I had to attend my dear Nic Barlow’s memorial service in Gloucestershire and decided to make it a cultural day, stopping in the beautiful city of Bath. A whole page article in the Saturday edition of the Financial Times (I love its “How to spend it” section) alerted me to a small exhibition at the Holburne museum on “Painted Love, … Read More
On the Seine with Batobus, a thrilling experience!
I had to celebrate my godson’s thirteenth birthday and besides taking him to Hotel de la Marine in the gilded galleries overlooking Place de la Concorde, I thought of wandering around the Seine on a Batobus and it was a wonderful little adventure. We started in front of Musée d’Orsay but could of gone from the Tour Eiffel at 10 … Read More
From Santa Barbara to Cape Cod, a fabulous holiday
The two long weeks I spent in the US were the best holidays I’ve had in many years and flying from the Pacific in L.A. to the Atlantic in Boston, was a romantic experience. Both airports are on the water and I almost felt like I was sailing. My trip started in Santa Barbara where jacarandas were in bloom in … Read More
Bouguereau, the Academic painter, is the new star at Eglise Saint Vincent de Paul!
If you are early for your train at Gare du Nord, why don’t you stop by Eglise Saint Vincent de Paul (built in 1804), a five minute walk on rue la Fayette and admire the two newly restored frescoes (among 8) by William Bouguereau, a painter left aside at the time of the Impressionists and forgotten for most tof the … Read More
Sir Norman Foster is a true star at Centre Pompidou
When you walk into the 2 200 sq meter exhibition dedicated to Norman Foster on the 6 th floor of Centre Pompidou (until August 7), you feel completely lost at first. As if you had dived in a pool too large for you. Almost sixty years of drawings are exhibited in the first room, on the walls and in very pretty … Read More
In Le Havre, Marquet is staged at Musée André Malraux
Going to Normandy implies for me a visit to Musée André Malraux in le Havre, a little jewel built on the water with perfect proportions and a steady collection of Boudin, Dufy and other Impressionists. As Edouard Philippe, mayor of Le Havre, writes in his introduction to the catalog, “Guillaume Apollinaire describes Albert Marquet (1875-1947) as someone who watches nature with … Read More
Alfred Courmes is a revelation at Centre Niemeyer
I had never heard of painter Alfred Courmes, 1898-1993, and it’s only because a friend asked me to go with him to the Parti Communiste Français’s beautiful monument designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer that I went. And it was a true adventure but a very successful one. Born in Bormes-les-Mimosas, the son of a naval officer, he studied in Monaco before … Read More
La Chapelle Expiatoire celebrates Louis XVI th’s surviving daughter
La Chapelle Expiatoire is a discreet little chapel built by Louis XVIII in 1815, on the former Madeleine Cemetery, in memory of his brother Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, who were buried there after their heads were chopped off on place de la Concorde. Their bodies were then transported to the St Denis basilica and the monument finished under Charles X’s … Read More