An American Excentric in Paris

parisdiaArt, Happy moments4 Comments

One of the locks near Hotel duNor

Only an excentric American friend could have thought of taking twenty Parisians and a few Americans on a cruise to the unknown ! When I received Micky Wolfson’s invitation to embark at 8.45 at the Bastille, and to sail on to Gallery Thaddaeus Ropac in Pantin, I could not stop smiling for a week.

Micky Wolfson makes us discover Paris with his immense curiosity and eccentricity

And the trip was up to my expectations. Starting with an 18 mn crossing under the Bastille vaults, in a dark tunnel Piranese style, we drifted along the canal St Martin, one of the trendiest spots in Paris, with the opening and closing of five different locks along the way. A lady duck and her four ducklings almost got caught in the tide, joggers on the canal sides looked at us in disbelief, the morning was sunny and chilly.

Watching the locks release the water is a fun experience

The lovely group of Miami based friends and French curators, artists and collectors, were all doing this trip for the first time and were mesmerized. The very old canal instigated in La Villette by Napoleon in 1806 and built until 1825 was transformed over the 19 th century by Haussmann all the way to Bastille.

Under the Bastille, the crossing under Piranese style vaults, lasts for 18 mins

After the subterranean part of the trip, one discovers the romantic Hôtel du Nord made famous by the 1938 film by Marcel Carné, and Nicolas Ledoux’s Rotonde de la Villette before entering the gardens leading to Pantin and its Magasins généraux.

La Géode, as seen from the boat

The whole trip is incredibly varied and doing it in great company was much better than attending a dinner party.

Musicologist Brigitte Delattre, Bianca M. Roberts, director of Mona Bismarck American Center and video artist Agnès Guillaume aboard the boat

I met the lovely CEO of the Mona Bismark American Center, Bianca M. Roberts, who has great amibitions for this large foundation facing the Eiffel tower. And chatted with Pol Bury’s wife, Velma, who was wearing one of his beautiful silver rings. Elegant Belgian video artist Agnès Guillaume, was in great form as were Daniel Marchesseau, a few months before the opening of his Cézanne show in Martigny and Pierre Provoyeur, director of FRAME (French American Museum exchange), who was just back from electing its new American President, William Beekman, in New York.

Micky Wolfson’s niece Teri, a keen collector herself, was celebrating her birhtday and artist Ronan Barrot, from Claude Bernard gallery, was enjoying in detail the canal ride. Guillaume Kazerouni, the author of a new book “Le Miroir des Sheikhs” (PUF) on culture in Abu Dhabi brought his book which looks interesting and conversations did not stop for the two and half hour trip where croissants and coffee kept us going.

Upon arrival in Pantin, we ony had a five minute walk to reach the beautiful Thaddaeus Ropac gallery where Georg Baselitz “Descente” exhibition and his statues were waiting for us. What a fabulous way to travel Mr. Wolfson !

Georg Baselitz, Yellow Song, sculpture, 2013

( Canauxrama cruises, 01 42 39 15 00 and Georg Baselitz until July 1, at 69 ave du Général Leclerc in Pantin)

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