Claire de Montesquiou and her Armagnac from Domaine d’Espérance from 45€ onwards

Sadly you cannot buy Claire de Montesquiou, a real treasure of a friend, who celebrated last year the thirtieth anniversary of her career as an armagnac producer. But you can buy her bottles from Domaine d’Espérance, which come in all ages and make everyone happy around the fireplace. They are made on 45 hectares of vineyard in Mauvezin d’Armagnac an hour south of Bordeaux and the cellars and vineyards can be visited. Prices start at 45€ up to 220€ for the thirtieth anniversary magnum which I highly recommend…

Sarah Kalvar, drawing, at 600€ at 110 Galerie until February 4

If you like erotic pictures don’t hesitate to go to 110 Galerie at 110 rue Saint Honoré where a group of 8 young artists exhibit,  under the name “Lusted Men”, their erotic drawings and photographs of men. The Iranian painter Alireza Shojaian, the Franco American wall paper drawer and ceramist  Sarah Kalvar, the French photographer based in Tokyo, Solène Ballesta are my favourites in the show with very reasonable prices ana great inventively. (until February 4)

Pina Bausch’s ballet “Kontakthof” at Opera Garnier

I used to send all my nephews to the Garnier Opera for Christmas until they grew up and I bought them tickets to the Crazy Horse saloon!  they loved it… It’s always wonderful to receive ballet or opera tickets and I recently went to see “Kontakthof” an intricate ballet choreographed by the late Pina Bausch (1940-2009), one of the most interesting choreographer of the XX th century. She ran the Tanztheater Wuppertal for many years and this piece, which is sometimes a little long, concentrates on men /women relationships playing on the men’s use of women who end up leading them. It is hilarious and beautifully danced by the dancers from the Paris Opera ballet. (until December 31)

The David Hockney catalog at Lelong & Co for 30€

You can visit the Hockney Normandie exhibition at Lelong & Co (until December 22) and since all the iPad prints are sold out, you can buy the catalog which is a happy collection of flower vases. Make sure to visit the show anyway on rue de Téhéran and avenue Matignon…

The wonderful best seller published by Philippine Cruse at Herodios in 2020 is now in a very elegant paperback edition by J’ai Lu for 10€

You can also buy a fantastic novel “DOG” which reads like a thriller written by Clémentine Dabadie (Geneviève Dormann and Jean Loup Dabadie’s daughter). It is the story of a young woman “gendarme” who trains to become a member of the GIGN, a special military force similar to the SAS in England. The talent she puts in the psychology of the characters, her father, her colonel, her husband, and her determination in a world of man (without ever being a feminist in the political sense), are all to be saluted! It is a page turner published by Gallimard.

Clémentine Dabadie’s new novel is about a woman who fights her way in the military

I have told you before about the collection of architecture films made Beka and Lemoine. The first film and book produced by this amazing young couple, Louise Lemoine and Ila Beka, was about Rem Koolhaas’ house in Bordeaux. A very special building, now world famous, conceived after her father Jean François Lemoine’s accident, which made him almost entirely paralysed. His wife Hélène and he created a project with the Dutch architect :  a central platform which forms the room in which one can live all day long. It goes up and down from the bedroom to the kitchen like an elevator. Except that it holds desks, armchairs,  etc…and it allowed him to be independent in the house. Now, Beka Lemoine’s collection of 18 films has been bought by MoMa in New York. A true consecration. And you can buy them to watch during your long winter evenings.

one of Beka and Lemoine’s film on architecture

Their originality is to follow someone who works in the building throughout. In the Bordeaux house, we follow Guadalupe, the cleaning lady who grumbles about the leaks. In Auguste Perret’s apartment building on rue Franklin, in Paris, we follow the Portuguese housekeeper (concierge) who runs up and odwn the stairs with the magical glass windows and we visit the different flats. A philosophy teacher’s among others. In « Barbicania », we also visit the different inhabitants of the Barbican center, which becomes a lively place, and thus we discover the building from inside through its sociology.

Barbicania tells all about who lives in the Barbican apartments in London

And this is what is so innovative about the Bêka Lemoine project. Buildings become inhabited and if the films underline the aesthetics and the technics of each architect, they mostly focus on what is, for me most interesting in architecture : its social influence. Louise interviews and tapes the sound, Bekâ films and they conceive the work together. The latest film is on Boonserm Premthada, the major Thai architect, which was shown in Copenhagen in a world Premiere on October 8-9.This is the most fabulous Xmas present you can think of for a small budget. ( 8,80€ per film on line and 49,90€ for a box of four films)

You can choose from grey anthracite Jean with a little stretch or cotton denim, 140€ at Chinoises

It’s always impossible to find presents for men and Chinoises, the company started by Félicie Le Blan in Shanghai (and now in Paris) creates sexy Chinese jackets in grey denim for 140 €. But you can also buy ladies velvet and silk  jackets and toilet cases (for 38€). Félicie’s impeccable taste and experience (she used to work for Hermès for 15 years) means that all the products are beautiful.

At Galerie Pixi-Marie Victoire Poliakoff, 95 rue de Seine, Michael Lindsay Hogg shows his works in “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”

All these presents can be ordered online except for works of art in galleries… which you need to see of course. Michael Lindsay Hogg at galerie Pixi Marie Victoire Poliakoff is full of humour. Until January 7,  95 rue de Seine.