Chantilly at its grandest

parisdiaArt, Happy moments7 Comments

The guests were welcomed by Hubert Michaux and Les Sonneurs de la Nonette

It was a very International affair but also a privileged family moment which took place at Château de Chantilly on Prince Amyn Aga Khan’s 80 th birthday and all guests were mesmerized by the beauty of the castle which houses the largest collection of paintings in France besides the Louvre.Read More

Photos, photos and more at MEP

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Anne and Patrick Poirier, “Paysages révolus, Selinunte series”, August-September 1974

The first exhibitions of the Rentrée in Paris were held last week at Maison Européenne de la Photographie and there were three openings at the same time. The French artists Anne and Patrick Poirier are showing old and new photographs “Vagabondages argentiques, 50 ans de bricolage photographique”, the Burmese-Indian father and son Richard and Pablo Bartholomew are exhibited in parallel in “Affinités” and 44 year old Chinese artist Liu Bolin introduces us to his “Ghost stories”. It is a fireworks of talent organised by Jean-Luc Monterosso, director of MEP.

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Martigny, the center of artistic world, again

parisdiaArt, Books, Performing arts2 Comments

Madame Cézanne à l’éventail, ca 1878-1888, Fondation E. G. Bührle, Zürich. The painting used to belong to Gertrude Stein

Cecilia Bartoli was singing at Fondation Pierre Gianadda for the 25 th time and Daniel Marchesseau was curating an exhibition there for the fifteenth time. The combination of Haendel sung by the diva with cellist Sol Gabetta and her brother’s baroque orchestra, Cappella Gabetta, with a hundred paintings and drawings by Paul Cézanne in the background, was a winner. Again the town of Martigny, just below Verbier, attracted 800 music lovers cramped in the museum and Leonard Gianadda, 82, could be proud of himself and of his faithful public.Read More

Pink Mamma, needs improvement

parisdiaRestaurants & Hotels2 Comments

Tartare with truffles and anchovy sauce

I have always so loved my pizzas and parma ham at East Mamma on faubourg Saint Antoine,  that I was looking forward to having lunch at Pink Mamma, the new Mamma group antenna, opened last June in the 9 th arrondissement,  by Victor Lugger and Tigrane Seydoux. They have added great red meat to the Italian menu but the vegetables and service  need improving! Read More

Jean Bissonnet, a young butcher who went very far

parisdiaHappy moments, Restaurants & Hotels

Hard work, shooting and food were the theme of the evening at Hôtel de Guénégaud

The theme of the evening at Club de la Chasse et de la Nature, was the crowning of a very long working life, that of Jean Bissonnet, who started as a young butcher in Paris at 18 and is now, at 87, at the head of an empire of real estate, butcher shops and a shooting paradise near Orléans, called Domaine de l’Etoile. He was awarded the Legion of Honor by Henri de Castries, President for Europe of General Atlantic, and a shooting companion of his sons and grandson, Jean Baptiste.Read More

A new hotel and bar for the young and trendy

parisdiaArchitecture, Restaurants & Hotels2 Comments

Set in the heart of Paris trendiness, Hôtel Hoxton has a vast range of bedrooms and a lovely bar

I was overly excited to go to the new Hoxton Hotel for lunch and brought with me an architect and a shrewd journalist so we could all give our opinion. Four years in the making, the old courtyards and different buildings of rue du Sentier, opposite where Madame du Barry used to live,  have become a 172 rooms hotel set in an 18 th century house, in the heart of Paris. And I was not disappointed. The great atmosphere is created with a mix of old furniture, design sofas and old books, fun vases, wicker chairs, two fabulous staircases: it all makes you feel relaxed and the mostly charming staff was fun and very attentive.Read More

Lilian Tuck delivers a new gem

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Lilian Tuck in Paris last spring

« Sisters », the new short novel by National Book award winner, Lilian Tuck is not about sisterhood as we immediately understand in Christopher Nicholson’s quote on the title page: « First and second wives are like sisters ». It is the most subtle, cruel, funny story on marriage, infidelities and sexual passion. After her wonderful autobiography « The double life of Liliane », published in 2015, this eleventh work shows how naughty and witty this introverted writer really is.Read More

Transatlantic travels at the Peabody Essex museum in Salem

parisdiaArchitecture, Art, Furniture1 Comment

Anila Quayyum Agha, “All the flowers are for me” is a brilliant installation

My first visit, when I am in Marblehead in the summer, is always to the Peabody Essex Museum, in Salem, Ma. Founded in 1799 by sea captains who wanted to preserve their discoveries from Cape Horn and other exotic Asian and African countries, it was enriched by local merchants and moved into its own building in 1825. George Peabody, one of the founders of the future J.P.Morgan bank, who was born in South Danvers (now Peabody),  was one of its main philanthropists in 1867. He is buried in Salem. Read More