What’s the common thread that connects an emporium dedicated to the quiet luxury of fine cashmere, classes taught by a passionate cheese whisperer, a general store stocked with mindfully gathered must-haves for the home, and a cooking school that buzzes like a happy hive of avid student bees? All are enterprises founded by talented American women who have made the enviable leap to live and thrive in Paris.
On my visits to Paris—more frequent and longer in recent years—I have been intrigued by a cohort of these women who have made a home and work life in the French capital. Here are four who succumbed to the charms of the city decades before Emily was a twinkle in Darren Star’s Parisian eye.
Linda Wright
Crimson Cashmere
West Texas native Linda Wright came to Paris at the tail end of a modeling career, initially sharing a chambre de bonne—tiny maid’s apartment—with a fellow model, then officially moving there on her 30th birthday. After a formative stint apprenticing at Ralph Lauren, Wright bought a decades-old legacy knitwear shop in the fashionable 8th arrondissement called Crimson Cashmere. When she took the reins, Linda set out to tweak the classic offerings, updating silhouettes, creating ravishing seasonal color stories, and seeking out heritage mills and modern makers to produce wares of exceptional quality.
Her loyal clientele has only grown as Linda’s Instagram account has evolved. Started in 2014 with new product drops, it’s now a near-daily diary of her effortlessly chic outfits, snapped on the scenic streets of Paris. As inspirational as her tomboyish but utterly feminine taste is, her cadre of followers also admire her confident embrace of age as a celebration of a well-lived life, and not a defect to be disguised.
Learn more: crimson-cashmere.com and @lindavwright
Jane Bertch
La Cuisine Paris
Jane Bertch’s path probably represents the sharpest hairpin turn of this Fab Four.
With multiple degrees, a career in banking, and no professional culinary experience, Jane leaned into an innate love of feeding friends to open a school designed to share that passion with visitors to her adopted city. She just knew there was a place for engaging cooking classes for nonprofessional enthusiasts—and she was right! Though La Cuisine Paris’s ramp-up was not without its bumps—the red tape of opening a business in France (as an American, no less), an unfortuitous first location, and a pandemic—the school grew by word of mouth and recently celebrated its 15th successful year, which it marked by doubling its space in a dreamy location overlooking the Seine.
If you are looking for a unique holiday experience in Paris, consider a market tour/cooking class, a croissant-making course, or a leap into patisserie. The intimate hands-on classes are taught by engaging culinary professionals and, of course, you get to eat the delicious results! For a deeper dive into Jane’s trajectory, pick up her memoir, The French Ingredient: Making a Life in Paris One Lesson at a Time.
Learn more: lacuisineparis.com and @lacuisineparis
Jennifer Greco
Chez Loulou
One of my best Paris experiences was an expertly organized, fabulous cheese tasting course with Jennifer Greco, who knows her curds and whey and every nuance of terroir in the wildly varied world of French fromage.
Fun fact: There are between 1,800 and 2,000 French cheeses—from ancient Roquefort, which was formally recognized as a regional cheese in the 15th century, to provincial producers who make small-batch chevres from their own tiny goat flocks. Jennifer set a personal goal of tasting them all and is about 500 cheeses towards meeting her delectable objective.
Jennifer and her husband—both Americans—honeymooned in, and fell in love with, the Languedoc region of France and bought a house there in 2002. Jennifer was soon conducting market tours and cooking classes, and launched a culinary blog to share her passion and growing knowledge. Before long, she attracted attention from Paris by Mouth—the granddaddy of Parisian food tours—and started to collaborate with them, which brought her to Paris in 2015.
I know and love cheese, but Jennifer’s class was next-level learning—and tasting. Twelve goat, cow, and sheep cheeses, gathered from some of her favorite fromageries around the city, were accompanied by just the right breads, fruit, conserves, and wines to allow each rare and special seasonal example to shine. If you too love cheese, you will come away from this three-hour immersion with deeper expertise and very savory memories!
Learn more: chezlouloufrance.blogspot.com and @chezlouloufrance
Caroline Morrison
Landline
Located in the 11th arrondissement, Landline is one of my new favorite shops in Paris and that is partly due to its charming proprietor, Caroline Morrison, who grew up in San Francisco and, with a Parisian mother, visited France every year as a child. Caroline decamped to Paris upon graduating from college in 2004. After fifteen years in fashion houses as varied as Issey Miyake and Olympia Le-Tan, and by then a mom of two, Caroline was ready for a change, and the idea of a general store filled with the kinds of goods she herself liked to use, rose to the top of the “next step” list.
Caroline’s operating philosophy is to consume better and less, and Landline’s offerings are curated with a dedication to the handmade and timeless across categories including home, kitchen, men’s and womenswear, kids, gardening, pets, office, cleaning, and more. Landline is stocked with 250 brands—both legacy producers, some dating from the early 19th century, and contemporary indie craftspeople—painstakingly sourced from all over Europe.
Add Landline to your Paris must-visit list for a deeply satisfying and unique retail experience. Whether it’s a felted-wool dog toy, a razor-sharp tomato knife, comfortable leather boots, or pure linen dishtowels in jewel-tone colors, I wanted everything, and you will too!
Learn more: landlineparis.com and @landlinegeneralstoreparis
