Dubbed “Bancs d’Hiver,” the temporary winter menu at the Hotel Plaza Athénée will serve a multi-course meal themed around seasonal winter ingredients.

The menu includes dishes like cream of chestnut soup, roasted pears, with cream and Savoie biscuits, and raclette, a traditional, hearty French dish that involves melting cheese over boiled potatoes, ham and pickles.

The wintry dining experience is to be served in the hotel’s courtyard which is frozen over every year to serve as a miniature skating rink for guests.

Hotel chain Starwood has released new details of its soon-to-open luxury property in Paris, set to open on February 14.

The W Paris revealed December 14 that the structure has been conceptualized by the Rockwell Group, the designers behind the W New York.

The hotel has been designed along the theme of light, playing on Paris’s nickname, Rockwell said, combining ‘unexpected materials’ with high-tech touches.

A shopper has broken the record for duty-free purchases at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport by splurging nearly 50,000 euros on six bottles of exclusive wine.

The shopper, who was identified only as “an Asian”, bought a bottle of Romanee Conti 1995, a Chateau Margaux 2003, two bottles of Chateau Lafitte 1982 and two bottles of Petrus 1980, worth a total of 49,905 euros ($66,000).

The airport did not say when the purchases had been made, but noted that high-quality wines “sell better at the end of the year”.

Luxury Swiss retail giant Richemont, owner of such brands as Cartier, Piaget and Jaeger-LeCoultre, is to open the world’s largest shop for luxury watches in Paris.

Business Montres quoted an internal memo saying a three-storey 2,200 square metre (24,000 square foot) shop would open early 2013.

The shop would take over the premises of the landmark Old England shop near the Place Vendome, famous for its luxury watch shops and hugely popular with Middle Eastern and Asian tourists, in particular Chinese.

Tokyo has now more Michelin three star restaurants than Paris, according to the latest edition of the gastronomical guide.

Japan as a whole also beats France, with 32 establishments granted the maximum grade, against 25 in the guide’s home country. Paris has just 10 three star eateries.

Of Tokyo’s 160,000 restaurants, 16 were awarded top marks, 52 got two stars and 179 were deemed worthy of one star by the authors of the Red Guide.

Yachtmakers from around the world are gearing up to launch new products at the Nautic boat show, which gets underway next weekend in Paris.

Nautic traditionally focuses on the newest craft from luxury French names — although there is plenty on offer for those of varying budgets and interests.

Chief among the stars will be Bénéteau which has launched a slew of new models recently it intends to showcase in Paris.