Getting Around

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Bethany
Rickshaw place de la Concorde. photo: Bethany Haye

Red Rickshaw place de la Concorde. photo: Bethany Haye

Metros are fine for speed and getting to know the locals intimately during rush hours. They also provide shelter from the elements with miles of underground corridors in which to test your labyrinth-navigating skills. In case winter ever ends (3 summer days have been recorded since May. Spring has been dropped as an austerity measure) the notion of bicycling or riding in a surrey with a fringe on top might be a delightful alternative.

Rickshaws

Pedal-powered rickshaws started arriving in Paris in 2009 and have proliferated ever since. A branch has even mutated into tuk-tuks , of both the larger 4-6-seater Thai persuasion http://www.aniltuktuk.fr/en/) and the small and zippy Indian type (http://www.hanif-tuktuk-paris.com/en/). They congregate at the Place de la Concorde, Arc de Triumph, Eiffel Tower and Opera, offering tour circuits, nuptial processions or just an alternative to taxis. (http://www.cyclobulle.com/location-velo-taxi-paris-Eng.htm)

veli-cab

Photo: indeaparis.com

Most rickshaws post their rates on the doors. Usually starting at about 10€/$13 for half an hour and more for longer tours of various tourist sites. Some also offer “off the beaten track” tours, romantic or kids’ birthday circuits.

 

Bicycles

An Eloped couple of Vélibs will cost the renter bigtime if not caught and returned.
photo: Bethany Haye

 Vélib:

If you’d rather do the legwork yourself, there are 1,751 Vélib bike-ranks all around the city. Here’s a basic idea of how they work.

You buy a 1-day ticket (€1.70/$2.25) or a one-week ticket (8 days in France, €8/$10.50) (or one month or longer) from any of the Vélib electronic payment stations by inserting your credit or debit card and following the onscreen instructions. It will spit out your ticket, which has a numeric code printed on it. If your card does not have a chip, you can buy a code online at www.velib.paris.fr. The code will be on your confirmation email. Punch in the code and take a bike from one of the terminals they are attached to. You can use the ticket/ confirmation number anywhere in Paris for 24 hours or the whole week. The idea behind the bike programme was to provide free transportation for errands and short trips, so they don’t start clocking up the minutes until half an hour has elapsed. After that, your card will be billed €1/$1.30 for the second half-hour, €2/$.260 for the third half-hour and €4/$5.20 per consecutive half hour thereafter. So you could keep switching bikes to avoid the more expensive rate. When you’re finished using the bike, be sure to take it to a terminal and lock it in, because any time the bike spends out of a terminal is billed to the last person who checked it out.

The Docks Cité Mode & Design 200x200

The Docks – Cité de la Mode et du Design.
Photo: Mairie de Paris

Paris is so enamoured of the Vélib (unlike those cranky New Yorkers, who find a row of bikes “an eyesore”) that the Mayor’s office commissioned artists from the ARTCRANK international artist collective to create pieces on the theme of Vélib’.  Paraphernalia –watches, silkscreen (euphamism for T-shirts?) notebooks, stickers—you get the picture—will be sold in the Grand Palais during an exhibition of those very pieces, until 26 June, when the show moves to The Docks – Cité de la Mode et du Design 34 quai d’Austerlitz 75013 Paris 
PS: Keep the ticket or the confirmation email until Vélib’ has got their money. IMPORTANT: There is a security deposit. When you buy a Vélib’ ticket,  a €150/$200 pre-authorisation is requested, like when you book a hotel online. This amount is not debited from your account but it is blocked for 10 to 15 days depending on your bank. It becomes re-available after final payment goes through and all bikes you’ve used are safe and sound in their terminals. Think of it as money you’ll be glad you have when you get home. So, even for a measly $2.25 one-day ticket, your daily limit must be at least €150/$200, or your payment may be declined. Some or all of the security deposit may be debited from your account if you don’t return a bike within 24 hours or if the bike is damaged or stolen (they are equipped with chain locks).

Private Bike Rentals

Another solution is private bike rental companies like ParisVéloSympa www.parisvelosympa.com. (Site available in English) which charge a flat 12€/$16 a day and also rent tandems (40€/$55 a day). They require a 250€/$332 check or your passport as hostage.

Gepetto Vélos  has a huge selection and offers all sorts of tours as well. Rates are quoted on the site in euros and dollars and a good portion of the site is in English. http://www.gepetto-velos.com/location

Velo Electro for the less die-hard among us. As the name implies, Vélo Electro offers electrically assisted bikes. www.velo-electro.com

Paris Vélo in the Latin Quarter, sells and rents all kinds of bikes : trail bikes, racing bikes, mopeds and motor scooters. www.paris-velo-rent-a-bike.com

If you can navigate all-French sites, there are many others. Google ‘location vélo’ (vélo = bicycle) Click on the link to ‘locations’ (location = rental)

Paris has a respectable network of bike lanes, but most often bikes share lanes with taxis and buses.  Guess who wins if there’s a fight. There are also separate narrow lanes for bicycles only, usually alongside the car lanes, but sometimes set off by a six-inch high barrier.

BANNIEREWEB_Feerique_1000X290_V2

Beauty and the Benz

The one-woman haute couture outfit, whose shop in the rue d’Orsel in Montmartre actually resembles a fairy Godmother’s sewing room and who really does make dresses for princesses, presents eight dresses inspired by eight Mercedes cars new and vintage, including a beautiful a white, mint condition 190 SL, a mat grey SLK, SL and a black SLS. Each of Zélia’s dresses is handmade to measure to create an aura of fairytale. In June, pumpkins will be replaced by Mercedes Benz horseless carriages. Even the showroom has been transformed into a star-sparkled night-sky in Once Upon a Time land. Mercedes-Benz Gallery 118 avenue des Champs Élysées  (métro Georges V, line 1) Monday through Saturday 10:30 am to 9:15pm and Sunday from 10:30 am to 7:45pmZélia white gown seated cropped.

Gepetto has a huge selection and offers tours as well.

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FRESH TO GO

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Bethany
Little girl in misty fountain

“Is it an artwork?”

Glorious, lawn-sprawling, park bench-smooching weather has finally taken root in the City of Light though even last week there was a spate of rain and hail. But as of today, spring is ostensibly here and it ain’t going anywhere. As a token of good faith, buds are budding, tulips are out in profusion and construction cranes are everywhere. Temps today hit 84°F (28°C) and so you may wish to refresh at the mist-spewing fountain specially transformed for the Dynamo exhibition at the Grand Palais (overheard, ‘I think it may be an artwork’).

Carlos Cruz-Diez, Transchromie mécanique, 1965 Plexiglas, aluminium, moteur Atelier Cruz-Diez © Carlos Cruz-Diez © Adagp, Paris 2013

Carlos Cruz-Diez, Transchromie mécanique, 1965 Plexiglas, aluminium, moteur Atelier Cruz-Diez © Carlos Cruz-Diez © Adagp, Paris 2013

The Dynamo Exhibition recreates and exhibits original works of light art, including neon tubes from the 70’s and “the chromatic and changing atmospheres of Ann Veronica Janssens, the kaleidoscopic mirrors of Jeppe Hein and the installations of  Felice Varini’’. Illuminating. (21 avenue Franklin Roosevelt, métro Champs Elysées Clemenceau, now to 22 July 2013, daily except Tuesdays from 10 am to 8 pm; open late on Wednesdays to 10 pm; Closed on May 1st.)

However, now that it is officially tourist season (do not kill more than you can consume) and perhaps a bit crowded in the absolute middle of town, side-step the hot spots and take in a phenomenal retrospective of…

 KEITH HARING

Keith Haring at 104 centquatre

Keith Haring at 104 centquatre

Those funny vibrating little monochrome babies and barking terriers are now so vulgarized it’s easy to forget that Keith Haring made big labyrinthine images imbued with often serious messages. Have a look at the originals in an exhibition so big it needed two venues, the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (11 Avenue du Président Wilson, métro Alma-Marceau or Iéna; Tuesday – Sunday from 10am to 6pm, late night Thursday to 10pm for temporary exhibitions) and 104 centquatre (5 rue Curial, metro Riquet). The expo is called The Political Line and covers a very large proportion of Haring’s work. The reasonable-size pieces are at Musée d’Art Moderne, located near many superb VIP apartments.

Formerly the municipal mortuary

104 centquatre. Formerly the municipal mortuary

The gigantic ones are at 104 centquatre. Since the idea is to get out of the epicenter, head north—to northern Paris, because that’s where the 104 centquatre is. Once an (enormous) municipal funeral home, it is now a multi-arts and leisure center, with a cinema, book shop, theatre, many art workshops and a few restaurants. There are even one or two arty clothing stores. (12 pm – 7pm Tuesday to Friday, Saturday and Sunday 11am to 7pm) To August 18th. That gives you plenty of time.

ETHICAL/ECOLOGICAL SHOPPING
Not an oxymoron. Ekyog is the epitome of guilt-free shopping, truly a one of a kind clothing company. When they say fair trade, they are talking about the organic cotton plant or eucalyptus or beech plantations (used to make modal and tencel) right through to the non-toxic dyes and fair pay and education for farmers and textile workers.Reversible Metamorpose They even have an Association called Terre d’Ekyog (www.terrdekyog.org) that donates 10% of the company’s profits to specific ONG-led projects mainly in India and Madagascar where their clothes are made. But actually the reason I started buying their clothes was that they are glamorous and flattering, the fabrics are incredibly soft and comfortable, and the prices are fair to consumers as well—what a concept, not being gouged for fair-traded goods. But their greatest service to humanity may well be their flagship design, Métamorphose, which is essentially a bare-back mid-calf length cotton jersey tube dress with a huge rolled collar and a nice, loose drape around the waist. And a bare-back, cape-collar, above-the-knee belted dress. And a top with a huge rolled collar. And a kimono-sleeve cardigan. This is one piece of clothing costing less than 100€. Oh yes, you can also wear a tank top or turtle neck under it to cover the bare back. So there’s half your travel wardrobe right there.
They also design around the specific qualities of new organic fabrics like modal and tencel as well as organic cotton, silk and linen to drape, flow, sashay and envelope. Stores are located in St Germain at 59 bis rue Bonaparte, métro Mabillon; near Madeleine at 30 rue Tronchet, métro Havre-Caumartin ; near the Opéra and the midtown department stores at 40 Bd Haussmann, métro Havre-Caumartin-Lafayette. And on line www.ekyog.com (only in French.)

Alexandre Nevsky Cathédrale
photo: Jacques Billaudel

EASTER REDUX
Russian Orthodox Easter falls on May 5th this year, and though it is not a tourist attraction, you might want to pay a discreet, respectful visit to Saint Aleksandr Nevski’s Cathedral in the rue Daru off the Blvd Courcelles (métro Courcelles) for midnight mass (on Saturday, obviously, at 11 pm).
It is a magical experience even if you are standing in the courtyard with dozens of others since the small cathedral fills up quickly with members of the long-established and newly arrived Russian communities. Most everyone will be holding long tapers to be lighted on some mystical cue, and deftly getting into position for the moment when it’s time to kiss the person next to you three times and intone ‘“Christus n’yast yvoh” “Christ is risen”. Please no photos of the procession in its gold brocaded vestments or the enormous flower-covered brass crucifixes as they circumvent the church three times. Marvel at the unnaturally deep bass voices and rich harmonies of the Russian liturgical music, then enjoy some smoked eel and herring in white wine from Petrossian (18 bd de Latour-Maubourg 75007 Paris, métro Invalides. Monday to Saturday, 9:30am to 8 pm.) Add 700€/kg caviar if you are so inclined.

Gastronomie Russe

 

And don’t forget smoked salmon, blinis, boiled eggs painted like Venetian marbled paper, and a tall Easter cake with white icing and glazed fruit or a cream cheese cake that is more like a sweet paste, gorgeously packed into a gold foil pyramid. Gastronomie Russe, 130, bd Montparnasse75014 Paris; Tuesday -Sunday. 11 am to 9pm, métro Vavin or Raspail. Happy Easter!

 

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I Found It at the Movies

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Bethany
near the MK2 Canal St Martin cinemas

near the MK2 Canal St Martin cinemas
photo by Hans Van der Woude

Travel is about discovery, not necessarily about wearing yourself out once your urban hiking threshold has been reached. (Let’s face it, the Louvre’s marble floors do start to have an impact after 8 hours.) And there are less exerting ways to travel within your travel, rich and foreign experiences to be had in an opera house, a concert hall or in a dark hall with Dolby. Take a movie to anywhere—to Hogwart’s Academy, Teheran, or Illinois c. 1863. Or into the real lives and obscure habitats of people you might never have otherwise met, over horizons otherwise left unbroadened. If movies are your thing, you’ve come to the right place. Films you would be hard-pressed to find on a big screen in even the most cosmopolitan U.S. cities are on daily throughout the city’s 88 movie houses and 300+ screens. Paris is the best served city in Europe and one of the best in the world in terms of variety and sheer quantity of films showing regularly. It’s where you’ll find a Turkish slapstick comedy, an award-winning African documentary or an Estonian dramatic feature. Rather watch the hot US feature of the moment? Most of the current mainstream movies are on the Champs Elysées, in St Germain near Odéon, in Montparnasse or the Opéra area playing in English. If you’re reading a movie marquee, note that anything marked VO or VOSF is shown in the language it was made in, while VF means it is dubbed in French. Better check in advance.

Go to http://paris.angloinfo.com/whatson/movies/ or http://www.timeout.fr/paris/en/film to find listings in English. And while you’re there, take a look at the entire list of every film playing in Paris during the current Wednesday to Wednesday week. You may be inspired to go see something you’ve vaguely heard of, never heard of, or saw 10, 20 or 30 years ago and would love to see again on a big screen.

For the more adventurous, great movies are always on view in their original language at the Art et Essai cinemas sprinkled throughout the city. These are independent movie houses run by film lovers who go out there and find the far-flung gems, including American independents. Near the Arc de Triomphe, for example, and a short walk from a VIP’s beautiful “Chef’s One Bedroom (ID #98), La Pompe Two Bedroom (ID #285) apartments, is the Lincoln, (14 rue Lincoln, just off the Champs Elysées). The St. Germain area is riddled with art houses, including the whimsical Pagode, at 57 bis rue de Babylone, a stone’s throw from a bouquet of charming VIP apartments in rue St André des Arts and Boulevard St. Germain. There are three art houses in the rue des Ecoles alone, and the excellent Entrepôt in the Montparnasse area (7/9, rue Francis de Pressensé, métro Gaïté) which, like the Studio 28 (rue Tholozé in Montmartre, metro Abesses) and the Lucernaire Forum (53, rue and metro Notre Dame des Champs) in St Germain, also has a bar serving food and a small garden. These are delightful places to see an older Almodovar, a recent Tarantino, an unreleased-in-the US documentary about Angela Davis (Free Angela, in English) or Margarethe Von Trotta’s  astounding feature Hannah Arendt, (in mixed languages)

In a trendy waterside setting, the beautifully refurbished Quais of the Canal St Martin have been turned into a café and strolling zone and boast two state of the art multiplexes: the MK2 Quai de Seine and the MK2 Quai de Loire, facing each other across the Canal. MK2, an independent movie producer, distributor and exhibitor, approaches films in the same way a Frenchman approaches wines, carefully tasting and selecting them for their character, flavor and complexity their panache or subtlety, originality or accessibility. To take the oenology further, it’s like going to your local caviste (wine cellar) and finding a brilliant little Sauvignon from an unknown vineyard right next to the Château Lafittes. MK2 (named for its founder Marin Karmitz), MK2 has 5 cinemas in Paris and often programmes independent American, British, Canadian or Australian films, so you have a good chance of seeing a great movie in English. On right now, for example, (director’s) brokeback heist thriller The Place Beyond the Pines; controversial and poignant Chinese filmmaker Lou Yé’s Mystery about love, adultery and an accidental run-in with organized crime.

<- Beckett smiling Beckett smiling

And here’s a real find: “Beckett on Film” two nights of Beckettmania at the Irish Cultural Centre (5 rue des Irlandais, 75005, RER B: Luxembourg station (Jardin du Luxembourg exit) metro line 10 – Cardinal Lemoine or line 7 - Place Monge) on April 4th and 11th at 7:30 pm.. the programme  features eleven of the 19 very short (11 to 16 minutes*) Samuel Beckett plays made into films in 2000 by directors such as Karel Reisz, Neil Jordan, Anthony Minghella, Atom Egoyan and David Mamet. The series includes Krapp’s Last Tape (*58 minutes) Ohio Impromptu, Rockababy, Act Without Words and Play. With the likes of Jeremy Irons, Julianne Moore, Alan Rickman, John Hurt—and Sir John Geilgud. In English! Admission is free! Be sure to reserve!! 01 58 52 10 30. This event is part of the extraordinary L’Europe Autour de l’Europe film festival which, in its 8th year, is highlighting Irish cinema. The festival continues until April 14th, when it presents, also at the Irish Cultural Centre, an evening of four short films on Friday April 12th, and two Big Movies on the 13th:  The Lotus Eaters, a 21st century update of Tennyson that is fabulously beautiful, slick, sad and deep as a Vogue fashion spread, gritty as a London luxury nightclub. By Alexandra McGuinness.

Ulysses_(1967_film_dvd_cover)

Saving the best for last: the 1967 filmed version of Joyce’s Ulysses by Joseph Strick which was actually censored at Cannes, banned in Ireland until 2000 and nominated for an Oscar. A must-see, and also free at the Irish Cultural Centre.

Plus on April 20th, the futurist sci-fantasy drama Perfect Sense by David Mackenzie about two altruistic (to be true?) doctors battling to save the world from a lethal epidemic of heartlessness, starring chameleon Ewan McGregor and the divine Eva Green.

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NEWS FLASH : JAZZ ON A BOAT

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Bethany

Hurry up, it’s tonight


If you follow this sort of thing, you may have noticed that jazz, America’s own homegrown music, is more of a big deal in Europe than anywhere in the States except maybe New Orleans. And Paris, apart from being a center of musical fusion from Africa, the Caribbean and the ghetto, is a great city for American and European jazz. In fact, some of the top guns have settled here permanently.

Sax player Lenny Popkin is two of them (with his wife, drummer Carol Tristano) .
Lucky for you, the Lenny Popkin Trio is playing at 9:30 this Saturday night 16 February on the Peniche l’Improviste. Smooth and whimsical, broad spectrum jazz, Lenny Popkin’s tenor sax sound, backed up by Gilles Naturel on bass and Carol Tristano on drums is pure delight. I’m no musicologist, so take it from Le Monde, the French equivalent of the New York Times, which named the trio’s latest album Time Set one of the top five best CD’s of 2012. The Nouvel Observateur (no US equivalent) described Popkin’s music as ‘a singular and timeless vision of jazz.’ But you don’t have to be a jazz snob to get into it. Though the music is complex and sophisticated, it’s also got surprises and a sense of humor— serious jazz that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
new-ish jazz venue and restaurant in Paris Oh, and the venue. The Improviste appeared on the jazz scene fairly recently—October 2011—so it may not have been there last time you were in Paris. What a great idea, a floating jazz space, with comfortable club chairs and state of the art acoustics. And a restaurant serving seafood platters (150€ for 2) and traditional French cuisine (40€ includes three courses plus concert admission, €34 for two courses + concert). Anchored at 35 quai de l’Oise in the 19th arrondissement near metro Corentin Cariou (line 7), right near the Cité des Sciences. Info and reservations : 06 86 46 60 89.

 

photo credit EPPDCSI A Robin

Speaking of the Cité des Sciences, this is truly a great place to visit, especially since all the exhibitions are presented in English and Spanish as well as French. A blend of interactive science expo and Exploratorium, it’s great for kids, but you do not need a kid to get in or to enjoy it. There are four exhibits on at the moment: The Design Observatory; Da Vinci: Projects, Drawings and Machines; Futurotextiles and Housing for Tomorrow.
This last has everything from anthropology, in the form of a 30 minute walk-through about the history of changing human housing across the continents, to ecological futurism with explanations and models of houses that will be energy self-sufficient, digitally controlled and environmentally unobtrusive. Futurotextiles invites you to explore the amazing qualities of new textiles coming into use not just in clothing, but medicine, aeronautics and architecture. Everything from long-lasting antibacterial gauze to aphrodisiac sheets. And Da Vinci: Projects, Drawings and Machines gets inside the head of Leonardo Da Vinci in futurist engineer mode. Love his hard hat.
La Cité des Sciences et Industrie is located at
30, avenue Corentin-Cariou – 75019 Paris.
metro Corentin Cariou (line 7) near
Open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm, Sundays to 7 pm
Online tickets and information in English at http://www.cite-sciences.fr/english
Admission : 8 €
Under 25 or over 60 years : 6€ (with official ID, i.e. driver’s license or passport)
Children under 6 : free

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READY, SET, SHOP

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Bethany
… but cover up and get out the (très chic) galoshes, more snow to come!

photo: Bethany Haye

What’s better than Christmas and more exhausting than transatlantic travel? The Soldes, of course. The winter sales are one of the main events of the year, with special prefectural orders—something akin to a Royal Proclamation or a bank holiday on the Queen’s birthday—fixing the dates, allowing stores to stay open on Sundays, and with prices attaining the New-Yorkesque. A far cry from the days when 5% was a discount, this is the real thing, with mark-downs up to 60% now to February 12. Boulevard Haussmann, home of Printemps’ and Galéries Lafayette’s flagship art nouveau domes is where Armani jeans are now going for for 58€, and the store’s own Lafayette Collection large black leather tote for 64€. The boulevard is lined with chains like Zara, H&M, Uniqlo, Mango, etc. and hence crowds that know a 5€ sweater bargain when they see one. Metro Havre Caumartin, lines 9, 8 RER A). If Haussmann is where the wild things are, shopping at the more staid, upscale-trendy Le Bon Marché, 38 rue de Sèvres (metro line 12, Sèvres Babylone) is less of a contact sport. Apart from the best fashion and furnishings designers, the store’s grande épicerie is said to be unique in Europe. It prides itself on carrying little known artisanal brands from around the world as well as the stalwarts of royal houses (Fortnum and Mason, Mariage Frères), both packaged and fresh products like Spanish and Italian ham, a worldwide premium sausage collection, and the most complete range of international chocolate brands in Paris.

Galéries Lafayette Haussmann                                         Le Bon Marché
40, bd Haussmann                                                              24, 38 rue de Sèvres
75009 PARIS                                                                       75007 Paris
Printemps Haussmann
64, bd Haussmann
75009 PARIS

If you are lucky enough to have booked any of VIP’s St Germain apartments, or if you have just finished lunch at the Germain in the rue de Buci and are in a shopping mood, the shops in the rue Dauphine (near ID 249) are specially original including a jewellry shop with refined contemporary pieces, a shop called Ethnic (I think) with unusual Chinese jackets in all different multi-colored yet tasteful prints, beads, hats, etc. The names escape me, but if you are walking along the rue Dauphine which is three blocks long, extending from the Quai des Grands Augustins to a 3-way intersection with rue de Buci (wonderful shopping) rue de l’Ancienne Comédie and rue St André des Arts, you will pick them out, as well as many others.

Salvador Dali at Beaubourg

The Pompidou Museum of Modern Art is hosting a huge Dali exhibition of over 200 paintings, sculptures, films, recorded TV appearances and recordings by fellow artists of what Dali called ephemeral works, and would 35 years later be called performance art. Not to be missed by surrealist buffs is the filmed interview in which Dali talks philosophy: ‘A Jesuit asked me why I paint soft clocks. I told him, ‘because Christ is a camembert’ (“parce que Jésus c’est du fromage”).
Although it’s been on since November and continues to 25 March, its popularity means long lines between 11am and 6pm. The Pompidou Centre is normally open to 10pm every day (closed Tuesdays) though during Dali it will stay open to 11pm, last entry a 10pm, and open at 9am on Sundays. Best bet: go between 6 and 10 pm. Tickets 9-13€, can be booked online at www.centrepompidou.fr and “afford access to all the expos, the other parts of the Museum [bookshop? toilets?] the children’s gal lery and the view which becomes more and more panoramic and you go up the outward facing escalators in those iconic transparent tubes. Watch the excellent trailer (Bande d’Annonce) on the Centre Pompidou site http://www.centrepompidou.fr/Agenda/Dali/find out more.

Photo credit: ZenstvenaTrka

Beta Photo’s Best in Show

As you leave the Pompidou Centre and climb up the sprawling raked forecourt, looking straight ahead you see a row of cafés, poster shops and galeries housed in glass-fronted  stone arches. Among them is the Serbian Cultural Centre which is currently showing the top photographs from Beta Photo, Serbia’s main journalistic photo agency. Edgy, witty, joyful, and, in one Romanian instance, utterly startling, the sensibility is mostly one of keen observation and underlying rather than blatant irony.
Centre Culturel de Serbie
124, rue St Martin (place Georges Pompidou)
75004 PARIS metro : Rambuteau, Hôtel de Ville
phone: (+33) 01 42 72 50 50 to check opening hours

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And the Feast Goes On

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Bethany

And the Feast Goes On
It’s still Christmas in Paris until it’s officially no longer Christmas. In case you missed the actual day, the sparkle and glitz will be there well into January. Most Christmas markets continue until January 6th, when the feast of Epiphany brings the season to a close, though the elaborate street decorations will be up until January 11th. Place Vendôme, the home of the grandiose Ritz Hotel, Cartier’s and of Louis Vuitton’s new jewelry collection, also represents the highest concentration of diamond watches per sqare meter outside Switzerland. So it is fitting that a dazzling crystalline tree stands in the middle of the Place—not a pine tree, but a graceful tangle of bare branches covered in shimmering lights that bring the building façades into relief. It will be there until January 15th, so if you are on your way home from the Tuileries after dark, take a detour up the rue Castiglione and have a look.
We three kings of Orient are… the reason for the Fête des Rois, Twelfth Night or Epipany and the namesakes of the Galettes des Rois pastries? Uh, no. Turns out the whole Kings’ cake tradition originated as an ancient Roman ritual, but for centuries it’s been France’s Christmas wrap party. You may have noticed that right after New Year’s Day, Yule log cakes have suddenly been replaced in bakery windows by round puff pastries with a gold foil crown on top. Hidden inside these galettes is not only a marzipan filling—or a candied fruit or an elaborate chocolate confection—but a fève, literally a bean. Traditionally, the pastry is served en famille, cut into the same number of pieces as people at the table, and the one who finds the fève in their wedge of galette gets to wear the crown. In fact, there are two crowns slipped into the bag at the pastry shop so that the king can choose a queen as well. And the lowly bean has long since replaced by a porcelain figurine. Fève collecting began. Smurfs and Tin-Tin characters started jumping out of the epiphanous cakes. Antique fève collections began fetching outlandish prices at upscale flea markets and on dedicated web communities. So it is only logical that top pastry chefs decided to launch their own collections. This year’s most notable: Le Nôtre’s seven hand-designed Aston Martin (yes, the car) fèves in limited edition gift boxes.
Scrumptious galettes can be found at nondescript bakeries and prize-winning establishments alike. In the latter category is Delmontel (39 rue des Martyrs in the 9th arrondissement) creator of the Thousand and One Nights Galette filled with orange-flower tinged marzipan and ringed with honey-caramelised pistachios.
Christophe Roussel, who has concocted a double-layered galette with two different fillings—chocolate marzipan and gingerbread cream filling—has two shops, one called le Bar à Chocolat (the Chocolate Bar) at 10 rue du Champ de Mars in the 7th arrondissement, a ceramic Smurf’s throw from VIP’s luxurious Eiffel Tower apartments, and the other in Montmartre called ‘Christophe Roussel Duo Créatif avec Julie’ at 5 rue Tardieu in the 18th arrondissement at the foot of Sacré Coeur. They also do a revamp of the classical galette with a vanilla-rum marzipan.
Right up there in the nondescript category is Laurent Duchêne, 2 Rue Wurtz in the 13th, whose specialities are a fabulous Galette Chocolat (pronounced ‘show-coe-lah’ so you can ask for it ) the marzipan is flecked with bitter “ganache” chocolate, and as if that weren’t enough of a gift, he does a Galette Pistache-Griotte (pee-stahsh gree-utt): pistachio marzipan with sautéed black cherries and a dribble of kirsch.
Ready to start tasting ? Get up early this Saturday January 5th and go directly to the Place Saint-Germain des Prés, in the 6th arrondissement. From 9 am to 3 pm, ravenous crowds will have had the same idea so get there early. The city’s major pastry chefs will hold a tasting and sale of galettes for the benefit of CPIO (Chronic Pseudo Intestinal Obstruction) research. We’re talking Pierre Hermé, Eric Kayser and Michel Rostang—the crème de la crème. Prices of galettes range from 10€ to 60€. Hey, it’s for a good cause. Even if it’s only Pseudo Obstruction.

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Paris City of Christmas Lights

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Bethany

Paris City of Christmas Lights
They’re everywhere, glittering chic in the haut-est of haute couture Avenue Montaigne, very pretty ones in rue du Faubourg St Honoré outside the glamorous Bristol Hotel, and overkill on the Champs Elysées with multi-colored hula hoops in the trees that make you long for cliché red and gold.
Speaking of the Champs, the ever-expanding Christmas market has taken over both sides of the avenue between the Place de la Concorde and Avenue Franklin Roosevelt. Look hard and you will find the occasional interesting item like op-art cut-out metal mobiles and some seasonal Glüwein, but apart from that it’s Panini, churros and French fries. Yes, the ketchup is a seasonal red. Dean Martin and Doris Day dream of a white Christmas in English, but some French rap music has been added to the repertoire for a touch of local color. An ice rink and lots of mud can be found on the south side of the avenue near Concorde. Walk on by, but as you do, look straight ahead to the brightly lit Ferris wheel on the place and the tall Christmas tree shaped light sculptures ‘cause they’re kind of nice.
Snowy chalets selling regional specialties, some even French, have sprouted on many of the city’s squares, most with the exact same products. Here and there something unique and high quality has slipped into the mix. On on Montmartre’s place des Abbesses (M° Abbesses) a chalet offering ceramics from Poland has beautiful plates, terrines, mugs and tea pots, each one hand painted and in beautiful patterns. They are oven-proof and fairly priced, not cheap, 15€ the mug, 47€ the tea pot which holds a liter (roughly a quart).
Also at that market is a jeweler whose 92.5% pure silver rings and pendants are individually designed and quite intricate, featuring beautifully polished semi-precious stones. Very moderate prices for high-quality, probably due to the fact he has his designs executed in India. It’s all to do with the better quality alloy, apparently.
In the French regional foods department, farm-made Morteau sausages are meaty and very good. As at many Christmas markets there is a Nougat de Montélimar stand. The seller will chop off 100 grammes or however much you want from blocks of the soft white French version of the Italian torrone. The basic nougat is made of honey, egg whites, almonds and pistachios, though variations incorporate candied cranberries, glacéed fruit, other kinds of nuts, and chocolate-covered squares. Also ‘black nougat’ which is like an almond brittle, very tasty.
More to come!

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I LOVE PARIS IN THE AUTUMN WHEN IT DRIZZLES…

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Vacation In Paris

 

A Paris Vacation in November may not be the time for long leisurely walks outdoors—then again it might; the weather is very capricious, so bring lots of layers and hope you get to peel them off. Even if you do make use of that fold-up nylon raincoat a few times, there are plenty of ways to get out and about without getting cold and rain-sodden. Of course there are the fabulous museums, including the ones you came to see, but also many of which you may not have heard of. We’ll be highlighting different ones each month. (See below)

Then there are the covered galleries and passages. Most date from the mid-19th C.  And have leaded glass roofs which allow the ambient light to stream in. Several of our Paris rentals are close to these charming passages filled with creative shops, restaurants and cafés where you can sit outside without being outside. The Cour du Commerce St André runs between entrances at 59 rue Saint-André-des-Arts and 130 boulevard Saint-Germain. The urbain college atmosphere of nearby St Michel prevails and the passage’s novelty shops and laid-back restaurants are open late. In a more luxurious mode, The Galérie Vivienne (www.galerie-vivienne.com) near the Bourse (stock exchange) is one of the most beautiful in Europe. Well-known designers including Jean-Paul Gaultier and Castelbejac share the splendidly designed gallery with Jousseaume, an antique bookstore that is more like a bookstore and less like a museum than others of this sort. We highly recommend taking an “outdoor” seat at A Priorité tea room and tasting the delectable creations of Peggy Hancock, the owner-manager-menu designer. Do not miss the “best cheesecake in Paris” or the assortment of melt in your mouth crumbles. Follow the floor tiles to the large mosaic tea pot and the words A Priorité. 35-37, Passage Vivienne – Galérie Vivienne,  75002 Paris. 08 99 96 92 93

 

EVENTS : LE MOIS DE LA PHOTO

November is Photography Month in Paris and photography as art as well as documentation are on display in galleries, museums large and small, and institutions such as the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall), La Maison Européenne de la Photographie, and cultural institutes of various countries.

 As photography keeps on coming into its own as an art form, from early attempts (and claims) of photographing fairies to masters such as Ansel Adams’s eidetic double-black tones to David Hockney’s panoramic Polaroid collages and beyond into pre- and post-digital image processing, pictures conceived and elaborated as works of art can often out-fascinate other 2-dimensional art forms.

One photographer called it painting with light, though what crams itself into the category of photography these days includes painting with computers, photoshop, digital filters.

I wish I could remember who said, “painters embrace the eternal and distil it into an image; photography captures a fleeting moment and makes it eternal.”   

Some picks for this month:

  • Richard Mosse : Infra
    Photographs from Eastern Congo, 2010-2012
    November 8 to December 14,  2012
    Irish Culture Centre (Centre culturel irlandais)
    5, rue des Irlandais, 75005
    www.centreculturelirlandais.com
    Tel.: +33 1 58 52 10 30     Pics of RPG-toting rebels slashing through sumptuous multi-colored foliage sort of shows who is the beauty and who is the beast in the eternal Man vs Nature competition.Metro line 10 : Cardinal-Lemoine  or  Metro line 7 : Place Monge
    Tuesday through Saturday : from 2 to 6 pm  (open late  Wednesday      to 8 pm)
    Sunday : from 12:30 to 2:30 closed Mondays and holidays
    Free admission
  •  Gabriella Moravetz, Le corps et le souffle
    8 novembre –15 décembre 2012
    Galerie Thessa Herold / Espace Galerie de Seine
    15 rue Sainte-Anastase, 3e. Tél. : 01 42 78 78 68.
     
  •  Medieval Croatia
    The Festival of Croatia in France is on until January 7th, and one of the star exhibitions is the superb collection of medievia appropriately housed in the  Musée de Cluny (the National Medieval Museum) in St Michel, itself composed of two restored ruins, one from the Gallo-Roman era the other a 14thC. Abbey, surrounded by a “medieval garden”. If you are ready to move outside the core of Western Europe, this expo affords a sense of wider Christendom with a stunning collection of relics, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, bejewelled devotional objects showing how closely Croatia was linked artistically, even then, to Western Europe. Musée de Cluny
    6 place Paul Painlevé
    75005 Paris
    Open every day except Tuesday, from 9:15 to 5:45
     
  • Edward Hopper 
    At the Grand Palais Franklin Roosevelt Now to 28 January 2013, open every day except Tuesday from 10am to 10 pm (Sunday and Monday to 8 pm). Homesick for New York? Nostalgic for the 1930′s? Always thought there should never have been a ‘k’ in Bleecker anyway? Edward Hopper is your man. A huge retrospective of the American Expressionist is on at the Grand Palais which is just off the Champs Elysées in a beautiful recently renovated wing.

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 FASHION FOR SHOE ADDICTS The ballerine, that simple round-toed ultra-flattie, is back. The demure little slut of a shoe has been showing off ankles and foot-décolleté like no other style can, and the cold weather hasn’t stopped it, only adding fur lining to the repertoire.

The French ballerine has been around since 1947 when Roland Petit’s mom designed it for his comfort and later Rudolph Nureyev also started wearing them to work out balletically. They became a fashion icon when Brigitte Bardot wore a special pair made for street use in And God Created Woman, immediately becoming the rage amongst non-dancing artie types and Rive Gauche intellectuals. 

A few years ago, the Jonak shoe chain came out with a low-cut pointy version inspired by the bejewelled harem slippers popular in the 90′s. Then suddenly over the past two years, an onslaught of traditional ballerines in a wide array of styles, materials and colors from metallic oil-slick to cupcake pink gave serious competition to the 12″ spike heeled platform killers that had previously reigned with impunity. Available in every price range from 10€ to 300€ and up,  the only thing these coyly sexy shoes have in common is their ultra-flat sole, which some of us, alas, can no more wear than the back-breaking stiletto. Consigned to the fashionless victimhood of the walking dead, imagine the ecstasy of finding 100% pure synthetic, leopard-pattern ballerines with secret lifts built into the heel for 15€ in one of the many shoe stores along the rue de Rivoli in the Marais area (metro line 1, St Paul station). 

Since you’re in the Marais, explore the alleys and byways of this trendy neighbourhood where VIP (Vacation In Paris) has several gorgeous apartments for short-term furnished rental. You’ll find clothes and jewellery as well as home furnishings by young designers and great restaurants and cafés – with heated outdoor terraces, of course. Parisians are not about to let a little drizzle spoil their love of terrace-lounging. 

More addresses in shoe heaven :  Galeries Lafayette  (40 Boulevard Haussmann) lower level has 150 stands from Pura Lopez  to Jimmy Choo to Campers,  Todd’s, Prada, and French paragons of style Stéphane Kilian and Robert Clergérie and  my all-time favorite, Spanish brand Nude United–truly inventive, stylish and flattering, and comfortable at normal prices. 

Rival grande department store Printemps, right down the block, also has a great shoe department, often with different styles by the same manufacturers. The atmosphere is slightly less frenetic at Printemps, and Art Nouveau interior architecture that survived the store’s recent renovation is worth the trip.

FOOD
Speaking of cupcakes, you won’t find any at  Gontrain Cherrier’s Montmartre boulangerie (22 rue Caulaincourt, metro line 12, Abbesses station), but you will find breads, sandwiches, tarts, pastries and unusual flavour combinations.
Like the black baguette, the fig and fennel tart, cranberry-lemon-lime tart.

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FIRST TIME IN FRANCE? (If not, skip this section)
Small but useful tips:

  • Lights in most apartment and office buildings are on timers. Push the lighted button found on each floor to turn them on, they switch off automatically.
  • Most doors to buildings have a numeric code to be entered to buzz door open. To open the door from the inside, you need to push a button usually marked “porte” to release the lock.
  • Most doors pull open from the inside and push open from the outside.
  • Bathroom graffiti:  Light switches are usually outside the bathroom; Toilet flush can be large buttons found either on top of the reservoir or on wall behind it, or a knob on top of reservoir or a push plate on side of reservoir. The rare pull-chain still exists, usually in rural areas, but you will never see the push-down lever as in North America.
  • Many metro doors do not open automatically, you have to pull the lever up or push a red button.
  • Restaurants stop serving between 2:30 or 3pm and 7:30. Cafés that serve lunch revert to basic sandwiches during this culinary dead zone of the day. Brasseries, however, serve real food non-stop, often ‘til late (12 or 1 am).

DO YOU COME HERE OFTEN?
One of the reasons you love Paris is the fabulous museums and monuments. Apart from the biggest—the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay—there are literally dozens you may not have heard of. We’ll be highlighting different ones each month. For starters, pay a visit to Victor Hugo’s house in the Place des Vosges (http:/www.paris.fr/loisirs/musees-expos/maisons-de-victor-hugo) The house itself is a stylish lived-in looking townhouse with red walls and original fittings including Hugo’s library and a number of his manuscripts. It’s easy to imagine he’ll be returning to his writing desk after a walk in the adjacent garden.  Hôtel de Rohan-Guéménée, 6 place des Vosges, 75004 Paris. Phone: 01 42 72 10 16. Metro stations: Bastille, Saint-Paul or Chemin-Vert. Or the Musée de la Vie Romantique, 16 rue Chaptal, 75009 Paris ?, 01 55 31 95 67 (www.paris.fr/loisirs/musees…/musee-de-la-vie-romantique) in the neighborhood called Nouvelle Athènes for its neo-classical architecture. A charming house where George Sand lived and often entertained Fredérick Chopin.

 

TRANSPORTATION 
The bus and metro system (RATP) is easy to understand and use, and offers a variety of Paris Visite  passes: 1 day unlimited travel within Paris costs 10.25€, 2 days 16.65, 3 days 22.70 and 5 days 32.70. Discounts are available for children under 12. Tots up to 4 travel free. Ask for a free map at the ticket window, and you’ll get one that includes buses as well. Don’t hesitate to use them; you’ll see much more, spend less time in long corridors, and people tend to be a bit more civil on the bus.

 

 Enjoy your discoveries and à la prochaine !

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Odds and ends in Paris…

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Vacation In Paris

 

The diversity of things to do and see in Paris must be un-matched in the world !  So much to see and do for everyone…  let’s do a tour of several kind of off-beat ones (mixed with a few well know ones)…

The Bastille area is rich in diversity and things to do. Framing one side of the Marais area, it joins the central city to its “ eastern edge”. It is a meeting point for many demonstrations, and is where the Modern Opera House is located. The annual Waiters’ race winds through here and the Marais…give them a hand as they struggle along !

Da Vinci code lovers will be in Heaven ! trace the original ‘Rose Line’ with these medallions in the St. Sulpice church neighborhood. 

A rich area of Paris ( in more ways than one!), being the “place to be seen” and tons of great eateries around. VIP has several wonderful apartments in this fantastic area.

To get to see this view, you will need to hoof it up the stairs of ET ! While it used to be free, there is now a nominal charge to climb up the first 2 floors of the tower.

TIP;  if the lines are too long at ground level, you can climb up one story, then buy a ticket there for the rest of the journey up…  although best to reserve online in advance for tickets to go up !

 

 

Many people miss this whole area completely !  and there are several of our vacation rental flats in this neighborhood of Paris. This canal is a shortcut for boats, so they don’t have to wind through Paris. Quite a bohemian area, with lots of wonderful discoveries !

 

 

You can even take a boat (barge) cruise through the locks, and make a pic nic of it !

Why not cap off an evening, with a visit to Hemmingway’s bar inside the Ritz ? ( appropriate attire required of course). You may even meet up with Johnny Depp, as I had occasion to there !

 

Any and all of these wonderful areas will have a Paris vacation rental with Vacation in Paris. We hope you will explore them and enjoy !

 

 

Photos contributed by David P. Henry professional photographer.

 

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French Fireworks and Beaches…

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Vacation In Paris

It’s that time of year again… get ready for spectacular dazzling of Fireworks at Eiffel Tower, and to play at the beach in Paris!

 

From my perch above the Champs de Mars and with an ‘eye-full’ of the tower, I can witness the early preparations going on to accommodate the huge throng of people who will go on July 14 to see the great show (starts around 22hrs). Likewise, the grandstands on the Place de la Concorde are being built, for all the dignitaries to watch the morning military parade and fly-over, (starts about 08:30am at the Arc de Triomphe). This year’s theme for the fireworks is… (Wait for it): Disco of the 70s and 80s! Any place you sit/stand you will guarantee a good seat, but do allow about an hour to get back ‘home’ to your VIP apartment, as there is a good size crowd. (Metros will all be open). Or you could go in style and opt to be on the river in a boat, which will drop you back off away from crowds. For example, the San Souci boat leaves from Port de Sevres at 19:30 for a full night of fun!

 

This year the famous Parisian beach, with literally many tons of sand hauled in to create it, begins on July 20 and lasts about 3 weeks. While lots of fun for the kiddies, adults also can enjoy people watching, or several sports set up all along the river….  It runs from about the Louvre, to down past the Hotel de Ville. And btw, the Hotel de Ville has great volleyball setup, with lots of sand imported as well in the huge square in front of it…

And don’t worry about starving, there will plenty of food carts around!

Enjoy any/all of these special summer festivals, with a base in your close-by Paris apartment, for your French Holiday let. Some apartments are even air-conditioned (although this is really not necessary and only a luxury). Your Parisian vacation rental will be a great place to organize all your fun things to do. Many of VIP vacation apartments are for budget-minded vacationers as well, starting as low as only $99 per night!

Paris has so much to offer families and couples… take advantage of this summer and rent a Paris apartment form VIP!

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