InTouch Travel

Andrée will do more than tell you how sophisticated Parisians live, she will show you. "I don't give a damn about fashion, but I care passionately about style," she says.

Come with her to the elegant Batignolles neighborhood where she lives, push open the heavy wrought-iron door of her 18th century Haussmann-era stone building and step inside her flat. It will be just as you imagine: high ceilings, white plaster moldings, marble chimney mantelpieces, mirrors, 18th century furniture: it's not a grand museum, it's where she lives with her family of three bilingual, college-age daughters who wouldn't think of leaving home.

Andrée is variably in high heels, often swathed in a fur, sometimes in a miniskirt, possessed of a devastating sense of humor and always the embodiment of sophistication. She's the daughter of a career Army officer, earned a PhD in American Literature at the Sorbonne and is at home with the works of William Styron, Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor and Eudora Welty. Her curiosity about the world has led her to learn Spanish, Italian and Portuguese as well as English. But her real love is the city of Paris.

Her assignments from the Office of Tourism included helping foreign journalists find the latest, newest, hippest "thing," whatever that might be. Her discoveries found their way into any number of publications. Now she provides you with the same insider knowledge.

Paris with Andrée Chalm

Andrée's suggestions:

Up Close: INFORMAL ELEGANCE

I would first take you to the market, have a coffee at the local bistro, stop by the wine cellar, teach you how to cook a traditional meal, and how to lay a table "à la française" while telling you about its history and evolution from the middle ages to the 19th century, when the rules we still follow today were definitely set. Since I love antiques, you will be drinking in the former Begum's Baccarat glasses, and sitting upon the chairs of late writer Marcel Proust, while enjoying food and wine and most of all, having fun!

Since Paris is a city I'm madly in love with, there isn't a thing I don't know about it. If you wish, I can turn you into an insider in Montmartre, or in the Marais unless you are willing to become a Parisian shopper in the Saint Germain des Prés area. Paris is made of many villages with their own unique surroundings, atmosphere and soul.

Just ring the buzzer and push open the door; I'll be waiting for you!

In Depth: THE ART OF THE TABLE

The art of laying a table "è la française" is part of our patrimony. You'll come to understand the whole evolution of the table from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, when the rules we still obey today were codified.

You'll learn the origin of such expressions as: to set up a table, to lay the table, to make both ends meet, why the salt-box was watched by a man in arms called the cup chief, why knives have round ends, why (from the time of Louis XIV) spoons and forks are always pointed down. What seems casual now was a revolution in former days: eating facing each other in the 17th century, the introduction of the "Russian" course, and the birth of the dining room in the 19th century.

Special care will be give to the display of glassware. Their order is always the same and each glass has its specificity, since French gastronomy rests upon the perfect match of food and wine. To each course its wine, to each wine its glass. Their setting remains immutable: from smallest on the right to biggest on the left. Big events dinner or Christmas parties, for instance, imply more courses, and in that case the number of glasses can be of five. No panic, there is an explanation to it, and it's worth learning.

You'll be able to lay your table easily at home and be the smartest girl in town!

Andrée recommends a specific guidebook for Paris, the one published by Knopf [Gallimard in France]: "This is, by far, the BEST guide on Paris. It is about valuable historical, geographical, architectural or artistic touchstones... It's a great help to really understand the city and its spirit."

"Dear Andrée, your insights and connections are remarkable. You finally convinced me that fashion is more than labels. And showed me how to buy clothes I love."

— Mrs. Phinney, Saratoga, CA

"Frank and I were delighted to meet you, Andrée! You're smart, sophisticated, a real Parisienne!"

— Alice Adams, Chicago, IL

"Learning how the French set a table was like learning how to live life! I'll never look at dinner the same way."

— Mary Stipanicz, Cleveland, OH