SUN KING
Weatherly catches a few Parisian rays in Place de la Concorde.

W: You lived in Paris for a while …
MW: I went to the American College of Paris for a semester in 1988. I was 19 years old and I lived up in the red light district, so there was the Moulin Rouge and all that sort of life. Thankfully, I was completely broke so I was not able to get myself into too much trouble. But I was there with a friend of mine from the college, and he and I still found ways to get into a little trouble. We also realized that throwing dinner parties was a great way to eat and drink relatively cheap. We would invite fellow students and friends, tell them we were having a party on a Saturday night, and we’d assign different items to different people to bring with them. And it was important to invite women, because if you asked a guy to bring a turkey he’d show up with sliced turkey from the deli or bring one hard-boiled egg.

W: How often do you go back?
MW: Well, that was ‘88. Then I went back in ‘95—I took my mother for Mother’s Day—and then I met my father for my birthday and we drove down to the South of France. I went back in ‘98 for Christmas, and then I rented an apartment in the summer of 2005 for a few weeks because I just wanted to spend time there … I would love to find myself living over there for some period of time or having a place there. For me, even as a teenager, I found it a magical place, and it’s resonated with me ever since. I was born in New York City, and I’m used to exciting, urban environments. I’ve lived in lots of cities at this point, but Paris is an extraordinary place. It’s very dangerous because you fall in love all the time—you’ll be crossing the street and all of a sudden, you’ll have some head-turning experience.

Weatherly peeks inside the Caves Bernard Magrez wine shop, which is co-owned by actor Gerard Depardieu.

W: You’ve visited Paris in the winter and the summer. Which do you prefer?
MW: Paris in the winter is a totally different thing than Paris in the summer. In the summer, because of the temperature, you’re able to do a lot of wandering and there’s a kind of abandonment. All the students are out and having picnics and they turn the sides of the Seine into a beach. But in wintertime, it’s cold and sometimes it’s raining, so you’re ducking into these cafes and brasseries and museums and you’re getting a cup of hot chocolate or having a little espresso or a glass of wine. It’s a really invigorating city, and it’s got a different romantic quality in the wintertime.

W: Do you have any travel tricks?
MW: Because I started traveling when I was younger, I learned to travel light—you don’t need three pairs of jeans, they look the same. If you want to wear those jeans again tomorrow and they’re dirty, wash them. I have a couple of other things or tricks I do. I like to earn my night in a nice hotel, so I will rough it a little bit and really explore. The best way to get to know any place or any thing, be it a city, a person, a car or yourself, is to get lost in it. I don’t set out to get lost, but somehow, I always do.

Nice view: Weatherly at Paris’ most iconic landmark, the Eiffel Tower.