Guide to PAD Paris
The Fair
PAD Paris
- Founded in 1998, PAD was the first fair devoted entirely to historical and contemporary design.
- The Tuileries pavilion keeps the gallery list edited and the distances humane, encouraging comparison between periods rather than endurance.
- Furniture and lighting lead, but jewellery, ceramics and works on paper prevent the fair from reading as an interiors showroom.
- The annual PAD Prize brings curators and interior designers into the judging, reflecting the fair’s position between collecting and decoration.
Great for:
Historic design, Jewellery collecting, Intimate scale.
Enter at opening for one complete circuit before returning to individual galleries after lunch.
Hotels
Le Meurice
- A palace hotel directly opposite the Tuileries, close enough to make PAD part of the day.
- Classical architecture remains visible beneath Philippe Starck’s lighter interventions in the public rooms.
- The central position also works for Saint-Germain galleries and the decorative-arts museums around the Louvre.
Great for:
Tuileries access, Palace service, Central galleries.
Walk to PAD at opening and leave heavy bags with the concierge for an easier circuit of the pavilion.
Beyond the Fair
Musée de l’Orangerie
- A compact museum at the opposite end of the Tuileries, built around Monet’s two oval Water Lilies rooms.
- The scale makes it possible to add to a PAD morning without losing the rest of the day.
- The Walter-Guillaume collection extends the visit into Cézanne, Matisse, Modigliani and Soutine.
Great for:
Monet rooms, Modern painting, Garden circuit.
Book the first timed slot, then walk east through the gardens to PAD for opening.
Galerie Patrick Seguin
- A reference gallery for twentieth-century French design and demountable architecture.
- Jean Prouvé, Charlotte Perriand, Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Jean Royère form the core of its programme.
- The rue des Taillandiers space offers a more exacting view of pieces often encountered later in fair booths.
Great for:
Prouvé furniture, French modernism, Architectural design.
Visit before PAD when the current exhibition aligns with your interests and can sharpen your second fair circuit.
Restaurants
Loulou
- An Italian-Mediterranean restaurant inside the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, with a terrace running into the Tuileries.
- Its location makes it the most seamless PAD lunch, although the room becomes more social than discreet after the first sitting.
Great for:
Tuileries lunch, Italian classics, People-watching.
Order: Raw artichoke salad, Truffle pizza, Linguine alle vongole.
Book for 12:30 and request the garden terrace before the pavilion reaches its busiest point.
Le Voltaire
- A Left Bank dining room opposite the Louvre that has kept its old Paris rhythm while the surrounding art market changed around it.
- The kitchen is strongest on cold starters, sole and straightforward bistro plates.
Great for:
Art-dealer lunch, Classic bistro, Left Bank.
Order: Egg mayonnaise, Steak tartare, Sole meunière.
Choose lunch and request the front room for the restaurant’s energy without the tighter rear tables.
Akira Back Paris
- Akira Back’s Japanese-Korean cooking is served inside the Art Deco Prince de Galles, a useful address between PAD and Avenue Montaigne.
- The signature plates are designed for sharing, moving from truffled tuna pizza to bulgogi tacos and salmon tataki.
Great for:
Golden Triangle, Korean-Japanese plates, Collector dinners.
Order: AB Tuna Pizza, Wagyu bulgogi tacos, Salmon tataki.
Book the 19:00 opening slot for a quieter dinner before the room gathers pace.
Cafés
Café Verlet
- A historic coffee and tea house on rue Saint-Honoré with dark wood, narrow stairs and an extensive list of origins.
- It offers more character than the nearby palace lobbies and remains close enough to PAD for a short morning detour.
Great for:
Historic coffee, Palais Royal, Slow mornings.
Order: Single-origin filter coffee, Hot chocolate, Mont-Blanc.
Take a table upstairs, as the atmospheric ground floor functions mainly as shop and circulation space.
Walk-ins only
