Five Paris Insiders Share Their City: Diana Picasso, Iván Argote, Anne-Sarah Bénichou, Lorraine Gobin, Pascal Billard

Whitewall's Whitewaller Art Basel Paris 2026 guide gathers recommendations from five Paris-based cultural figures. Gallerist Anne-Sarah Bénichou, who has run her namesake Marais gallery for a decade, cites sunset walks along the Seine between the Marais and Les Invalides, the Bourse de Commerce, the Musée d'Orsay area, the Museum of Romantic Life, and La Poule au Pot under Jean-François Piège. Art historian, curator, and jewelry designer Diana Picasso names the Jardin du Luxembourg, where she grew up and studied at the Sorbonne and Assas; she also points to Parcours des Mondes in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Mobilier National in the 13th arrondissement, and restaurants including Jaïs, Le Bon Georges, and Le Grand Véfour. Colombian-born artist Iván Argote, whose work is held by MoMA, the Guggenheim, Centre Pompidou, and Museo Reina Sofía, prefers quiet Wednesday gallery visits and twice-yearly Louvre trips, and mentions his film Le Fond de la Seine. Rubis Mécénat director Lorraine Gobin oversees the Rubis Mécénat Prize, now in its sixth year, whose 2026 recipient Rémi Marcel presents a seed-and-plant installation at the Church of Saint-Eustache; she cites PhotoSaintGermain, the Hôtel de la Louisiane, the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, and Yam'Tcha. Le Meurice general manager Pascal Billard, previously at Barcelona's Majestic Hotel & Spa and the Hôtel Plaza Athénée, favors the Musée de l'Orangerie's Monet rooms and the 1823 Galerie Vivienne.