Travelling to Bayonne, in the Basque country, is a fun experience especially when you are welcomed by Olivier Ribbon, curator of Musée Basque et de l’histoire de Bayonne, who devised a brilliant exhibition around Louis XIV’s marriage in St Jean de Luz, in 1660.
Sicily, land of contrasts
Spending a week in Borgo Bonsignore, in Southern Sicily, is like traveling through time and history: never had I encountered such contrasts as this year, on my third trip to Casa Platani.
Charles Le Brun reigns over Louvre Lens
Charles Le Brun always felt a little boring to me even in the Galerie des Glaces in Versailles. This Royal painter, who worked for thirty years for Louis XIV, is rediscovered at Louvre museum in Lens, thanks to a brilliant staging by Atelier Maciy Fiszer and an easy historiography. The excursion two hours North of Paris is well worth the … Read More
Cornwall, old and new
I have been going to Cornwall for 25 years and every time my heart pounds with excitement as I drive from Exeter airport to Penzance and Land’s End. This year was full of surprises with a new sculpture garden in Gulval and more delicious trendy cafés, which took over from the Tate St Ives.
A great Alexander at Vaux le Vicomte
Visiting the gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte in a golf cart at 9 am, when no one is around but a few gardeners, is probably the most privileged thing I have done for a long time. Alexandre de Vogüé, the second son of Patrice and his Italian wife Cristina, the present owners, is in charge of marketing and fundraising for the most … Read More
In Pont Aven, Gauguin and more
Ecole de Pont Aven is one of those names, that one knows and does not really concretize. I had been wanting to visit this small sea side village of French Cornwall in Southern Brittany for a long time and the reopening of its museum engineered by its young general curator, Estelle Guille des Buttes-Fresneau, was the occasion.
Versailles so exciting and… so frustrating
Olafur Eliasson’s Waterfall is prodigious Going to Versailles is always very exciting and very frustrating. This time was no exception and I am going to give you a tip so you don’t have the same misadventures I had. There are three reasons to go this summer : first Olafur Eliasson’s water projects, second the exhibition “Versailles and the American Independence” … Read More
Fondation Cartier sings with the birds
Once again, Fondation Cartier is showing a summer exhibition which is playful and gracious, contemporary and for all publics. It is devoted to animals and music and primarily to birds. « Le grand orchestre des animaux » exhibits artists from France, Africa, Japan, Brazil, Detroit and California. And ten films from the Cornell Lab of ornithology are extraordianry moments of … Read More