This is my latest from my belle France ; as we are imoving right along in Winter and the sun is out ! We can have 6 more weeks of winter due to the marmotte so they say, However, is that time again to tell you my latest rants about some news from France. An eventful post in my blog that I have enjoyed together with you for the last 12+ years , And for those non Roman CCCLXXXIII is 383 ! ,with another dandy round of news of my belle France , of course, chosen by me; there are many others. We will be tidy and drinking a nice glass of wine ! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The construction site of Notre-Dame: From Tuesday March 7 2023 , a new exhibition invites you to discover the restoration site and its trades. It’s free and for everyone. it offers a 300 square meter course in four stages. In the introduction, a room allows visitors to watch a new film of about fifteen minutes, which traces the fire and the history of the site since April 15, 2019. Further on, it is a large model which highlights restoration work, and in particular that of the framework. Finally, and above all, eight thematic islands are devoted to specific techniques and know-how. Finally, a large fresco presents all the trades mobilized on this extraordinary site. With the hope of arousing, among young people, some vocations. Notre-Dame de Paris: At the heart of the construction site”, at the House of construction and trades, forecourt of the cathedral (entrance opposite 6, rue de la Cité, 4éme. Until the reopening of the Cathedral. Tuesday to Sunday, 10h to 20h Free, without reservation. Webpage :https://www.batiactu.com/edito/notre-dame-metiers-art-nouveau-a-honneur-sur-chantier-63835.php
The treasures of Notre-Dame exhibited at the Cité de l’architecture de Paris Immense, 8 meters high, the photo captures you as soon as you enter the exhibition “Notre-Dame de Paris, from builders to restorers” at the Cité of architecture (16éme). Taken the day after the fire of April 15, 2019, it shows the scale of the tragedy, the collapsed vaults revealing the sky, the piles of charred debris from the frame and the spire strewn on the ground, and immediately immerses you in the heart of the matter the restoration of the most famous cathedral in the world: Webpage: https://www.citedelarchitecture.fr/fr/agenda/exposition/notre-dame-de-paris-des-batisseurs-aux-restaurateurs
Chantilly, Pierrefonds, Compiègne… 2022, a record year for the châteaux of the Oise dept 60, historic attendance. At the Château de Chantilly , we do not hide our pleasure when discussing the number of visitors over the past year. And for good reason, in 2022, they are 525,000 to have crossed the gates of the monument bequeathed by the Duke of Aumale to the Institut de France. Webpage Oise tourisme :https://www.oisetourisme.com/visiter/les-incontournables/
Maincy, the first village in Île-de-France region to receive the « Petite Cité de caractère » or Small City of Character label The castle of Vaux-le-Vicomte, a 17C jewel, offers an additional cachet to this village of 1,858 inhabitants , Located 4 km from the center of Melun the famous Pont de Maincy bridge immortalized by the painter Cézanne, Maincy also hides nuggets like the Maison des Carmes which housed the Royal Tapestry Factory of Maincy before Colbert transferred it to Paris to the Gobelins, a drinking trough, a washhouse and a large fountain in the heart of the village, the medieval Church of Saint-Étienne… In fact, out of 1,019 hectares of surface area, Maincy has only urbanized 104 of them. The rest is divided between woods and agricultural land, in town center ,there is a brewery, a restaurant, a bakery, a grocery store, a hairdresser and a post office. Maincy Webpage: https://www.maincy.fr/patrimoine/
The official Petite Cité de Caractére awaiting post of Maincy :https://www.petitescitesdecaractere.com/en/explore-petites-cites-de-caractere-small-towns-character/maincy
The collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Quimper, created by Breton artists of the 19-20C, including Gauguin, Boudin or Sérusier, will discover the land of the rising sun, Japan, on the occasion of a traveling exhibition on the theme Wind and Light. The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Quimper, inaugurated in 1872 following a donation made by Jean-Marie de Silguy (he bequeathed his entire collection, i.e. 1,200 paintings and drawings) has a magnificent private collection of works, focusing mainly on European painters from the 18-20C, including Breton artists linked to the Pont-Aven school. You can admire sketches by Rubens, paintings by Fragonard or François Boucher, Breton artists, Émile Bernard, Paul Gauguin, Paul Sérusier, Théophile Deyrolles or Eugène Louis Boudin, to name but a few. As part of a traveling exhibition on the theme “Wind and Light”, 63 paintings will therefore be loaned to Japanese museums in Tokyo, Fukushima, Shizuoka, Toyohashi and Hiroshima. The exhibition will present the chronology of painting in the production of Breton landscapes (from the 19-20C), from the last fire of naturalism, to pre-impressionism with the School of Pont-Aven, to the neo-impressionist, and to the “Black Band” to end with Fauvism and Art Deco. Japan is very fond of the works of the painters of the School of Pont-Aven, finding there many resonances with the art of Japanese prints. . Webpage :https://www.mbaq.fr/en/home-3.html
On the Paris-Mantes line, trains have been cancelled… due to a lack of personnel on line J between Gare Saint-Lazare and the Yvelines (78) . About fifty drivers are missing on the entire Transilien network. Line J, which leaves in particular from Mantes-la-Jolie, is particularly affected, Just a tad but a problem all over the train lines sadly this line was taken by yours truly several times while living in the area.
Salon de l’agriculture or Agricultural show: at the time of the closing of the halls of the Porte de Versailles which recorded 615,204 visitors The record dates back to 2014, with more than 700,000 visitors. This is over but here for the record I could not go this year,: , Webpage : https://www.salon-agriculture.com/
The new temporary exhibition at the Val-d’Oise Archaeological Museum in Guiry-en-Vexin follows in the footsteps of Homo neanderthalensis, in the light of the most recent discoveries and local archaeological pieces. Indeed an interesting museum worth the detour, Webpage : https://www.valdoise.fr/608-le-musee-archeologique-departemental-du-val-d-oise.htm
At the Musée de l’Orangerie, in Paris, an exhibition over ten years that transformed Matisse, Chez Matisse, it was later: it was at the age of 60, in 1929, that he abandoned his women to run the guilledou. We are not talking here about his wife, but about the models that, for fifteen years, living in Nice, he painted in eternal bayadères. Odalisques that modern critics agree to find syrupy at will and of which he himself said he was disgusted. He was saved by a doctor, Doctor Barnes, who had been collecting him for a long time, and by a strong journey, which led him to cross the Atlantic (by ocean liner), then by train in the United States, from New York to San Francisco. , until embarking for Tahiti. It is this story, and the fruitful years that followed, that tells the exhibition of the Musée de l’Orangerie, until May 29, 2023. Webpage : https://www.musee-orangerie.fr/fr/agenda/expositions/matisse-cahiers-dart-le-tournant-des-annees-30
Sad news of one of my all time favorite French singers, Long interviewed in the magazine “Seven to eight” on TF 1 this past Sunday evening, Florent Pagny, who thought he was in remission from his lung cancer, announces that he has undergone a biopsy because of a worrying lymph node. Florent Pagny, back to the wall , or in the face of recurring cancer, kept his freedom to speak, In January 2022, the historic coach of “The Voice”, even if he does not participate in the new edition, announced that he had to interrupt the tour of his 60th birthday after the diagnosis of a cancerous tumor in the lung. Since then, TF 1 journalist Audrey Crespo-Mara has met him three times, in June in Paris, in November in New York and then, one last time, in January in Patagonia, Argentina where he spent the winter in his other home, his wife’s country, I keep up with news and wish him and his family the best, I know the sad truth of it all, If want to know more of him in French: https://www.florentpagny.org/biographie/
His official webpage show up coming concerts but of course all pending and difficult to be on: http://florentpagny.fr/
It has seen monarchs, heads of state and stars from all over the world: the Hôtel de Crillon is a luxury setting in the center of Paris, but also a place with a rich and diverse history. The Hôtel de Crillon shares its colonnaded façade erected in 1758 with its neighbors in the Place de la Concorde, the Automobile Club de France and the Hôtel de Coislin. The Blues celebrated their victories there in 1998 and 2000 football World Cups, greeting the crowd massed on the Place de la Concorde (8éme) from the balcony. Andy Warhol, Orson Welles and even Michael Jackson stayed there, John Travolta got married there in 1991, Celine Dion and Jennifer Lopez came there, as did the K-pop group Black Pink recently. Here, again, was signed in 1919 the pact of the League of Nations, ancestor of the UN, Webpage: https://www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/hotel-de-crillon
The Seven Kings, an English pub with barber shop hidden in the heart of Courchevel ,An authentic English pub with vintage decor and a lively atmosphere. Owned by the Fahrenheit Seven Hotel and its managers, The Seven Kings plunges us into a so British universe both hushed and baroque where the scent of beer is added to that of leather Chesterfields and the wood of the walls, To sustain the thirst, the house offers a sharp selection of 7 English and Scottish draft beers, British gins and signature cocktails. From Thursday to Saturday evening, The Seven Kings raises the mercury by inviting an eclectic selection of DJs and performers (electro, rock, house and groovy) to ignite the address and melt the ice. If The Seven Kings also has a table football, the real originality is hidden in a small room adjacent to the bar: The Royal Barber Club, an authentic barber-shop which offers gentlemen an express treatment between two pints in a decor still once immersive at will. The Seven Kings, 114 rue du Marquis , Courchevel , From Tuesday to Sunday from 17h to 01h Webpage :https://www.fahrenheitseven.com/en/restaurant-bar-courchevel/bar-pub-courchevel-seven-kings.html
There you go folks, another round of my some news from France coming to you freely by the road warrior travel guy . Hope you enjoy this post and do take care as winter is winding down sofly , with no white in sight, great,,, And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 