Jan Haedrich's Paris Guide
TO STAY
My favorite neighborhood and where I feel most at home in Paris is in the 7th Arrondissement near Palais Bourbon. My apartment in this lovely square is my second home and a place I adore. Its period detail, ornate marble fireplaces and chandelier accented salons are very MME.MINK. It truly is a place I call CHEZ MOI.
TO DINE
My favorite restaurants are any place where I can sit and people watch. But more specifically I adore Café Bonaparte in St. Germain for a glass of champagne or an espresso. A perfect place for observing chic passersby, gorgeous style and charming interludes with french couples and adorable pooches. I also highly recommend Le Meurice along rue de Rivoli, featuring one of Paris's most respected pastry chefs. Enjoy their artfully created tea cakes in shapes of fruits filled with cream and fresh apple, mango, lemon, pistachio etc. A true experience where art meets culinary delights.
TO SHOP
Marché Aux Puces Saint-Ouen
Shopping in Paris would not be complete without mentioning the world's largest antique market, known locally simply as 'Puces' - meaning 'flea (market)'. Open since 1870, the sprawling market is spread over a whopping 20 acres, with an estimated 3,000 vendors stocking furniture from the 1800s, first edition novels, antique vases, mid-century tableware, vintage fashion, and contemporary art, including large-scale Basquiat-inspired oil paintings. Don't go with anything specific in mind, embrace the eclecticism.
Hermès
As one of my favorite places for which I have designed, you must visit this iconic edifice. If you only enter one luxury boutique on your trip, make it the recently-restored wood-panelled Hermes shop on Avenue George V, with its unmistakable gilded lettering. Inside, you'll find three floors of the ultimate French heritage brand's unmissable objects, maroquinerie, shoes, jewellery and pret-a-porter, with each floor boasting its particular style and atmosphere. Die-hard Hermes fans will also enjoy a peek around the rue de Sevres and rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré locations, if only for the decor and architecture.
Castor Fleuriste
Fashion's favourite florist Louis-Geraud Castor is so in-demand that you need a password to access his website. But don't be intimidated – his minimalist Marais shop, hidden away in a courtyard, is well worth a visit for its seasonal, graphic and poetic bouquets.
Debauve & Gallais
Debauve & Gallais was founded by Sulpice Debauve, the former pharmacist to Marie Antoinette herself. He mixed her medicine with cocoa and sugar in the shape of a coin. In 1800, he opened the shop where you can still visit today and take home a box of the chocolate "Pistoles" (sans medicine).
TO VISIT
Musée Rodin
The Musée Rodin in Paris is widely acclaimed as a romantic, intimate "hidden gem" located in the 7th arrondissement, often ranked among the city's best museums. Housed in the historic Hôtel Biron, it offers a serene, beautifully curated collection of Auguste Rodin's sculptures, including The Thinker and The Gates of Hell, set within stunning gardens. Recently we visited Musée Rodin to celebrate MME.MINK's SPRING 2026 Collection specifically the Carlton Bow 20cm in FRENCH GREEN, a perfect pantone match to the walls of the Musée's grand salons.
TO CARRY
Our newest color introduced for Spring 2026 FRENCH GREEN - found its tremendous debut in Paris and celebrated as the piece I most reached for when going out. Our customers have lauded this bag as an extraordinary piece and the next STATUS bag. Each piece, assembled with exquisite craftsmanship, has received its well-earned position in our LEGACY Library.
My trip to Paris this time sparked many new ideas: Particularly, packaging. French architecture is such an inspiration to me. I love drawing it. Who knows, maybe L'Arc de Triomphe will become the new inspo for our next House Box.
Paris, like no other city offers a style of living I simply adore. The people, the style, the European je ne sais quoi! Oh mon Dieu! I can never get enough.
xxx
