I Love Touring Paris - The Eleventh Arrondissement

The eleventh arrondissement is located in eastern Paris on the Right Bank of the Seine River. With one hundred fifty thousand residents in slightly more than 1.4 square miles (less than 3.7 square kilometers) it is the most densely populated district of Paris and in fact the most densely populated urban district in Europe. The area hosts over seventy thousand jobs.

This district has become bohemian and trendy, perhaps because other bohemian, trendy districts have priced themselves outside the stratosphere. The eleventh arrondissement provides a lot of night life. And there is a lot of day life as well, restaurants, cafés, boutiques, and galleries.

The Cirque d'hiver (Winter Circus) has been around for more than 150 years. It’s a unique looking building with twenty sides festooned with large columns at the angles. This building has been a circus, but has also served many additional purposes including a concert hall and even one of the first Parisian cinemas. The owners rent it out for just about anything. There is a single stage-circus ring and happily no pillars or other obstructions to ruin the view of well over fifteen hundred spectators. In the old days there were a lot more seats but the fire marshals intervened and voilà. A swimming pool under the circus ring makes for some very fine water shows. The Cirque d’Hiver has been featured in a famous Seurat painting, a celebrated Avedon fashion photograph, and the 1950s movie "Trapeze", starring Gina Lollobrigida, Tony Curtis, and Kirk Douglas.

The ESCP-EAP European School of Management is a top ranking international business school with campuses in Paris and four other major European cities. It offers advanced degrees in Management, European Business, specialized masters degrees, and a PhD in Management Science. This institution was born in the 2000 merger of the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris and the École Européenne des Affaires. The former establishment was founded in 1819 and is the oldest institution dedicated to business and finance teaching in the world. The latter establishment was founded in 1973 as a trans-national elite business school. The goal of the merged institution is to train managers who can adapt to any culture and work in any country, as summed up in its slogan "Learn everywhere, Manage anywhere".

Of course you don’t want to be in Paris without sampling fine French wine and food. In my article I Love French Wine and Food – A Languedoc-Roussillon Pinot Noir I reviewed such a wine and suggested a sample menu: Start with Gambas (Prawns). For your second course savor Loup en Papillote (Sea Bass cooked in Foil). And as dessert indulge yourself with Pêches à la Minervoise (White Peaches with Muscat Wine and Raisins). Your Parisian sommelier (wine steward) will be happy to suggest appropriate wines to accompany each course.