Tziganes in photographs, what a world!

parisdiaMovies, Photography1 Comment

Roger Schall, Pilgrimage at Saintes Maries de la Mer, ca 1938

 

I was curious to find out more about the world of Tziganes at Musée de l’Immigration at Porte Dorée and I fell upon a wonderful photo exhibition rather than a social history of the world of Romanys. The show initiated by Mathieu Pernot at Rencontres photographiques d’Arles, is a comprehensive reconstruction of images telling the story of these wandering people who have established themselves in Europe, the Middle East but also in Canada, the US and in Latin America.Read More

Joyeux, there are many reasons to love this place!

parisdiaHappy moments, Restaurants & Hotels9 Comments

Joyeux, a new kind of trendiness

Yann Bucaille Lanrezac is a dreamer. But before dreaming, he became a successful businessman in Brittany and in 2012, he bought a catamaran named Ephata. He used it to take autistic children and/or with drown syndrome for a day’s sail. Six thousand so far have been on the boat. One day, a young woman told him: “I don’t need a nice sail, I need a job”: and this is when he decided to open his first Joyeux coffee shop in Rennes, at the heart of Brittany. Today he is opening Joyeux Opera in Passage Choiseul (at corner of rue St Augustin) and he hired the hip young architect Léonie Alma Mason to do the decor. It is a very surprising and happy place!Read More

Mary Cassatt, Queen of prints at Jacquemart André

parisdiaArt2 Comments

La Toilette, 1890-1891, dry point et aquatint, © Courtesy Marc Rosen Fine Art and Adelson Galleries, New York

When you see Mary Cassatt‘s name in a museum you immediately think of mother and child portraits and impressionist paintings just not quite as amazing as Degas’ (her great friend) or Monet’. But at the private breakfast organized at Musée Jacquemart André by Teddy Tibi, founder of the art magazine Art Absolument,  I also discovered a fabulous dry point print maker (pointe sèche) and a modern woman who had no children of her own but loved painting them. Read More

Alvar Aalto so inspiring at Cité de l’architecture!

parisdiaArchitecture, Furniture2 Comments

A general view of the show with Aalto’s iconic chairs (the Fauteuil 26  in green) under the brick arcades of Cité de l’architecture

We all know Finnish designer and architect Alvar Aalto‘s emblematic Savoy vase and wooden stools but at Cité de l’architecture‘s retrospective, we learn more about him, his many churches and office buildings, and we discover his own house and offices. It is a beautiful show under the brick arcades of the museum at Trocadero. And since Aalto was mostly preoccupied with daily life, it is a good occasion to think about one’s own decor.

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Tintoretto surprises us at Musée du Luxembourg

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Tintoretto and studio, Christ and the adultery woman, ca 1547-1549, Palazzo Barberini

You might only know Tintoretto (1518-1594) for his fabulous paintings made at Scuola di San Rocco in Venice in 1564. I always make sure to go there whenever I visit the city of the Doges. But you will be surprised to find, here at Musée du Luxembourg, a very different artist, whose paintings of ladies are totally romantic and charming. I was mesmerized by what I discovered in this show devoted to his first 15 years.Read More

Artists jewels at MAD, not so sensuous!

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Alexander Calder, Necklace, 1950, guilt bronze, collection Louisa Guinness, London

“Artists’ jewels are like miniature sculptures” said Karine Lacquemant, the curator of the show “From Calder to Koons, artists’ jewels” at MAD. the exhibition is based on Diane Venet‘s fabulous collection, but it also comprises many paintings and sculptures that inspired jewelry. Don’t go there expecting to see magical stones. It is all about shapes.

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A restaurant for the show near Parc Monceau

parisdiaRestaurants & Hotels7 Comments

Le Camondo has a lovely bar and courtyard

We did not have a reservation for lunch and when we arrived at Le Camondo, the very pretty restaurant designed in the former carriage house of the eponymous Museum,  there was not much effort made to accommodate us. We sat at the bar and had a glass of wine, finally ordered some food and watched the crowds of office-people-who-want-to-have-a-leisurely-lunch walk in. A large group of women only were probably there to celebrate Women’s day, some business men with the pretentious look of advertising executives, were sitting down and the Italian maître d’ was nice but not helpful. Who did we think we were to show up without booking?Read More

Lally, the great French golf champion has left us

parisdiaGolf5 Comments

Lally with first husband Jacques de Saint Sauveur whom she married at 18

Lally de Saint Sauveur (1921-2018), did everything very young, better than everyone and with a genuine modesty and elegance that every great golfer envied her. In 2015, she became an honorary member of the Royal and Ancient, in Saint Andrews, one of only seven lady members. She was the greatest golfer France ever counted with more than 40 victories in National and International championships. She died in Paris on Saturday, March 3, at 96. Read More