The name of Architects is often less known than their buildings and today at the Académie des Beaux Arts, both the newly installed candidate Bernard Desmoulin and the colleague who received him, Aymeric Zublena were unknown to me. Except that the latter is the author of Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou and of Stade de France in Saint Denis, two major … Read More
Jean Michel Othoniel dresses up the Petit Palais and more
Walking up the steps of Petit Palais has become a new experience since Jean Michel Othoniel has disguised them with glass blue bricks made in India, with the artisans of a glass village near Agra, and walking around its lush tropical garden is more fun with the gold sculptures and necklaces which adorn the palm trees and small ponds. These are … Read More
Don’t miss, in September…
September is traditionally in France the busy month of La Rentrée. Schools have resumed last Thursday and all the families are back in town. This week, ArtParis is opening on Thursday 9, at the “Grand Palais Ephémère” built by Jean Michel Wilmotte in the Champ de Mars, while Grand Palais is under works. 140 galleries from 20 countries will be … Read More
Saving Brazil with Sebastiao Salgado
There are two things I did not like in Sebastião Salgado’s exhibition “Amazônia” at the Philharmonie: the staging of the pictures, which are huge and stand like trees in a forest with too much light on them. This is what was meant by the photographer and his wife who designed the show, but it is not half as gracious as … Read More
Saint Saëns is celebrated everywhere and at the Paris Opera
For the centenary of Camille Saint Saëns’ death (1835-1921), Bibliothèque nationale de France is celebrating the pianist and composer of 13 operas and 600 works with the show: “Saint Saëns, a free spirit“. Music scores, letters, photos and models of his decors partly lent by the museum of Dieppe, are all exhibited at the Paris Opéra Garnier until October 10 … Read More
Tuscany wins on every count!
How perfect can a week in Tuscany be? Far from the book “A Summer’s lease” by John Mortimer where everything goes wrong for the poor British tenants of a villa, my week in Fiesole and San Giovanni d’Asso near Pienza, were perfect from beginning to end, with a variety of activities from chamber music at “Incontri in Terra di Siena” … Read More
A very elegant Vaudeville in Burgundy
It was a divine surprise! We drove almost four hours to Arcelot, near Dijon, to attend the Première of Thibault and Hélène (Babu) de Montalembert’s crazy ten days of performance in the open of “J’invite le Colonel”, a vaudeville play written in 1860, by Eugène Labiche one of France’s most comic and prolific (he wrote 176 plays) 19 th century … Read More
Vaux le Vicomte, Versailles, Paris, music at candlelight is everywhere.
One of the advantages of the summer is that you can wander around castles near Paris and have dinner outside in grand decors. At Vaux le Vicomte, lights illuminate the park and there are fireworks organized every Saturday night until October 2. You can have dinner in the restaurant facing the castle and visit the grand salons painted by Charles … Read More