Everyone seemed a bit nervous for the opening of La Biennale Paris, an International art fair which used to be devoted to antique dealers and jewelers and is, this year, mainly focused on twentieth century paintings and decorative arts, with a few Asian, African and XVIII th century decorative arts. The whimsical decor created by fashion designer Jean Charles de … Read More
Everything you should look forward to in the Autumn
C’est la rentrée! back to school or to the office after the long summer recess. September brings its new books, new shows and the Paris Biennale from 8 to 16 September. Take your diary and make sure to pin down the dates, starting today with Brussels and Paris.
Sicily, an enchanted island, again and again…
My holidays in Sicily did not start well. If you have read “A Summer’s lease“, the hilarious John Mortimer novel on an English family who rents a house in Tuscany and never gets water because the owner has not paid the bill, you will understand what we went through. I was getting ready to make a wonderful potato purée in … Read More
Galerie de la Présidence is everywhere, and at la Biennale
I have always been intrigued by Galerie de la Présidence, just across the street from the Elysée Palace and next to the Ministry of Interior on place Beauvau. It is well defended by myriads of policemen and I had only been inside for a fabulous Marquet and a Giacometti exhibition. But when I recently heard that Françoise and Florence Chibret-Plaussu, … Read More
Domaine du Muy, an enchanted sculpture kingdom in Provence
Three years ago, a series of flattering articles in the French and American press alerted me to the success of Jean Gabriel Mitterrand’s sculpture park in le Muy, a little town, an hour north of St Tropez and west of Cannes. There was some mystery around his project and I never got around to visiting it until Anne Laure … Read More
Last chance to see “Fukami” at Hotel Salomon de Rothschild
The show discreetly opened on Bastille day and is closing on August 21! Fukami, “a plunge into Japanese aesthetics” could not have been more discreet and I heard about it on France Culture radio one morning. If you miss it, don’t worry, but if you are in Paris you’ll notice that while all the streets are empty, the beautiful Hôtel … Read More
Two museums in Cornwall, one is trendy, the other delightful
I have been going to Land’s End in West Cornwall for twenty years and I discover new delights every time. This year, I rushed to visit the new addition to the Tate gallery St Ives and see the late Patrick Heron exhibition but what really charmed my heart was the show of S.J. Lamorna Birch’ Cornish paintings at the Penlee House in … Read More
From Provins to Joigny, a fun balade near Paris
The first week end in August is dreaded by all French drivers who fear les “bouchons”, traffic jams, created by millions of vacationers, but if you decide to take small roads to go south, it’s a dream. I spent a week end between Provins, a medieval town 90 mins south east of Paris and was invited to lunch in Joigny, … Read More