On: Paris Cinema International Film Festival

Sunday July 3, 2011
paris cinema 2011

Saturday marked the opening of the 9th annual Paris Cinema International Film Festival: an 11 day event taking over several screens around the city, showing over 250 films and hosting a series of events. This year, outside the official competition in which eight feature-length films are competing for the jury's accolades (four prizes are in the offing), Paris Cinema is honoring Mexican cinema, one of the globe's most prolific and multiform celluloid industries. Mexican films from the 1950's to the present day are being screened throughout the festival, including two recently presented at Cannes: Miss Bala by Gerardo Naranjo and Days of Grace from director Everardo Gout.

Paris Cinema is also hosting retrospectives to several important actors and their most memorable films, in the presence of the stars themselves: notably Mexican actor Gael García Bernal (producer of the aforementioned Miss Bala) , who first caught international attention for his performance in Alejandro González Iñárritu's 2000 film Amores Perros, before going on to star in indie cult films such as Michel Gondry's endearingly bizarre The Science of Sleep (2006).

Another retrospective pays homage to Isabelle Rossellini, who continues to haunt celluloid fans for her performance in films like A Matter of time by Vincente Minelli and David Lynch's Blue Velvet, and also directed several films.

Read More: Guide to the Paris Cinema 2011 Film Festival

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Thalys Train Deal: Ride First-Class to Paris

Friday July 1, 2011

I'm all for eschewing the plane whenever possible-- epic Co2 emissions, sardine-can conditions in economy and irksome security procedures all seem far less than worth it to me when bridging shorter distances in Europe. If you're traveling between Paris, Brussels and/or Amsterdam this month, you might consider taking the high-speed Thalys train: Rail Europe is currently offering the equivalent of $25 off the purchase of a first-class ticket (one-way or round trip) between the three cities. The offer is good through July 27th, but limited to the first 600 bookings, and one coupon per person.

I can vouch for the first-class service on the Thalys: a few years ago I took a trip from Paris to Amsterdam and back and was fairly impressed by the level of service and comfort. Extra legroom, plug for laptop, and very generous food and drink service (served, at that time at least, with real flatware and silverware) made the three-hour plus trip especially relaxed. There's also now free wifi included in first-class.

See Rail Europe deal details here (Buy direct)

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Free Paris Museums: A Focus on Great Parisians

Tuesday June 28, 2011
jean moulin, circa 1941.

The city of Paris counts over ten museums whose permanent collections are entirely free to the public. Among these, several under-appreciated ones pay tribute to Parisian luminaries and thinkers who helped shape the political, social or artistic landscape of their times.

Especially for those of you interested in learning more about the forces that shaped Parisian culture over the last two centuries, I highly recommend you take some time in your schedule to explore a few of these excellent free Paris museums.

The Maison de Victor Hugo, located in the writer's former apartments on the pomp-filled Place des Vosges in the Marais, plunges you into the turbulent life and times of the author who penned Les Misérables and faced exile for many years as punishment for vocally supporting various humanist causes and giving a voice to the poor and oppressed.

Heading south to Montparnasse, the Mémorial Leclerc/Musée Jean Moulin honors the memory of two key figures of the French resistance against Nazi occupation during WWII, Marshall Leclerc and Jean Moulin (pictured). History buffs will appreciate the vivid multimedia reconstitution of one of the more somber periods in French history. Meanwhile, the nearby Musee Bourdelle explores the sculptural and photographic works of Antoine Bourdelle, who frequented great sculptor Rodin and others.

West Paris harbors free gems like the Maison de Balzac, which reconstitutes the workroom and the myriad fictional characters of colossal novelist Honoré de Balzac, author of La Comédie Humaine. The Musée de la Vie Romantique will sate anyone with a passion for the drama of 19th century French Romanticism, and notably pays tribute to eccentric writer and impassioned political commentator George Sand.

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Image credit: French Resistance leader Jean Moulin in 1941. Keystone/Hulton Archive (Getty Images)

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