Paris1972-Versailles2003

This is the eve to Labor Day, as the international day here, so I will be off resting, too bad it fell in the middle of the week so no bridge lol! The day is sunny a bit cool but nice darn.

The next big event in Paris is a foire a fairs better a fair than a war. The Foire de Paris with 3500 exhibitors!  From today to May 12 at  Porte de Versailles (75015). Open every day from 10h to 19h. Nightime on May 10 open until  23h. Admission is 12€ . Pass 2 days 18€. Free for the under 12 yrs old.  Here is the site , I love to go there for the Cultures du Monde section, enjoy it if you can, its great. http://www.foiredeparis.fr/

Over in Honfleur, that I will be in, is the Fête des Marins, (the feast of the mariners or seaman) the 152nd year!! where the boats go out,and its festive all around. I go for a more personal reason, my dear mother is buried at sea and the ceremony is of the blessing of those there buried or fallen in the great Normandy shores. The place is always magical for me and since she is there is a pilgrimage.  Here is the pdf file for the festivities http://www.ot-honfleur.fr/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Programme-Fête-des-Marins-2013.pdf?3f49bb

And according to the French , where are you the most happy living, which region? well surprise that the top three are my favorites areas in France other than the Paris/Versailles combo of past working and living. Aquitaine, came in first with 93% satisfaction ,this is the area of the southwest where Bordeaux is amongst others. Then comes the Pays de la Loire, where the great chateaux are; and then comes Bretagne, yes where I am living now ,and I can attest to that, its great too. These are the top 10;

• 1ea. Aquitaine (93 %)
• 1ea. Pays de la Loire (93 %)
• 3ea. Bretagne (91 %)
• 3ea. Alsace
• 5. Rhône-Alpes (90 %)
• 6ea. Midi-Pyrénées (89 %)
• 6ea. Auvergne (89 %)
• 8. Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (88 %)
• 9ea. Languedoc-Roussillon (85 %)
• 9ea. Poitou-Charente (85 %)

By the way the Paris Ile de France region came in one of the last at 70% lol!!! Well like I said, living and visiting are two different things. Here is in French the real estate publication, http://www.lavieimmo.com/divers-immobilier/les-regions-ou-il-fait-bon-vivre-18154.html

Since tomorrow is off day labor day, we have flea markets in Paris some of my favorites were/are:

On the 9ème arrondissement:
the street  rue Rochechouart is having a small market very friendly and cozy neighborhood gathering with about  80 tables  from 7h to 19H Rue Rochechouart, Métro Cadet

On the 12ème arrondissement:
the flea  Picpus  is been done on boulevard de Picpus, of course !  With about  100 tables with antiques items too. From 7h to 19h  Boulevard de Picpus, Métro Nation

On the  14ème arrondissement:
its happening at  place Maurice Noguès and goes on towards  avenue Marc Sangnier and avenue Maurice Noguès.  You have about  200 tables  with antiques and  new items ! From 6h to 18H at Place Maurice Noguès, Métro Porte de Vanves

You have on May 30th  the 5th edition of the La Veillée Food Stock on the roof of the Cité de la Mode et du Design. From 19h ,here is the fooding event, all so yummy and great music too, wonderful place ,and this year the place is great too the NUBA 36, quai d’Austerlitz, admission is 25€ webpage http://www.lefooding.com/evenements/2013/veillees-foodstock/#.UX_izJWEhfR

And until May 20 you have at Paris jardin d’acclimatation, Bretagne,yeah!!! with over 300 artists from the region showcasing their wares. You will see the «gwenn ha du» the famous Breton flag of black and white for three weeks.  The show will be from 10h to 19h, admission will be only 3€ adults. See more of it here, and do come to know my new region; in one of my top favorite parks of Paris, http://www.jardindacclimatation.fr/evenement/la-bretagne-au-jardin/

Baguettes are so important part of everyday life here that I could not wait to post this ,just in by the jury of the professional guilds of bakers in paris the top bakeries doing baguettes in Paris for 2013 are

1. Au Paradis du Gourmand – Ridha Khadjer. 156, rue Raymond Losserand, XIVe.

2. Boulangerie Raphaëlle – Sébastien Mayerts. 1, rue Feutrier, XVIIIe.

3. Boulangerie Damiani. 125, avenue du Clichy, XVIIe.

4. Christian Vabret. 27, rue Francois Miron, IVe.

5. Maison Cailleaud. 104, cours de Vincennes, 75012

6. Maison Landemaine – Yosuké Fijié. 56, rue du Clichy, IXe.

7. Dominique Saibron. 77, avenue du Géneral Leclerc, XIVe.

8.  Le Grenier à Pain lafayette. 91, rue Faubourg Poissonnière, IXe.

9. La Parisienne. 12, rue Coustou, XVIIIe.

10 tied. Claude Besnier. 40 rue du Bourgogne, VIIe.

10 tied. Samir Ben Habhab. 55 boulevard Gouvion Saint Cyr, XVIIe.

10 tied. Nicolas Marnay. 24, rue Saint-Martin, IVe.

Enjoy your day wherever you are. cheers

I just came back from more traveling,and already book for more next week, but did not want to tell you about the latest in France and especially Paris.

The new places for apero or small dishes a la French with an Anglo Saxon twist. My old work area has it good, Da Rosa Rive Droite,19 bis, rue du Mont-Thabor, Tél. +33 01 77 37 37 87. Open every day until  2h for the bar and  23h30 for the resto. Carte:from 15 €  (a glass of wine and a dish of tapas). No web.

The Grand Palais will have from June 10 to 22, the view on cinema from Fiat 500 automobiles!!! The biggest screen in Europe about  30 meters wide will project movies such as  Les Dents de la mer, Grease, Pulp Fiction, Taxi Driver, Annie Hallou and The Big Lebowski. In the heart of the nave there will be a big diner on orders from the Canadian chef  Gita Seaton offering «cheeseburgers, bacon & eggs, fried chicken and chocolate pudding». tariff of 10€s  adultes, 5€ under  12 yrs old.  Entrance and movies for 19€.

The Nuit aux Invalides is back from now to May 7. The production of Amaclio and Bruno Seillier will take you to a ride into the history of France. The placing will be the cour d’honneur du Musée de l’armée. you see more in the webpage http://www.lanuitauxinvalides.fr/ The producers will be doing two more exciting shows like the  Les Luminescences d’Avignon, at the Palais des papes, and in next August  Les Écuyers du temps, at the château des ducs d’Anjou in Saumur.

You have new places for spectacles such as Anthea in Antibes with the first show La Traviata of Verdi, the show began at this salle in April 6, webpage for it http://www.anthea-antibes.fr/fr/

In an old industrial park, you have a new place for artists, dancers etc right below Paris, Vitry-sur-Seine, and A La Briqueterie, more of it at webpage http://www.alabriqueterie.com/

Right down the road at Blois, you have the Fondation du Doute, a new space for expositions, meetings, performances of art; webpage http://www.fondationdudoute.fr/

Right in an area near to me ,as used to go there frequently for restos and bar a new steakhouse a la French is open. The Beef Club, 58 ,rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau, http://www.cityvox.fr/restaurants_paris/beef-club_200142021/Profil-Lieu , and since I am in the area do stop by at Toro, 74 Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau  ,the real Spanish in Paris, webpage http://www.toroparis.com/

And for you tourists freaks, the WTO =world tourism organisation part of the UN just told us we went over the 1 billion tourist mark, see it here http://media.unwto.org/en/press-release/2013-01-28/international-tourism-continue-robust-growth-2013

The new tourist site for one of my favorite cities in France, Toulouse, is SoToulouse and in English it is here the webpage http://www.toulouse-visit.com/ wonderful.

And let’s get SIDA over with will we, from June 28-30 2013 a series of concert for fund raising and fun for all. Some of the ones I know will be David Guetta, Django Django, Kery James,The Wombats, etc. It will be held at the Hippodrome de Longchamp, under the banner Solidays, and here is the webpage on how to get there and more, http://www.solidays.org/pratique/acces-horaires/

Until May 6 you have at the Opera Garnier de Paris, Conte de Fées with the opera Hansel and Gretel, see it http://www.operadeparis.fr/saison_2012_2013/operas/hansel-et-gretel-humperdinck/detail/ and if want to see work of light or lumiéres see Julio le Parc at the Palais de Tokyo until May 2013. First expo in France, webpage http://palaisdetokyo.com/fr/exposition/julio-le-parc

If you want to walk Paris with a local come and meet a greeter of Paris, a volunteer local Parisien who will take you around and show you the city. I know, walking Paris is best,and you can do but so many people ask me and I have no time ::) See the Paris Greeters webpage http://www.parisgreeters.fr/

See the beautiful gardens of the Chateau de Chantilly, one of my favorites in the region. There will be show casing there until July 7 2013,  under L’Enchateurs des Jardins, the art des jardin at the 17C and 18C. Official castle webpage http://www.domainedechantilly.com/domaine-de-chantilly/jardins-et-parc  , and from the region tourist office Oise, the gardens, http://www.oisetourism.co.uk/srit/detail/PNA/PNAPIC060FS0000B

If you want to catch the fine arts museum in Besancon go now, after it will be close for two years of renovations! Until September 15 2013, you have the Florilége, musée des Beaux-Arts, showing new works of recently renovated works of art and some never shown to the public before! A trip from the 14C to our days. webpage http://www.mbaa.besancon.fr/en/

About to the nord 59 and see the musée Matisse, a great collection of this great painter, started to use gouaches in 1947 and now 443 of his work will be in exhibit until June 9 2013. The museum is at Le Cateau-Cambrésis where nearby we have family. Webpage http://museematisse.cg59.fr/fr/Expositions/Matisselacouleurdecoup%C3%A9e/tabid/635/Default.aspx

The man of 40 castles or Bernard Magrez, is showcasing until July 21 2013 a series of paintings from his collection at the Chateau  Labottiére in the Medoc Bordeaux, wonderful works and great wine, guaranteed. The series at his institut is entitled Réves de Venice, Webpage http://institut-bernard-magrez.com/expositions/r%C3%AAves-de-venise

Of course, there is a lot lot more in France, but these are my favorites that I have been in the past and always look forward to what they have even if not in them for a while. Enjoy it. Cheers.

Well just notice had my Roman numerals wrong but then again nobody notice lol!!! Now I am ok at no 100. I am ,also, been away for a short while, so busy,and not traveling ::)

The latest unique thing about Paris is that LE LOUXOR at Barbés will be open again,closed since 1987!  It is a cinema opened in 1921 , closed in 1983 and then purchase by the city of Paris in 1987,renovations and voilà it will open on April 18.  170, bd Magenta, Paris 10éme,and the webpage http://www.cinemalouxor.fr/

Then, you come to the  Cinémathèque, here you will go deep into the subject, go along the passage Pommeraye de Nantes  build to it identical detail with its vitrines show windows, the photos of the films of  Jacques Demy.  This is the Parisien place par excellence with the echo of  Lola(1961),his first film and  «petit Jacquot de Nantes» ,the little jacques of Nantes that at  13 yrs old purchased his first camera, a  Baby Pathé. At the background music you will hear the nice songs composed by Michel Legrand, his brother.  There you see the chronologic of his life, scenarios, photos, model scenarios , paintings and advance of his films. 51, rue de Bercy Paris 12éme, and the webpage http://www.cinematheque.fr/

To follow on the libraries dealing with cinema cults and all about movies, the recommended ones are,

Hors Circuits (4, rue de Nemours, XIe. Tél.: 01 48 06 32 43) ..to find a DVD never re edited or a book out of print. http://www.horscircuits.com/

Librarie Eyrolles (55-63, bd Saint-Germain, Ve. Tél.: 01 44 41 11 74)… to borrow like the brothers  Lumière(144 p., 18 €).http://www.eyrolles.com/

Dixit Librarie (3, rue La Bruyère, IXe. Tél.: 01 49 70 03 33)…for a guided guide on scenarios from the small to the big screen. http://www.dixit.fr/home.php

Librairie du cinéma La Chambre Claire (14, rue Saint-Sulpice, VIe. 01 43 59 17 71). ..for the making of the films in photos. http://www.la-chambre-claire.fr/photo-cinema/index.php

Ciné Reflet (14, rue Serpente, VIe. 01 40 46 02 72)… to offer a biography, scenario or collector’s book out of print. http://www.cinereflet.fr/

Imagigraph (84, rue Oberkampf, XIe. Tél.: 01 48 07 54 20)… for funding books and the latest editions. http://www.imagigraphe.fr/

Some places in Paris to really soak in that cinema world, of places of film,scenes, and the aura of Paris, my favorites are L’Auberge Pyrénées Cévennes (106, rue de la Folie-Méricourt) , no webpage. Le Grand Colbert,  (2, rue Vivienne) http://www.legrandcolbert.fr/ , Le Bristol,  (112, rue du Fbg-Saint-Honoré), http://www.lebristolparis.com/fr/bienvenue/, Hôtel Amour,  (8, rue de Navarin), http://www.hotelamourparis.fr/ ; Opéra-Comique,  (5, place Boieldieu), http://www.opera-comique.com/ , Bar de l’Entracte,  (6, rue Montaigne) ,no webpage, L’Athénée Théàtre Louis Jouvet,  (square de l’Opéra Louis-Jouvet), http://www.athenee-theatre.com/

And then some mythical cinemas of Paris,like the la Pagode (57, rue de Babylone) and his wonderful garden, http://www.etoile-cinemas.com/pagode/; and the Cinéma du Panthéon, (13, rue Victor-Cousin) ,and its spirited ciné club,  http://cinema.pantheon.free.fr/, the Grand Rex (1, bd Poissonnière) , and is gigantic sound system, http://www.legrandrex.com/ , and the Studio 28 (10, rue Tholozé),http://www.cinemastudio28.com/

And if you need to buy movie memobilia you need to go here and take a souvenir for real, Defrise, 23, rue Basfroi      http://www.defrise.fr/

Something to reminicent of Paris in a cloudy, rainy, very windy night in Brittany ! Cheers!