Prêt-à-Promener: Jewelry Designer Elie Top Takes Us on a Walking Tour of His Paris Inline

  • The Église SaintVincentdePaul is located at the highest point of the 10th Arrondissement. For years after it was...
    Photo: Courtesy of Elie Top
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    The Église Saint-Vincent-de-Paul is located at the highest point of the 10th Arrondissement. For years after it was completed in the mid-19th century, the other side of the wall visible here would have been a ramp that allowed carriages direct drop-off and pickup. Today it has been transformed into the Square Aristide-Cavaillé-Coll, named after the church’s organ builder.

  • Top tried to capture the wild fantastical flora ornamenting the building at 14 Rue dAbbeville. A prime Art Nouveau...
    Photo: Courtesy of Elie Top
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    Top tried to capture the wild, fantastical flora ornamenting the building at 14 Rue d’Abbeville. A prime Art Nouveau specimen from 1901, it now registers as a novelty. Most of the detailing is enameled stoneware, treated to look like bronze or even copper.

  • Here is the buildings front door. Top noted how there are so few pronounced architectural examples in the city today...
    Photo: Courtesy of Elie Top
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    Here is the building’s front door. Top noted how there are so few pronounced architectural examples in the city today because the architecture was considered too flamboyant, pejoratively earning the nickname “noodle style.”

  • Quite the curves on those caryatids Constructed just before the turn of the century the building right next door at 16...
    Photo: Courtesy of Elie Top
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    Quite the curves on those caryatids! Constructed just before the turn of the century, the building right next door at 16 Rue d’Abbeville goes bold on classical Belle Epoque detailing.

  • The designer singled out Mamagoto as one of his neighborhood standbys. Occupying an old bistro the restaurant is now...
    Photo: Courtesy of Elie Top
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    The designer singled out Mamagoto as one of his neighborhood standbys. Occupying an old bistro, the restaurant is now overseen by a Japanese chef with formal French training, so the dishes are composed of just two or three ingredients, such as foie gras with corn and persimmons.