The best free iPhone apps for Paris...

This post has been written for the iPhone 5S using iOS 7.1, however almost all of these apps are available for other smartphones, as well as tablets. Note that these apps are mostly from the French app store, and so their availability may differ in other countries (learn how to change your country setting at the bottom of this post).

So...what are the best apps for Paris? Well here's what I think, in no particular order:

1.  RATP - The official and well made app for the Paris public transport system covering the metro lines, RER lines and buses. It's particularly useful when using the bus network. Includes maps.

Spring exhibitions at Musée d'Orsay - review

There are two temporary exhibition treats to enjoy at d'Orsay this spring.

1.  Gustave Doré: Master of Imagination - This one was a nice surprise, as I went in knowing very little about Doré...so much so that the gallery staff felt sorry for my ignorance, and she gave me the audio guide for free!

The exhibition covers Doré's life works, from his early caricatures, his illustrations (his strongest body of work), his paintings, as well as other things he dabbled in such as sculpture.

Some of the highlights include the creative illustrations he did for the bible, his illustrations of Shakespeare's plays, and his landscape paintings (my personal favourite). You'll also see how his works have had a sizable influence on the comic book world, and the cinema world.

Musée d'Orsay - a newbie's guide

The Musée d'Orsay is one of the must see galleries in Paris, with a focus on the impressionist and post-impressionist art. In terms of art periods, roughly speaking, d'Orsay takes over where the Louvre drops off, and carries the baton through to where the Centre Pompidou picks up.

The building itself is worth the visit alone - a converted train station over 100 yrs old, which was almost demolished.

For the artworks, the big names include Monet, Cézanna, Renoir, Degas, Manet, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Rodin, to name a few.

Paris housing prices

This is a short post for now, but this is such a good link, I just had to share it...

This cool interactive webpage has been developed by a real estate agency, and presents the housing prices per square metre according to the nearest metro station. Click the link to check it out.

The search for a decent takeaway crêpe...

I'll start by saying that when it comes to crêpes, you really need to find a good crêperie sit down restaurant. The range and quality is in a different league to your takeaway crêperie, and you get to enjoy it with a traditional glass of cider.

But where to go if you just want a takeaway crêpe? Where to go if you just want to tick the "eat a crêpe in Paris" box on your tourist to do list?

Unfortunately Paris seems to be swamped with sub-standard crêperie stands which are designed to suck money out of tourists. These are ok for a basic sweet crêpe (crêpes sucrées)...let's face it, it's a pancake with a blob of nutella on it...we're not talking rocket science.

Exhibitions for your inner geek - DC, Marvel & Star Wars!

Crisis on Infinite Earths - A storyline from 1985, allowing writers to
reboot the DC universe, which over 50 years had become a mess of
continuity errors 

Paris has three offerings at the moment for the nerd inside all of us (you know you have one).

1.  Super-Héros: l’Art d’Alex Ross - This is the smallest of the exhibits on my list but well worth the visit. It follows the works of Alex Ross, who (for the nerds that are not yet nerdy enough) is one of the most recognised comic book artists of recent times. The exhibition spans from his scribbly childhood drawings through to his works for both DC Comics and Marvel. The overall focus is on the DC Comics universe; think Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash and all other things Justice League. 

••  Runs 5 Mar - 15 Jun at the Mona Bismarck American Center for art & culture (16e).