In the summer, I love to take my little car and drive west with a few friends to visit. This year I went to château de Lassay, in Mayenne, with Hugues de Montalembert whose young cousins still inhabit this mid 15 th century military castle. Aymeri, Cecilia and their three super talented children (two girls are classicists at Ecole Normale … Read More
Nic Barlow, a photographer at heart, has left us
Nic Barlow was a very dear friend. But most importantly he was a fabulous photographer, a garden specialist and also a great portraitist. His warmth, extravagant tastes, unusual clothes brought him the sympathy of all sitters. He left us last Tuesday, August 1, at 72, peacefully in his sleep in his beautiful house of Stancombe Park, Gloucestershire. He liked to … Read More
An ideal outdoor cantina and a nostalgic show at the Saint Laurent museum
I went to see the new Yves Saint Laurent show on “Shapes” which reminded me of the glorious years when anyone could buy a Saint Laurent ready-to-wear outfit because they were cheap. The premises of the Foundation, decorated by Jacques Grange, are elegant and simple but not functional. The rooms are small and on three levels. The whole space will … Read More
Musée Albert Kahn has more than its Japanese gardens to show
Albert Kahn, the successful banker of the turn of the century, who documented the world with 72 000 autochromes, in the “Archives of the Planet”, was a keen traveller and he always took a photographer with him. For its new exhibition, his museum in Boulogne is showing extraordinary photographs of Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro in 1909. The crossing … Read More
At Chantilly and Chaalis, flowers and Ingres have a ball
Since Alexis de Kermel has taken over the management of Abbaye de Chaalis three years ago, things are slowly changing in this medieval site where Primaticcio painted the ceiling of the chapel and Nélie Jacquemart spent her youth with her protector Rose Pamela de Vatry before buying it in 1902, nine years after her husband’s death. On June 9-11, les … Read More
Trees, Trees, Trees, are trendy at Collection Pinault and at Documents 15
British artist Tacita Dean (born 1965) and German artist Gudrun Von Maltzan (born 1941) have nothing in common in their style but they both admire trees and I just happened to see both their exhibitions this week. The respect they show for very special trees is interesting. Tacita is at Bourse du Commerce and at Opéra Garnier with her decors … Read More
Louvre-Lens has another great show on Landscapes
It’s always a wonderful adventure to drive to Louvre Lens, because the building designed by SANAA is extraordinary and the exhibition of the Louvre treasures on 3000 square m is visible in one look. Over 5 000 years of objects, sculptures and paintings are shown in the Gallery of Time from the Egyptians to Napoleon in an easy, accessible and … Read More
Don’t miss this month…
With the beautiful weather and nature finally waking up, here are a few ideas for you to wander outside of Paris. The usual beautiful spots like Parc de Bagatelle, in Bois de Boulogne and Giverny’s Monet gardens (where Hugues Gall has been reelected director), are of course a must if you have never been. But I discovered recently the Parc … Read More