For the last five years, I’ve found my cure for the post-winter-holiday lull: a trip to Paris! Thanks to Paris Design Week, January has become my annual pilgrimage to my favorite city, where I can soak up the latest in high-end design, while immersing myself in the very best of French heritage and beauty. Thousands of interior designers and members of the trade flock to the French capital for Maison & Objet (a showcase of furnishings and decorative objects primarily held at a convention center northeast of Paris) and Paris Déco Off (a citywide event where the public can step into showrooms and countless storied locations to view new wallcovering and textile collections).
If you’re passionate about design, art, fashion, and history in equal measure, I’d argue there’s no better time to visit Paris. Especially if, like myself, you’re a Francophile who loves the romance of it all—and nothing thrills you more than being a fly on the wall as the doors to the most stunning, storied venues and hôtels particuliers miraculously open. This year, I found myself at a 1920s pagoda where Lelièvre’s latest collections shone amid the Chinese-lacquered interior; at L’Arrosoir, Paris’s oldest flower shop, where Little Greene launched garden-themed wallpapers; and at Galerie Kraemer, one of the oldest family-owned art galleries in France, where the backdrop for an antique soirée (complete with baroque court dancers) was hundreds of museum-quality furnishings hailing from legendary collectors ranging from Karl Lagerfeld to Jayne Wrightsman.
My perch for 2026 Paris Design Week was the Hotel Panache, a boutique hotel near the bustling Grands Boulevards, which offers convenience, style (think Fornasetti wallpaper and Diptyque bath products), and reasonable prices even during Paris’s busiest weeks. After all, January means it’s des soldes—France’s biannual sale season—and I needed every penny I could to save on my favorite French brands, among them Tressé, Maison Guillemette, and Jonak. Plus, I never know what will catch my eye during my weekend jaunt to the flea market.
Day 1: 400 Years of French Culture, From a Countryside Chateau to Cutting-Edge Contemporary Art
My week began on January 13, when I joined a group of designers and journalists to visit Château des Joncherets, a 1620 castle originally designed by Versailles landscape architect André Le Nôtre, about an hour-and-a-half drive west of Paris. A handful of contemporary designers had reimagined the first floor of the chateau, which is currently under major renovation. While we enjoyed local wine and bites, I could only imagine how delectable future fare will taste once the chateau’s vegetable garden is revived at the hands of farm-to-table visionary chef Alice Waters, who will also plant a branch of her Edible Schoolyard on site.
link