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 CXLX February 3, 2017
In the meantime, life goes on and so does the expositions at the Louvre. You will be able to see the expo Vermeer et les maîtres de la peinture de genre; looking back of what the Dutch painters did in France. All going from the Sphinx de Delft to now, many works of art will be shown including the La Laitérie and portraits from painters from the Golden age on the Dutch will be display at the Sully wing to see the exposition of the Chefs-d’œuvre of the collection of Leiden, in the Dutch golden century. You will see as well the French painters Valentin de Boulogne in the Réinventer Caravage, all of the above will be on from February 22 to May 22 2017. A great exposition call Sérénissime ! Venise en fête, de Tiepolo à Guardi at the museum Cognac-Jay until June 25th. Reviving the great parties and carnivals of the city of the Doges thru about 60 works of the great masters of the city of Venice. ou run to see the wonderful portraits of Walasse Ting, and American artist of Chinese origin. It will be shown in the Museum Cernuschi until February 26. The Walasse Ting, Le voleur de fleurs; bring about 70 works of the painter including the monumental compositions of the women in vegetal corps, charge and color of erotism at its finest. And for the music incline, com to see the Romantique Authentique in the auditorium of the museum of Orsay from February 21 to June 13 2017 . Four concerts to discover the romantic repertoire for instrument of the times. Come back to the 19C at the museum Marmottan-Monet and meet the honorable impressionists representing one of the most importants in Camille Pissarro. The expo Le premier des impressionnistes ; from February 23 to July 2 2017 showing the work of the artist thru 75 of his works
And the ever present photomaton photo machines around France, well in Paris they have installed some golden metal structures with curtain and the crowning ornament where you can take photos in black and white ,4 photos for 3€! This is fotoautomat and these are at the 53bis rue des Francs Bourgeois (4eme), Palais de Tokyo (16eme), rue des Trois-Frères (18eme) and on the Centquatre (19éme).
we have the Maison de Victor Hugo, Place des Vosges putting on one of his famous poems in an exposition call La Pente de la rêverie until April 30th. You will be able to see the works of Piranèse, John Martin, François de Nome and the poet himself Another famous house that of the Maison de Balzac is showing until April the paintings inspired from the writer in Une Passion dans le Désert. Telling the story of a soldier and a panther that also inspired other artists like Gilles Aillaud, Eduardo Arroyo and Antonio Recalcat Come to the great event of Grand Musée du parfum that open last December in a mansion at 73 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré and previously mentioned in my blog
It you are into orchids then run to the Jardin des Plantes and see thousands of them in Mille et une Orchidées. Until May 14 2017 And for the lovers of Opera there is plenty in Paris. The works of Mozart to the honor this month, first , La Flûte enchantée at the Opéra Bastille until February 23rd And at the Opéra Palais Garnier , see the Cosi fan tutte until February 19
A wonderful Church of Paris has been renovated beautifully done. The Church Notre Dame de Lorette from the 19C renovates its baptism chapel and its paintings !!! The Church Notre-Dame-de-Lorette was built between 1823 and 1836. You must not miss the Chapel of the Virgin, and it lateral chapels such as Chapel of Marriage, Chapel of Baptism, chapel of communion, chapel Sainte Thérése, Chapel Saint Etienne , and Chapel Saint Hippolyte. All places keeping wonderful paintings , sculptures and bordering. It is at 8 Rue Choron (9eme) near metro Le Péletier line 7
Some news from France CXLXI February 12, 2017
The Catacombes that depository of bones in Paris closed again and finally reopen this weekend with its long line of waiting at the Place Denfert-Rochereau (14eme), one of the museums of the city of Paris most visited with 500K last year to discovered its 2km of underground deathly galleries. Bear in mind the number of visitors underground is limited to 200 at any time,and the entrance can be interrupted at any time if heavy affluence. You better come prepare for cold with some warm clothing as the temperature is never higher than 14C or 57F. The entry is done by 1 avenue du Colonel Henri-Rol-Tanguy (place Denfert-Rochereau) And do go to the Aquarium de la Porte Dorée, it has a beautiful building dating from the colonial exposition of 1931, with 5000 residents from 300 different species from all continents. There are shows for cocodriles and piranhas Want a real Parisien night a la Prohibition times ,then come to the 12, rue Frochot and visit the Bonnie and Clyde. You go down into the cave underground at the rare bar allow to stay open until 6h in Paris. off Place Pigalle and metro Pigalle
The first ice skating ring 210 meters high in the Tour Montparnasse! open since this past Friday. A synthetic floor without water or electricity! It is at the Observatoire Panoramique de la tour Montparnasse, 33 avenue du Maine (15eme), open until March 5th Somethings nice to do in Paris , go to the Parc Floral near the Chateau de Vincennes open from 9h30 to 17H. Floral collections, tuboggans and slides for kids or a walking tour of the park While above see the wolfs at the parc zoologique de Vincennes. At 15H there is the feeding of the four wolfs and take advantage of say hello to the monkeys and giraffes etc ; it’s a zoo At the Musée Rodin, you are in for a romantic evening with a background of Jazz and poems lectures, getting deeper into the artist love affair with Camille Claudel. An evening call Soirée Love au Musée Rodin, Tuesday February 14
And on the cour d’Honneur of the Chateau de Fontainebleau the famous iron horse stairs or escalier en fer à cheval dating from Louis XIII is due for renovation taken one year and about 2M €; Down south nice town, often by pass, the Chalons-sur-Saône in Burgundy, has a wonderful museum ,musée Nicéphore Niepce, all about photography. 28 quai des Messageries, near the river Saône, See from June 17 to September 17,2017 the exposition : Par-dessus tout :l’objet photographique
Caumont Centre d’Art ,3 Rue Joseph Cabassol in Aix-en-Provence show the exposition “Marilyn” telling the history of the relationship of Marilyn Monroe and the photographs and photographers in her history. The show will be on until May 1st
Again ,see the Galerie des Carosses in the Grand Ecurie across from the palace, great carriages drawn by the Kings of France. Open February 26 , March 19 , and April 16 and 30 2017. see the Opus at the Académie Equestre in the Grande Ecurie as well. horse show par excellent wonderful a must t the not far Chateau de Maisons–Laffitte, you can see in cinema splendeur the movies that have been filmed there . Until March 6 . See the movies like Chéreau directing Adjani in the Queen Margot; the kitchen scene of Gérard Depardieu in Vatel, the monumental stairs of Uma Thurman playing Cécile de Volanges and given to the viscount of Valmont played by John Malkovich. The scenes of Surviving Picasso by James Ivory or the Love and Death of Woody Allen; the costumes series of D’Artagnan of Claude Barma or the last of the series Versailles etc etc. From Paris you get here best by train, RER A from Saint Lazare And if you do get here for the movies, do not forget to get your gourmet goodies at one of my favorite stores in the area, Epicerie de Longueil; main street and not far from the RER A train station
Some news from France CXLXII February 15, 2017
Next to renovate and improve is Euro Disneyland, now call Disneyland Paris that opened in April 1992 at Marne-la-Vallée in Seine-et-Marne dept 77 east of Paris. Before it was only fields of beets. Now the area has 60 hectares with 29 attractions, 7 hotels, and the Festival Disney (now call Disney Village). It is as a whole the first attractions park open in Europe. After some shaky start it started it upwards move with the opening in 1995 of Space Mountains, from earth to the moon! By 2002, a second park is opened , Walt Disney Studio dedicated to the cinema. Then, in 2008 the Tour de la Terreur or terror tower opened. By 2012, it was already on its 20th anniversary, the first European tourist destination with about 16 million visitors. By 2014, a new attraction came on the Ratatouille the adventure of Remy. After ,again going thru some down trend in attendance , the park is expecting a rebound on its 25th anniversary in 2017 with a huge plan of renovation and innovations in the park ,that will not affect it’s operating hours.
Some of the newest hits on the perfume trail are : N° 5 L’eau, Chanel; feminine essence ,light and wear by Lily-Rose Depp. La Femme Prada, L’Homme Prada . new love version in duo interchangeable, fluidity in a perfume. L’Homme idéal, Guerlain: the guys stuff, male senses with hot vanilla, viril leather and strong wood. Contre moi, Louis Vuitton. gourmand and addiction in all its dimensions; work vanilla like a second skin, regressive juice with pastry smells. Miss Dior Absolutely Blooming, Dior . a perfume to feel love, and here you will, the fragrance at the heart of the designer today re invented with flowers and fruits
And now we have an Airbus A-380 straight from the airport Toulouse-Blagnac coded the 4L DD landing at Le Bourget at 15h30 to join the collection at the museum or musée de l’Air et de l’Espace . The plane is one of four testing planes of Airbus and has 3 360 flying hours.
About something to eat and surrounded by history, but not in Paris;just outside. The Brasserie Biron, a site of rdv of Kurt Russell, Charles Aznavour ,and Pierce Brosnan; all have come to drink a glass here . The brasserie or brewery restaurant is located in the same neighborhood name in the town of Saint-Ouen. The same of the famous flea market of Paris generally known as. All over the walls you will see portraits of Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Jean Gabin as well as one from the flea market from their time. This is the real France of the times, the rest of the week the owners take care of their small hotel , Hotel Villa Biron ,just a couple steps from the restaurant. It has 10 rooms that have already host the actrice Mathilde Seigner while filming the series Sam.
One of my favorites shopping places and where used to rent cars is the shopping or centre commercial des 3 Fontaines at Cergy (Val d’Oise dept 95) off the A13 direction Rouen. It is one of the top 20 biggest in France The new renovations will begin in September with paintings, flooring, lighting, etc all re done new.It will be done at night and will take about a year to do.They will do a covered parking with 3150 spaces either underground, super structured or on the roof of the shopping center.
And ,still another improvement to a nice park I have taken my boys since early age even visiting before living permanently here; the Parc Astérix. The building of the Pégase Express, a rollercoaster of about 1 km long, in a mythical ride with strong sensations link to the mythology and the cartoon BD of Goscinny and Udezo. The train stop will be call Lutéce, Alexandrie, or Olympie. The speed will be up to 52 kph or about 30 mph and for 3 minutes you will go thru a tunnel to reach an antique temple where sleep the terrible Medusa. It will give you a scare and make the trains go in reverse while looking at a Pegasus 5 meters high, the winged horse. To house this train, a station will be built call Montparnassos from the train will depart. The building housing it will be 17 meters high and 24 meters wide. You will need to be 1 meter (about 3,3 feet) tall to ride it. It should be ready by next June 2017
Some news from France CXLXIII February 20, 2017
First, let me tell you about the wonderful world of Auguste RODIN. Shortly after his heart fell after the separation from Camille Claudel, Rodin go to lived in the Villa des Brillants in 1893 with the idea of leaving from it all. He died in the summit of his glory in 1917. His 100 years are celebrated with appearing in the coins of 2€ from the Monnaie de Paris soon in circulation, to the film interpreted by Vincent Lindon that will have his biopic expected out in May. His collection is now in the Hôtel Biron at Paris 7éme where most of his works is held or at Meudon (Hauts de Seine dept 92)his last home. In this modest house of red bricks sitting on a hill facing Mont Valérien where today it is very calm.There is his major work of “Amis de la dernière heure “. His atelier shop , main room big and lighted with a renaissance bed in the middle. Rodin, full of work had built the pavillon de l’Alma, where he shows his work in the garden in 1900. The current museum conserve the spirit of his atelier shop, here several works in plasters. Of which many had a splashing revue and even scandals such as the ” L’Âge d’airain”, in 1877. Rodin was accused of making the model from a men. Several years later he did the famous thinker or “Le Penseur” that was treated as a gorilla by his contemporaries; also the ” Balzac” ,and ” pingouin”. Several years before his death he wrote : The real artist always express what he think at the risk of shoving all the establish prejudice or ” Le véritable artiste exprime toujours ce qu’il pense au risque de bousculer tous les préjugés établis “. Musée Rodin Meudon, 19, avenue Auguste-Rodin, à Meudon (92)
At the rénovation of the stairs to the Grande Arche de La Défense, the escalator is been renovated for quite a while now slow due to high winds. It should be done by April 1st 2017 in the presence of the President of the French Republic (France). It will ,then, be open to the public every day; the panoramic elevators/lifts will allow you to climb to the top of the Arch where it will be a restaurant, exposition space, auditorium, and exterior promenade to see Paris at 360°.
The Great Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), a legend amongst the greats of the painting, his imaginary milklady painted as a real queen with a sort of Virgin Mary immortalised in the daily work and exposed at the Rijkmuseum in Amsterdam. Exceptionally, it will be exposed since February 22nd to May 22nd at the Louvre in the company of 11 other works by the artist master of Delft. There are 36 works of Vermeer that are known, and a third of it will be reunited here . All next to the « La Laitière » , you will see the « La Dentellière » , a lady of high society in a work of art. Exposition : « Vermeer et les maîtres de la peinture de genre ». Paris, musée du Louvre, hall Napoléon
The Basilique de Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis dept 93) necropolis of the kings of France from Dagobert to Louis XVIII, prototype of the Cathedrals of Notre Dame de Paris will see its tower arrow of 85 meters again. It was raised between 1190-1230 and in disrepair from 1846 due to violent storm that befell 12 bells in the region, and needed to take it down in 1847. The ok to built is ok with conditions on the financing, this will happened soon so stay tune.
Now what about that word “Château” that is define an AOP region in wine country of France. It should not be confuse with the word Château….. the viticole designation was created for good by article 7 of the decree law of May 4 2012. It simply states the word Château is designated to those wine regions of AOP designation that are issue from grapes harvest on plot of land that are use for wine production as well as making it. This is well known in the area of Bordeaux from the 19C and extended to the SouthWest, Languedoc-Roussillon,Provence, and Rhône regions. In the south, there is ,also a château in Champagne, the Château de Boursault. In Burgundy there are some but rare as the majority of plots here are too small and owners with different plots in different areas . The first time the term was seen was from a decree of August 19 1921 given life to an existing wine exploitation and to provide a cultural meaning as said in a bottle. Therefore, when the bottle says “bottled in the Château” is about a businessmen or négociant that purchased the wine already produce to have bottled himself under the commercial name of his choice, cannot use the word Château ; unless as often happenned in the Bordeaux region that this négociant is also the owner of the vineyard. SO he is under the term proprietor and not négociant . Another distinction is not to have the name Château if the wine comes from a non AOC area such as a table wine level. After all these, how can our American friends taken a tradition of a century and a half could take this name to use in their vineyards areas. when there is already a English term for it such as “Estate”, unless only for economic intentions ,they pull the cork too far ::) France , UNESCO World Heritage immaterial for gastronomy and wine.
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 