PHOTOGRAPHY … Black-and-white and color still and movie films are available in Paris and other big cities; so are cameras. Prices are considerably higher than in the United States but includes processing. Kodak-Pathe S.A. is located at 39 Avenue Montaigne, Paris.
RELIGION … France is a Catholic country and there are many magnificent Cathedrals which hold ‘Mass. There are also many Protestant churches in Paris: American Church, British Embassy Church, Presbyterian Church, Eglise de L’Etoile; Eglise de Passy Eglise du Saint Esprit, Eglise de la Mission Etrangere, Methodist Church, Quakers, Russian Orthodox Church, Grande Synagogue. And in Nice, the beautiful Church of the Holy Spirit, the only American Protestant church in France, outside Paris.
RESTAURANTS … It is always possible to find a good little out-of-the-way spot undiscovered by tourists which has magnificent food and cheap prices. However, here are some of the better known in Paris (most are expensive) : Maxim’s (who prepares the meals for Pan American’s crack Clipper flights between New York or the West Coast and Europe). Laperouse, La Tour d’Argent and Le Grand Vifour; others such as Lasserre, Taillevent, La Bourride, Laurent, Drouant, are also very good. Food at the Plaza Athenie is excellent. Chez Doucet is a chain that is well known and one of the less expensive.
For homesick Americans there are two Pam-Pam, which serve a club breakfast, American coffee and cheeseburgers. Prunier and Miditerranie specialize in seafood. Pavillon d’Armenonville, Pre Catelan in the Bois deBoulogne have good food and delightful surroundings. Over on the left bank there are La Coupole and Le Dome, both cafes beloved in the twenties and still doing business. Harry’s New York Bar, famous among generations of Americans, is still at 5 Rue Daunou. The Ritz Bar is still the favorite meeting place of Americans. Montmartre is as cluttered with bars as New York’s Fifty-Second Street. Some-are clip joints; some are not. Use your head. Go to the Cafe de la Paix, of course. There are sidewalk cafes everywhere you turn where it is possible to sit for hours drinking very little or letting the saucers pile up.
SHOPS AND STORES … Aux T rois Quartiers and Samaritaine de Luxe are two of the best department stores in Paris. There are also Au Printemps and Galeries Lafayette, either one a Frenchman’s equivalent for Macy’s. For linens there is Grande Maison de Blanc. The shops on the Rue de la Paix are magnificent. The Rue Royale, Avenue Matignon, Faubourg St. Honori and its extensions across Rue Royale, the Rue St. Honor6 have the smartest specialty shops.
And now the big couturiers have opened what they call “boutiques” in which ready-to-wear merchandise and accessories are offered at far lower prices than in the custom salons. The Bon Marche is on the left bank. Don’t miss the Marche aux Puces, the famous Flea Market of Paris, reached by Metro to the Porte of Clignancourt. It is open every Saturday through Monday.
The better shops and especially big stores (also hairdressers) are closed Mondays. Some shops close during August when many Parisians take their vacation.