Dan Burton as Don Lockwood under the Glass roof at Grand Palais, photo Sylvain Gripoix
Two things led me to go and see Théâtre du Châtelet’s production of “Singing in the rain” even though it is sold out until January 11. Robert Carsen, the genius director who has never disappointed me, and the fact that it takes place at the Grand Palais, under its huge glass roof, an unbeatable decor. It was great fun!Read More
On holiday with Pier Paolo Pasolini, in Greece, after shooting Medea, 1969 © Fonds de Dotation Maria Callas
Maria Callas has remained in our minds as the greatest « diva » of the second half of the 20 th century and her destiny is as tragic as the parts she loved to sing, Medea, Norma, Traviata. On December 13th, a documentary of her life, directed by Tom Volf, « Maria by Callas » will be aired in movie theatres in Paris. Do not miss it and take the new generations along. It is a masterpiece.Read More
This ticket was used on July 19, 1900 on the first day of the metro. The line was inaugurated for Exposition Universelle and linked Porte Maillot to Porte de Vincennes with 18 stops. This document is particularly rare because of its very nature
Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris, is one of those rare and secret monuments in the Marais, where you can enter freely and consult magazines from a hundred years ago. And no one in Paris is aware of it. After two years of modernization, Emmanuelle Toulet, its director, was hosting three days of public visits and has decided to open the ground floor galleries to everyone. Some true chefs d’oeuvres are visible for at least two months at the time.`
Encornet de ligne Saint-Guénolé, vinaigrette encre de seiche, épinard et huile de persil
The news of the evening was that black truffles had arrived! But we resisted since it was a bit early in the season. At Quinsou (pronounce Kinsu), the name for little bird or passereau in occitan, chef Antonin Bonnet reigns over a small and under decorated room, with two lovely smiling waiter (waitress) and a fabulous menu accompanied by organic wines.Read More
Émile Guimet, Studio Durand, Lyon, ca 1870 © Collection Famille Guimet and musée Guimet, Paris / Image MNAAG
Emile Guimet, the founder of Musée National des Arts Asiatiques, was born in Lyon, in 1838, the son of a chemist who invented a special ultramarine blue. His family’s wealth enabled him to travel extensively, first to Egypt in the 1860’s, then for ten months around America and Asia with an artist, Félix Régamey , a friend of Verlaine and Rimbaud, who used to draw for newspapers and was exiled after the Commune of 1870. It is their voyage to Japan, China and India that is recounted at Musée Guimet until March 12.Read More
Mademoiselle Marcelle Lender, en buste, 1895, Lithograph 8 colors, collection particulière, photo Peter Schälchi
It was great fun on the train to Martigny, Switzerland, to meet a « cousinade » of Turckheims, a famous Protestant family from Alsace. The 50 cousins were all meeting in Verbier for the first week end of snow of the season and had planned to visit the Toulouse Lautrec show at Fondation Pierre Gianadda as part of their reunion. For the 16 th exhibition curated there by Daniel Marchesseau, « Toulouse Lautrec à la Belle Epoque, French Cancans », the ambiance was jolly and the red background for the amazing estampes, was a reminder of Montmartre at the turn of the century.Read More
In Anatolia, troglodyte churches of Aksaray
Alfred de Montesquiou, already a veteran journalist at 39, has covered wars in the Middle East for Associated Press and Paris Match and was awarded the prestigious Prix Albert Londres for his covering of the Arab Spring revolts. He has been commissioned by Arte, the French German television channel, to do a series on the Silk Road which is being aired right now and until December 15. Read More
Decor for “Il Vostro Maggio”, Chorus of the Mermaids, from Rinaldo by G.F. Handel
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is accustomed to surprising us with very imaginative exhibitions and I was very excited by my visit of « Opera, Passion and Power » conceived with the Royal Opera house. This new show is visited with head phones and could seem very didactic if it was not so cleverly designed.Read More