In my new life as retiree my blog is my biggest entertainement and before anything else, I like to thank everyone of my readers and followers to stay with me over the years since November 26 2010 !!! Thank you !!! I decided to trim some of my older posts in my series Some news from France and condense them as not to lose the most important parts, me think, of them, Therefore, this is my new work, the condense news of my belle France, Hope you enjoy it as I.
Some news from France CXXX June 17, 2016
On June 17 and June 20, Placido Domingo fans can listen in La Traviata by Verdi at the Opéra Bastille, The return of a myth after fifteen years of absence. The contemporary Los Angeles scene at the Mona Bismarck American Center extended a second show at the galerie Thaddaeus Ropac de Pantin. On play the “Wasteland New Art from Los Angeles” inviting 15 young artists from the West Coast to demonstrate that the city of Los Angeles is not a cultural desert. Until July 17.
At Rennes, the garden of the Confluence, which meets the waters of the Ille and the Vilaine rivers at Rennes is regularly crowded whenever a ray of sunshine warms its lawns. The Vilaine, one of the first courses of water channeled in France (from the 16C), The quai Saint-Cyr and the quai to Auchel become meccas of the aperitif outdoor , running, petanque, and the puck on wooden plank , a traditional Breton game . On Sunday, Apigne beach is for some Rennais, including those who do not go to St-Malo is a nice place to lay down. Pont-Rean the site of the Boel, a gorge surrounded by cliffs of purple shale is a must see there
The Ford is back to France, at Le Mans 24 hrs car race that is and big time indeed ;my favorite car ::) You will see the old Hotel de France at La Chartre-sur-le-Loir. The first was destroyed to make room for parking. The second, he is still standing. An address known far beyond the border of the Department of Sarthe, even across the channel to believe the registration plates of parked cars . The Hotel de France it is here that John Wyer landed in 1964 at the head of the stable, Ford the GT40 to join the circuit by road!.In those days the last one to leave the road tests sometimes on the D29 road towards Tours or on the long straight of the D304 road . In 1966, Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon manage finally to put an end to the invincibility of Ferrari. Ford carries out even one triple filling the podium with his GT40 V8-powered with a single wiper from a Boeing 707 to ensure excellent visibility in the rain at more than 200 km/h on average. Since this date, the firm of Maranello (Ferrari) has never won the event while Ford won again in 1967, 1968 and 1969 the world most famous endurance test. The place has not changed much since those days. It has been modernized without betraying the atmosphere. Only the pool has replaced bathing in the river Loir. The Hotel de France has become part of the Ford epic ; 50 years later Ford is back and celebrating it in two ways. On the one hand with a limited “Black series” throughout its performance range (Fiesta ST, Focus ST, Focus RS and Mustang). In homage to the GT40 N2, 50 units of each model will sport a black body with the famous white stripes. On the other hand the blue oval brand returned to the category LM –GTE Pro and intends to again write history.
Some news from France, CXXXI June 20, 2016
This Sunday, the small Church Saint-Germain de Charonne , Paris 20éme ;(well known to lovers of heritage but also fans of the cult “les Tontons flingueurs“ film the final scene was shot here) will host again parishioners for the first time since December 2009. It is on this date that the Church of the 12C was closed for rénovations , Last Saturday the bridge of Grenelle (pont de grenelle 15éme) came to the reconstruction of history. On Tuesday, June 18, 1940 and the days that followed the call of General de Gaulle to the resistance, 790 cadets of Saumur, grande école de cavalerie, had fought valiantly alongside the French battalions to repel the advance of German forces to the South of the Loire. The bridge of Grenelle was renamed bridge of Grenelle-Cadets-de-Saumur in homage to these heroes, the public could attend an intake weapon involving many students officers while one of the survivors of the time spoke of his memories, followed by a grand parade in period costumes organized by l’Association Kufra.
The 8th edition of ‘Saint-Maur in Pocket’, French literary event devoted to the book‘s in format pocket, near 30 000 curious came to buy books, and meet authors; this past June 18th. . Even the Queen of England, her lookalike came surveying this library open because this edition was under the sign of the British Isles. Co-organised by the City/Town Hall and the Griffe Noir or Black Claw, this weekend event also distinguished the best writers of the moment. Thomas H. Cook took the price of the polar, Bernard Prou, french novel Award and the public was given to Agnès Abécassis for the soft kiss of Tyrannosaurus.
In the parvis of the Cathedral of Meaux, this past Saturday afternoon, many passers-by who stop at the new fountain. Opened at 14h, the fountain consists of a statue depicting a standing woman , carrying a baby, stairs, where streams of water falls. On the back, a plaque indicates the name “Source of life – Marne flows fertile and peaceful“, and specifies that “here stood a fountain from the 13C to the 16C. The Marne, in latin, means mother, the latter, which is actually from the 15C was built when the city of Meaux was divided in two towns. When Meaux has been reunified, shortly after 1510, the two parishes in the other part of the town, together with five others, were therefore not represented by the fountain. The division symbol, it then was destroyed. Meaux my first town in France, my wife is a native.
Placido Domingo after Paris visit Bougival last Sunday to discover the villa Viardot, the name of the famous singer of the 19C. He ,then visited the dacha of Turgenev and the House of Georges Bizet. The first stone of the future hotel Holiday Inn Express Roissy just came to be. The hotel will be located in the heart of the Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, close to terminal 1. It will have 305 rooms, will be the largest among the fourteen chain Holiday Inn in France and one of the largest in Europe. The opening of the facility is scheduled for 2018 .And I stayed here in Nov19 !!
Taking breakfast at one of the beauties of Versailles, the Trianon Palace Hotel at the salon Clemenceau, it would be difficult to imagine that the hotel was in many wars. It started as an auxilary hospital for the British troops in WWI, office hq of the Royal Air Force, and then the Luftwaffe during WWII, it saw the arrival of the Americans in 1944. Built in the Classic style, it ,also knew peace. Amongst the Crystal lights it saw the signage of the Treaty of Versailles.
And at the Hotel national de l’Invalides until August 26th the La Nuit aux Invalides festival. On the banks of the Seine at the shimmering frilly of the Belle Époque, the clatter of the war of 1914 to the cannonade welcoming the death of the King, they are 2000 years of history of France and its capital that enchant the Cour d’honneur. Until 26 June, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris. To mark its anniversary the museum will be open 30 hrs straight From Saturday to Sunday next. And to the 30 October in Cannes, Salvador Dali ou l’ivresse des rêves or drunken dreams. At the Centre d’Art Malmaison. Over 170 works of art on display.
Some news from France CXXXII June 24, 2016
You want to follow Hemingway on his bars around the world, well here they are : El Floridita in Havana centro nothing did more for his fancies since 15 it was here he said. He was ,also, at Sloppy Joe’s , Key West, Ritz hotel bar at Paris or the Chicote in Madrid . Also, Harry’s bar at Venice, Italy, and more while in Paris ,he also, went to La Closerie des Lilas, Le Dingo (now gone where he met F. Scott Fitzgerald ) or the Le Nègre de Toulouse resto now gone too. And of course, many others, who hasn’t read the book and this famous words of always true Paris “ If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”
At the House or Maison de Balzac, until October 2, 2106, Expo on Balzac and the artists, myth and reality , See Charles le Brun, the sun king painter, until August 29 2016 at Lens ,Louvre museum And one of my favorites park when working in Paris and living in Versailles was to go to the Jardin de Bagatelle in the bois de Boulogne ,exactly on the allée de Longchamp street. You can get here from Neuilly on bus 43 or 244 leaving from metro Pont de Neuilly. The park is open from March 1st to Sept 30th from 8h30 to 19h and the rest of the year from 9h to 17h. The castle in it is open from March 15 to October 31st Saturdays and Sundays afternoons. This park was built on a spirit of the times a game of words when Marie-Antoinette yell chichel and the count of Artois (brother of the king Louis XVI) yell bagatelle. It took 900 workers working day and night in 1775. The gardener was Thomas Blaikie in the anglo chinese style, with an English garden with Under wood spots of water and shady grasses with cascades, caves, and a love pavillion. In the 19C the garden was enlarged into an orangerie and a parterre à la French style. One of its owner was Richard Wallace (the same of the fountains Wallace) and adds pavillions of hunting and the Trianon. It was acquired in 1904 by the city of Paris that adds a rosary ,themes gardens ,and contest on gardening specially on roses.
Camoin dans sa Lumiére or lights in the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence , and see the Relationship of artists like Cézanne, Matisse , etc, until October 2, 2016. In my beloved Versailles, the palace is holding a mémorial on the days of Charles De Gaulle in the palace running until November 9, 2016 And the coaches or horse carriage museum (Galerie des Carrosses) will reopen in Versailles after many years of renovation better than ever do not miss this opportunity. Until October 25 2016 you can see the Les Jardins Musicaux or musical gardens , to see the gardens in summer is wonderful, with all its hidden corners and sections done with a musical promenade. In the city of Versailles the famous Lycée Hoche (high school) will host an exposition on its actions during WWI call 14-18 au Lycée Hoche-students and wounded reunited ,On until December 1st 2016 La voie de l’écuyer opus 2016, (way of the squire) in the Grande écuries in front of the palace of Versailles, directed by Bartabàs The same Bartabàs will do every Sunday mornings the Les Matinales des écuyers new version. Visit into the intimacy of work sessions, witness the rider’s daily training
Some news from France CXXXIII June 27, 2016
This Tuesday, June 28th at 5.30 p.m., 40 of the largest private donors who funded the restoration of the belt of light of the Opéra Garnier, will unveil the 18 bronze caryatids freshly rehabilitated. They are still hidden behind a discreet veil, to preserve the surprise. Side of Rue Scribe, already restored caryatids are in place. the most decorated side rue Halévy will have it’s 18 caryatids (women naked carrying a lantern – over their heads) will be unveiled. But their stone base has totally changed. Far from scandal, when placed in 1874, they should now welcome the Parisians.
ON 3 July, for the first time in its history, the BHV-Marais will officially open on Sunday. This store which will celebrate in September its 160 years!!! Goodbye the Salon de thé, and hello the chocolate cellar. The famous chocolatier Jean-Paul Hévin has just opened its new chocolate cellar store at 231 rue Saint-Honoré (Ier), in the courtyard of a building dating from the 18C, close to the place Vendôme The House of Chanel has chosen to relocate three of its arts and crafts in the match factory in Aubervilliers in July 2015,and now it has set its sights on the Porte D’aubervilliers to implement by 2020 its ‘Manufacture de la mode” which will put together some fifteen workshops, so-called”art houses”of its Paraffection subsidiary
The Louvre is not only one of the most famous museums in the world. It is also a film set that has welcomed the Da Vinci Code, by Ron Howard (2006), adapted from the Dan Brown bestseller. Woody Allen loves Paris and in “Everyone says I Love You” (1997), the character played by the Director himself went on the Pont-Neuf with his loaf of bread under the arm, while his” Midnight in Paris “(2011) played by Owen Wilson took good time on the Quays of the île de la Cité, at the foot of the famous 36 Quai des Orfèvres. Now on July 10th, the Eiffel Tower will find some calm and its usual hue. The suite will be played in theaters. The blockbuster of the summer produced by 20th Century leaves no doubt about its future. Indeed, displays of “Independence Day: Resurgence“, in theaters July 20, shows the Parisian monument ready to undergo the attack of a spaceship.
A fleet of 1,000 ships flying 200 insignias and the Hermione as a main boat. From July 13 to 19, Brest 2016 looks like an exception ,not to miss indeed. Stroke of luck on the calendar, the 7th edition of these maritime festivals, given every four years For fall, it is been build an aerial tramway, the first cable car city of France. It will fly over the Penfeld, between the bottom of the famous rue de Siam, left bank and right bank, a new district built on a former military site rehabilitated. Three-minute panoramic overview of the arsenal, at the price of a single tram ticket. Brest has the last army citadel since the 17C (Vauban) and still in activity. Since the 1950’s, it houses the maritime (naval govt) and a Maritime Museum. An exhibition “Brest, port of freedom, at the time of the American Revolution”, will open Until April 2017, with more than fifty works, including a model of the Hermione boat (took Marquis de Lafayette to help Gen Washington) ,and the sword of Lafayette to show the commitment of France and the strategic role of the Breton port in the war of the American colonists against the British Crown The exhibition «Tours en cape» on July 2-3 , The anniversary date of the ordination of St Martin, will be presented a show of cape and sword, «Saint – Martin Tours». A village of the era will be installed on the Place Anatole-France. In its center, the giant statue of St Martin, 4 meters (about 13 feet) in height, that one that is usually on the cupola of the Basilica. It will then be covered by a giant glass dome.
Some news from France CXXXIIII June 29, 2016
The Fashion Week man summer 2017 continues in Paris with fashion houses Givenchy,Hermès, Louis Vuitton, or even Paul Smith. Only absence noted, Yves-Saint Laurent
While in Normandy you have a dreamy park bordered by aisles of century-old beech around Miromesnil. At the foot of the castle where was born Guy de Maupassant, a spectacular grass parterre leads to infinity while under the windows of the old kitchens, an extraordinary garden where the beautiful nearby flourishes. Guarded by high walls of brick which warm them and protect them from the nearby sea winds, squares of vegetables and flowers wisely aligned are organized along Green alleys. Château de Miromesnil, Terres de Miromesnil, 76550 Tourville-sur-Arques.
The parc Saint-James in Neuilly-sur-Seine was in restauration for nearly a year. It is own by the Department of the Hauts-de-Seine, no 92 since 2009. The aim was to restore the Park to the state where it was (or almost) when it was created in the 18C. The Grand rock, the Palladian bridge, the Doric column, antique vases and garden dating back to 1925 have been restore. It was a nice walk after attending the many meetings in the city for many years for me
In the town of Kremlin-Bicêtre, south of Paris suburbs the street or rue Pierre-Curie exist since 1926. However, Marie Curie who died 8 years later was never added to the street name until now. Cérémonies are for today at 19h on the rue Pierre-et-Marie-Curie. In my old neck of the woods, nearby Maisons-Laffitte is been name an Imperial city of France! This is a title given already by an association created in 2011 upon the initiative of the city of Rueil-Malmaison (Hauts-de-Seine), together with the cities of Compiègne (Oise), Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne),and Saint-Cloud (Hauts-de-Seine). The city includes the Castle visited many times by emperor Napoléon 1er, the parc de Jacques Laffitte, the banker of the Emperor, and many villas built Under the Second Empire as well as a collection of objects of arts and engraving dating from the two periods. See the best of the Big Apple on the big screen through the festival outdoor Cinema au clair de lune (from July 29 to August 14 contemplate the iguana Iggy Pop on stage at the festival Rock en Seine of the domaine de Saint-Cloud (92, 26-28 August). The Butte du Chapeau Rouge Park to enjoy short films and free concerts of the 15th edition of the festival Silhouette (from August 26 to September 23). feel in Bombay for a day (August 28) thanks to the colorful feast of Ganesh in the 10th and 18th arrondissements. enjoy the Chamber music festival of the Orangerie de Sceaux (from August 13 to September 18). The Flâneries musicales de Reims 2016 held from June 23 to July 12 2016 at several sites including the city of Reims. This is the 27th edition with more than 50 concerts Under the direction of artistic director of the festival Jean-Philippe Collard. It will be held in about 50 sites in the city and surrounding areas.
There you go folks, a big task but a work of love to keep the best, me think of these wonderful older posts over the years, These are what I think worth keeping of my older Some news from France series, and I thank you, Again, hope you enjoy this post as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 