The Top Ten Best Kissing Spots in Paris
Valentine’s Day is now celebrated (and commercialized) in France much as it is in the US – flowers, corny cards, and heart-shaped cakes with gloppy frosting. Ah, but if you’re in Paris on February 14, you can celebrate it by a very French tradition -- public smooching.
Robert Doisneau’s iconic photo of the young couple in a clinch was taken on the plaza in front of Paris’ City Hall. As a service to BPers in love – or who would like to be again – here’s our list of 10 far more romantic Paris places for smooching:
1.
The sweet little park at the eastern tip of Isle de la Cite’, where there’s an equestrian statue of the Vert Galant – the young Henri IV – who it is said was a prodigious lover (and reportedly fathered some 70 children).
2.The stone quais all around the Isle St. Louis. The island is attached to the Isle de la Cite’ by the Pont St. Louis. When you get across the bridge take the mossy stone stairs that lead down to the water-level quais. Find a place sheltered from the wind and smooch away.
3.The garden of the Maison Balzac (47 rue Raynouard in the 16th arr.). It’s secluded, cozy
and overlooks a romantic 18th century palace (now the Turkish Embassy…not very romantic).
4.Laperouse (51, quai des Grands-Augustins in the 6th arr.- tel. 01 43 26 68 04), the most romantic of restaurants. It even has a special boudoir-dining room for two that’s named after La Belle Otero, the famous 19th century courtesan who dined there often with her admirers. If you’re too late to reserve that room, there are larger boudoir-dining rooms, and the main dining room offers great views of the Louvre and the Seine. The food is also glorious but not for budget-watchers.
5.The bar of L’Hotel (13, rue des Beaux Arts in the 6th arr.). Plush velvet couches and campy Victorian decoration. Oscar Wilde, who died there when it was a cheap dump that let him stay for free, would have loved today’s décor. The hotel also has a restaurant, Le Belier (01 44 41 99 00) that offers a good-value prix fixe lunch.
6.The Yacht Don Juan (10, quai Henri IV in the 4th arr. tel 01 44 54 14 70) sails every evening at 8:15 for a dinner cruise up and down the Seine. But this is no banal tourist boat: there are only 36 passengers, the décor is elegantly marine but not kitchy, and the kitchen is supervised by a well known chef. If the weather cooperates, the view from the upper deck is sublime.
7.Any of the quais of the Seine where you can dance (remember Woody Allen and Julia Roberts twirling away in “Everyone Says I Love You”?) and smooch snug
gled up against the stone walls for wind shelter and privacy. For an added fillip: bring along a boom box or a two-earphone MP3 player with nostalgic Parisian accordion music. If that’s not your thing, there’s always Jacques Brel or Charles Trenet.
8.The bar/library of the Hotel Le Faubourg-Paris Sofitel (15, rue Boissy d’Anglas in the 8th arr.) There’s a jazz pianist, cozy corners—and if the smooching starts leading you astray, there are154 hotel rooms and 20 suites (inviting friends?) and even a Turkish bath to sweat off the woozies.
9.If it’s not too cold outdoors – or if smooching in broad daylight doesn’t faze you – Paris’ 
parks offer lovely bowers, nooks and crannies. Most notable: the Park Monceau (17th arr.) with its romantic pseudo Greek ruins; the Luxembourg Gardens (6th arr.) where the south-facing walls of the Senate building provide a warm microclimate that lasts into the evening; and throughout the Bois de Boulogne, where there are also several romantic restaurants. Check out the little island served by a tiny ferry that brings customers to an upmarket restaurant, Le Chalet des Isles
10.And finally, for smooching-and-then-some, there are the famous Paris clubs that offer, if you will, a sort of group Valentine. This being a family publication, no details here. But in Paris you can get the list in local weeklies such as “Pariscope” and “L’Officiel.”
So there you have it. Remember to make restaurant reservations as early as possible for the 14th – and if everything’s booked, well, take a lesson from the US Congress: when time runs out for essential legislation they stop the clock at midnight, extend the day and just keep talking. Just shift your Valentine’s Day celebration to the “extended 14th.” Or you can consider that this year Valentine’s Day has gone into an extra period.
