Hilary Clinton’s expression says it all… elle adore Paris! 

The secretary of state arrived in the city yesterday for the ‘Friends of Libya’ conference.

“What we heard today was very promising,” she told reporters at a press conference.

One is a child of communist Russia, and the other a child of ruthless captialism, but this summer its free market love for supermodel Natalia Vodianova and LVMH heir Antoine Arnault.

The two lovebirds couldn’t stop their public displays of affection while vacationing in Ibiza this August.

Natalia, 29, freshly split from Brit real-estate heir husband Justin Portman, didn’t waste any time going after the Arnault heir, who is currently ranked the wealthiest family in France. LVMH also happens to be one of her major employers, as she does campaigns for Louis Vuitton, Guerlain, Givenchy among other labels.

In fact, the exterior facade of the hotel is so inconspicuous,  almost communist in its austerity, that Petite Brigitte has missed the entrance to the hotel several times and had to turn around!

Once successfully inside, the fresh modernity consistent with the Mandarin brand comes through in the minimalist design, white flowers, and noble materials. To the left is the space age bar, where a small interior opens out into a verdant Hong Kongesque garden cocktail louge… definitely the tables of choice on a nice evening. The menu is strictly liquid for the moment though snacks will be added shortly. The bar specializes in gourmet cosmo-style cocktails as well as champagne cocktails, at prices that rival the Plaza Athenée (around EUR24 a pop), though perhaps not at the same quality or expert service of the Plaza. Petite Brigitte & co. waited 30 minutes for cocktails– a near disaster. At these prices, the clientele consists mostly of hotel clients, a few curious Parisians, and businessmen with expense accounts. While it is a more fashionable clientele than neighborhood rivals like the Park Hyatt, it cannot touch the coolness of the adjacent Hotel Costes.

To the right, the restaurant ‘Camelia’ continues in the cool, modern style, with a gastronomic menu, and although Petite Brigitte hasn’t tried it yet, the ambiance looks a little froide. The only tables really worth having are outside along the pond, as the candlelight and foliage create a romantic setting. Just hoping the service is better than at the bar!

Mandarin Oriental Paris

251 Rue Saint-Honoré

75001 Paris

01 70 98 78 88

via A Pop-Up Paris Picnic Is Coming to New York – NYTimes.com.

‘Carla Bruni and Me’

Ever since Carla Bruni married Nicolas Sarkozy and became first lady of France, I have been a bit obsessed with her. There is something about Carla, and I don’t just mean her fabulous style. It is her confidence, her calm and cool demeanor. You have to love a woman who has unapologetically slept with both rock stars and royalty. A woman who professes to be polyandrous and then settles into domestic bliss. A woman who sings sultry French pop songs while attending embassy parties in chic flats and covered up couture. When I heard recently that she might be pregnant, the picture was complete. The President of France, clearly wildly in love with his wife, will now be bonded to her forever-polyandry be damned.

So, as a recent divorcee, who is dipping her toes (well-pedicured# into the pool of possibility of finding love again, I have decided that Madame Sarkozy is my mentor. Calm. Cool. Collected and confident. Not a Cosmo-swilling, bar hopping, man hungry babe on the prowl in knock off Loubutins .For me, I will don my ballet flats #or real Loubutins) with confidence and style. Let those good men find me (I know they are out there) not because I am available, but because I’m not. I am thriving (albeit not polyandrous…yet) on my own. Like Carla B., I will be the mystery woman behind the brunette mane and chic sunglasses.

I realize this plan to cultivate my inner Carla may sound far-fetched and perhaps even egotistical, but this persona is my armor. After 22 years of marriage, babies, confusion and heartbreak I must enter this new phase of life protected by my strength, not my weakness. What did not work before is being tossed out-I am trying on the new me and trying out the new men (where ere they may be) So far, I have accumulated a string of starter beaux-those Starbucks baristas with the nice smiles and the man at the car repair shop who thinks he’s still got game. Those men are not the goal, but a girl’s got to start somewhere. I have not pulled my Carla out for them. I am reserving her aura for the men who get it. For the men who appreciate a woman’s gifts (all of them) and can keep up with the desires of a woman starting over and ready to dive in-consequences or not. If I play it to safe (long nights of solo Scrabble-well, solo anything, at home) I will miss what’s really happening. With Carla B. as my muse, I will venture forth to see what’s going on in the world. A week in Tokyo? Check. A sexy weekend in San Francisco? Check. An esoteric lecture at a museum with dinner afterwards? Check.

As I alternate between my ballet flats and my stilettos, I will find my balance. I may even find that man-not the man I “need” but the man I desire. Like Carla Bruni, I’ll make settling down sexy, not subservient. Vive la difference-I am off to change my shoes and

via Alexis Marble: Carla Bruni and Me.

Although the character of Gil Pender (Wilson) will find himself transported — literally, via a vintage Peugeot that appears at the same bend of a Parisian street at midnight — not to Van Gogh’s Arles but to Hemingway’s Paris a la Moveable Feast, the poster effectively conveys the magic realism that Allen infuses into the film, his best in recent memory.

via Rob Kirkpatrick: Woody Rediscovers Woody in Paris.

via Carla Bruni baby: Close friend confims child of Nicholas Sarkozy will be a boy | Mail Online.

These maternity pants should quell what lingering doubts there may have been that First Lady Carla Bruni Sarkozy is pregnant.

Let’s just pray that her pregancy stays scandal-free, and that the child looks something like Sarko, and not alleged lover Benjamin Biolay!  Mon dieu we don’t need more scandals here for the moment.

But they are not merely voicing their concern for an esteemed colleague; many of them are also thinking, “There but for the grace of God (or rather the grace of living in France and not the United States) go I.”

France may think it had a revolution, but in fact it just got a new, and even more powerful, elite. They believe themselves so indispensable to the running of the country that trying to topple one of them is a bit like threatening to shoot a prize racehorse for nibbling your lawn. You’re meant to shut up and let them nibble.

via Droit du Dirty Old Men – NYTimes.com.

Petite Brigitte spotted which famous sexogenarian designer seated by the counter, arm over a stunningly chic (and young) blonde?

Don’t miss: the sashimi, the sake, and the green tea matcha ice cream

ISAMI  4 Quai d’Orléans 75004 Paris - 01 40 46 06 97

 Paris has so many cool art galleries popping up in the north part of the Marais district, and this Kate Moss exhibition will certainly draw the fashionistas into the district.  Loving this photo above… very Bardotesque.

 (With all the fuss about drugs, rockstars and anorexia-inspiring catchphrases it’s sometimes difficult to remember that Kate Moss is famous for a reason – her jaw-dropping good looks.A new exhibition hopes to remind us with a collection of photographs which go on display today at La Gallerie de L’Instant in Paris.

via Kate Moss exhibition of famous photos of the model opens in Paris | Mail Online.

Sad news out this weekend on the most glamourous of Brigitte Bardot’s ex-husbands. Gunther Sachs, the dashing playboy who married Brigitte in 1966 after a fairytale courtship, took his life in Gstaad this weekend after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. His legend will live on. Check out Glenys Roberts‘ nostalgic reportage…

The newlyweds, who were impossibly glamorous, were all over each other that night in Hollywood. Brigitte Bardot was wearing the shortest of mini dresses, Gunther Sachs was in his trademark blazer with loafers and no socks.Finally, they went upstairs to consummate their marriage — to the great relief of everyone, including myself, at their wedding reception. We had all feared they might be about to perform on the dining room table such was the sexual chemistry that simmered between them.Perhaps memories of that extraordinary night in 1966 played through Sachs’s mind before he shot himself at the weekend at the age of 78.

via Gunther Sachs dies: Brigitte Bardot’s ex-husband shoots himself | Mail Online.

Last year Parisians went into crisis mode after a well-publicized petition claimed that Paris nightlife was on the verge of a slow death. They even coined the expression, “City of Sleep.” L’horreur!

While we may have been facing a party downturn in recent years, Petite Brigitte is happy to report that Paris nightlife is still going strong and 2011 is shaping up to be a year of crazy fêtes (starting with Kate Moss at Raspoutine in February).

Here are your top 5 hottest clubs du jour, but keep in mind: if you aren’t on a list and are going it alone, keep your finger’s crossed and arrive before 11:30. A few attractive girlfriends can’t hurt either.

1. Bagatelle: Built as a hunting lodge on a bet between Marie Antoinette and the Count of Artois, the elegant Bagatelle Chateau and Gardens in the Bois de Boulogne hosts the wildest parties of the summer, such as the notorious Eurotrash Disney party (you’ll never look Mickey in the eyes again). It is a hike getting out here to the western edge of Paris, but well worth it on a warm summer night, especially if there is a good guest DJ. Arrive for dinner or near 11pm to avoid the crowds. Costumes are commonplace, and leave your Louboutin’s at home- it’s a jungle out there.

2. Chez Raspoutine: This red-velvet cocoon of Paris’ most posh noctambules is located just off the Champs-Elysées. The music isn’t great, the dancefloor is petite, but it’s the place to see & be seen, and weekends see a smattering of Europe’s top models mixing with heirs of the luxury industry. Dress to kill.

3. L’Arc: This club near the Arc de Triomphe may not be as classe as the chichi Raspoutine, but the music is better and the lovely outdoor garden is a welcome addition in the summertime. The management have a Riviera sense about them when it comes to partying… not surprising as they are from Cannes! It’s a steamy club with a long bar, and a decent restaurant on the top floor. Great for groups of friends as other clubs tend to turn away larger groups. Opt for tables in the VIP section.

4. Le Baron & Montana: These sister clubs are so exclusive you probably won’t get in unless you are with Karen Mulder or Sean Lennon. With their quirky music, film industry clientele, and celebrity walk-ins, the Baron and Montana are the havens of cool for the right and left bank, respectively. Don’t dress to kill here because looks don’t matter. In fact, the hairier and more unkempt the better. Flannel shirts welcome.

5. Cirque du Bonheur: You might have known this location as the Mandela Ray, but forget all of that because now it is the ‘Circus of happiness’. Think fire breathers, midgets, acrobats, and guest DJ’s from Ibiza like Tim Rustow mixing among a thousand youthful Parisians. This was the hot club of winter 2010/2011 but will close down in mid June as most of this party crowd heads to Bagatelle.

THE perfect Parisian woman is an illusion, bien sûr. But learning to pretend to be one is a serious business that dates back centuries.

It is an enterprise that continues to thrive with profitable how-to books like, “How to Become a Real Parisian,” “The Parisian Woman’s Guide to Style” and “All You Need to Be Impossibly French.” Now Inès de la Fressange, ex-runway model, former face of Chanel, Legion of Honor winner, designer, businesswoman and daughter of a marquis, offers yet another take on how to dress, shop, eat and act like a true “Parisienne.” This onetime muse of Karl Lagerfeld has spun her beauty and style tips into a confection of a best seller, “Parisian Chic: A Style Guide,” which has sold more than 100,000 copies in French and has just hit the American market.

The book might have withered and died on the shelves, except that Ms. de la Fressange combines a “je ne sais quoi” audacity with a sassy tone, and leaves readers believing that, by following her rules and experimenting with confidence, they, too, can be just like her.

via Inès de la Fressange, a Frenchwoman’s Parisienne – NYTimes.com.

Carla Bruni, wife of French president Nicholas Sarkozy, has “cancelled plans to appear on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival amid rumours she is pregnant with twins,” the Mirror is reporting.

Allen’s “Paris” marks Bruni’s acting debut, though she made her name as a supermodel before marrying Sarkozy. As the Mirror notes, Bruni “had been expected to draw huge crowds at the event.” Instead, the press will have to settle for Marion Cotillard, Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams.

via Carla Bruni Woody Allen Marion Cotillard Owen Wilson Cannes | HollywoodNews.com.

By Sean O’Connell