Open fields
Abstract Bistro, Parc Montsouris properties, Cible Skin, Cinéma l’Epée de Bois, Le Doyenné, best Marrakech souks, MORE
ABOUT FOUND • Help Wanted
FOUND Paris is looking to add new contributors with good taste to our mix. If you’re a Paris resident (or obsessive) and are interested in writing for this newsletter, drop us an email at found@foundparis.com and tell us about yourself. We’ll follow up quickly. Merci.
BARS • First Round
Liquid abstraction
I didn’t know exactly what it was I was walking into when the doors opened at Abstract Bistrot at 4:56 p.m. last Saturday.
From the street, it could have been any good-looking bar in Paris. Large windows, generous ceilings — the kind of space that feels both vintage and contemporary without trying too hard. But then there was the label, a tiny Dymo strip by the door, pressed with the words Abstract Bistrot. That was the first clue someone and something thoughtful is behind this.
Abstract Bistrot sits discreetly on a small street in the Sentier, but doesn’t behave like a neighborhood bar. It’s a carefully imagined cocktail space where all the spirits are distilled in-house. Opened by members of the Drink More Art collective alongside the team behind Bar Nouveau, it feels like a translation of abstract art into liquid form.
That translation begins with the alcohol itself. Upstairs, tucked away, is a room that looks more like a science lab than part of a bar. Through a vacuum distillation process, ingredients are reduced, transformed, and distilled. Flavors are isolated and turned into spirits that recall vodka or tequila, without being either. The process is technical and precise, but the result is unexpectedly right.
The philosophy mirrors abstraction in art. Strip something down. Reinterpret its structure. Keep the essence. These in-house spirits, what they call monochromes, form the base of every drink.
I ordered my usual, a margarita, and what arrived was a quieter, more precise version of the original. Familiar, but refined. Clear and bright, with delicate slices suspended in the glass like punctuation marks. My friend chose a bloody Mary, elevated and restrained, hitting all the right notes of tomato and spice without the excess or bravado the drink often carries. You find yourself wondering how alcohol can taste like this, until you remember the lab upstairs.
The menu is made entirely of colorful Dymo labels, tactile and playful, like notes pinned to a studio wall. The bartender labeled our names and placed them on the table like place cards. Later, they joined the others on the bar wall. A small gesture, but somehow moving.
Why do they open at 4:56? Because it’s abstract, of course. –Sam Brenzel
→ Abstract Bistrot (2nd arr) • 14 Rue St-Sauveur • Daily 16h56 -1h.
REAL ESTATE • On the Market
Three properties currently on offer near Parc Montsouris in the 14th arr:
→ Rue Paul Fort (metro Porte d’Orléans) • 3BR/2BA, 113 m2 apartment • Ask: 1.69M € • on quiet street, top floor flat recently renovated, with west-facing terrace • Annual maintenance/condo fees: 4152 € • Agent: Elise Maccioni, Daniel Feau.
→ Parc Montsouris (RER Cité Universitaire) • 3BR/2BA, 160 m2 duplex • Ask: 3.6M € • 6th floor in recently built building overlooking the park, with 90 m2 outdoor space • Annual maintenance/condo fees: 4844 € • Agent: Jerome Perbereau, Barnes.
→ Parc Montsouris (metro Montsouris) • 4BR/4BA, 341 m2 house • Ask: 4.5M € • 2021-built contemporary residence with multiple tree-lined terraces • Annual property tax: 4537 € • Agent: Nordine Drif, Engel & Völkers.
PARIS WORK & PLAY LINKS: Why Paris’s hot luxury real estate market has cooled off • Style and celebrities at Haute Couture week, in photos • Connecting with art in Paris • The Year of the Horse and the economics of symbolism in luxury.
WORK • Friday Routine
About face
JEANNE CASIMIR • “face explorer”
Neighborhood you work in: All over Paris, as well as Marrakech
Neighborhood you live in: 14th arr
It’s Friday afternoon. How are you rolling into the weekend?
My office is nomadic: I massage faces at my clients’ places, or during residencies, at Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche and at Cible Skin in Paris. When I work on consulting projects for partner brands, I work from home or in cafés. I usually always carry my laptop and my massage kit in my handbag, a big, sturdy bag that allows me to take my work tools everywhere with me.
What’s on the agenda for today?
I’m currently planning a number of residencies where I’m very intentional about curating the theme that will set the tone of my massage week. Décor, playlist, sensory details: I spend hours envisioning what I want to offer my clients. Music playlists are a big part of it. I build them over a long period of time, discovering music, selecting it, blending it together, then imagining massage movements around it. It’s a creative process that requires hours of listening and focus — I absolutely love it. I work from home or go out for a walk. Often I’ll stop first at Aka Coffee Shop, rue Mouton Duvernet, to grab a coffee to go.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
Friday night at home means “apéro” in the living room with the kids. We have dinner while dancing and take turns choosing the music. It’s our way of closing the week together, the four of us, and opening the weekend festivities. On Friday late afternoon, I usually stop by Epire, rue Daguerre (Greek caterer), or Yinan and Hugo, rue Brézin (for their Chinese dumplings), depending on everyone’s mood. For a restaurant dinner: A Mi-Chemin, rue Boulard, the go-to place for couscous.
Also, check the program at Cinéma l’Epée de Bois, which organizes Croissant & Cinema and Gourmépée screenings. The cinema partners with a restaurant on rue Mouffetard so you can enjoy a specialty dish during the screening.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Here are three experiences I love to do alone, with family, or recommend to anyone wanting to make the most of a day out in Paris:
Start at the Grand Palais, admire the recently reopened spaces and enjoy its always exceptional programming.
Continue with an immersive walk, reliving 2000 years of Paris history along the Seine riverbanks. From the construction of Notre-Dame to Place de Grève in the Middle Ages, to the Viking siege… Les Origines de Paris recreates 15 eras and offers unique windows into the city’s past. (Full disclosure: my husband is the co-founder of Les Origines de Paris. Full objectivity: it’s the best experience!)
Finish at the Cité de la Musique–Philharmonie de Paris for exhibitions, concerts, or festivals depending on the schedule.
Any weekend getaways?
In Puisaye, in the Yonne department, the land of my grandparents.
Stay at the Moulin de Corneille in Mézilles, the hidden gem of the region. If you go in early August, the flea market is exceptional.
Go horseback riding at the equestrian center Les Grilles in Saint-Fargeau, where I spent summers as a child.
Visit the Château de Saint-Fargeau and immerse yourself in 10 centuries of history. Also visit Guédelon, where around 40 craftsmen are building a medieval castle using only techniques and materials from the Middle Ages.
Head to Parc du Bois de la Folie in Treigny for tree-climbing courses and to test your resilience high up in spectacular oak trees.
Visit Parc de Boutissaint to see deer, fallow deer, wild boars, and the region’s forest tree varieties.
What was your last great vacation?
I’ve traveled regularly to Marrakech, personally for years, and more recently, for work — I now do occasional residencies at La Mamounia. An extraordinary place.
In Marrakech, I love wandering through the souks to:
Eat the real almond “gazelle horns” at Pâtisserie Belkabir.
Buy local spices at Herbe Atlas Cherif, Place Rahba Lakdima N°190.
Admire Moustapha Blaoui’s lighting and home décor store (he makes the iconic lamps for the Mamounia Spa)
Then head out of the city to explore the always sublime collection at Marrakshi Life. Of course, visiting the classics like Jardin Majorelle is always a good idea. End the day with a hammam session and the La Mamounia Face Massage by Jeanne Casimir at La Mamounia. Stay at La Mamounia, or escape just 45 minutes from Marrakech to the Ourika Valley and sleep at Kasbah Bab Ourika, a magical place nestled in the Atlas Mountains.
What was your last major purchase that you’re really happy with?
A toy horse twice the size of our cat from the store Replay Toys, the temple of vintage and second-hand toys in the North Park neighborhood of San Diego. I haven’t found an equivalent in Paris yet (apart from online on Le Bon Coin or Vinted!).
CULTURE & LEISURE • Gogo
The Odds • Le Trianon (18th arr) • Sat @ 20h • GA, 29 € per
GoGo Penguin • Salle Pleyel (8th arr) • Tues @ 20h • cat 1, 52 € per
St. Paul and The Broken Bones • Le Trabendo (Parc de la Villette) • Tues @ 20h • GA, 37 € per
GETAWAYS LINKS: New boutique hotel L’Aventure opens this week on Ave Victor Hugo from the Hotel Costes team • Inside a rare double-height Le Corbusier duplex in Marseilles • Corinthia Hotels planning new hotel at Lake Como • Appreciating Val D’Annivers, the anti-Gstaad and highest ski resort in the Alps.
ASK FOUND
Three PROMPTS for which we seek your immediate attention:
What new restaurant opening has you most excited?
Which gym are you joining this month (or returning to)?
Where are you booking for a ski trip this winter?
Got answers or more questions? Hit reply or email found@foundparis.com.
GETAWAYS • Essonne
Green field
In 2017, two celebrated Australian chefs traded Parisian bistros for the open fields of the Essonne. James Henry and Shaun Kelly began transforming the outbuildings of the Domaine du Doyenné in Saint-Vrain, just 41 kilometers South of the capital. They started with a garden and orchard, cultivating over a hundred varieties of heirloom fruits and vegetables using regenerative farming methods. Next came the restaurant, Le Doyenné, where each dish features ingredients picked from the land just hours earlier.
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