Le Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil, which is at the edge of Paris, at the start of the Bois de Boulogne, is this spectacular garden that nobody knows about. It's a little out of the way, but what makes it a treasure are the magnificent greenhouses from the 19th century, the collection of tropical plants, and the fact that nobody knows it's there. I remember being there on a rainy day and there were plants from different parts of the world. There was this one that was all arid desert, so it was cactus inside these ancient beautiful greenhouses. And they had the tallest persimmon trees I'd ever seen. The fruit was so big, as big as a teacup, it was falling off of the trees. And all of the furniture in the park was painted blue. And there were maybe six people in the entire park. It was kind of misty and rainy. And really one of my premier experiences in Paris.

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he said … michael stipe's prime paris picks

lodging
hôtel costes, very expensive,
011-33-1-42-44-50-00
hôtel montalembert, very expensive,
011-33-1-45-49-68-68

dining
cuisine & confidences, moderate,
011-33-1-42-96-31-34
l'atelier de joël robuchon, very expensive,
011-33-1-42-22-56-56
le pain quotidien, moderate,
011-33-1-42-96-31-70
salon de thé de la mosquée, moderate,
011-33-1-43-31-38-20
thiou, moderate, 011-33-1-45-51-58-58

museums
centre pompidou, 011-33-1-44-78-12-33
musée rodin, 011-33-1-44-18-61-10
palais de tokyo, 011-33-1-47-23-38-86

shopping
artazart, 011-33-1-40-40-24-00
colette, 011-33-1-55-35-33-90
comme des garçons, 011-33-1-53-30-27-27
helmut lang, 011-33-1-58-62-53-20
ladurée, 011-33-1-42-60-21-79 (rue royale)
l'eclaireur, 011-33-1-48-87-10-22
martin margiela, 011-33-1-40-15-07-55
purple, 011-33-1-40-34-14-21 (10th arrondissement)