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 CLXX October 2, 2017
Inside the Palais de Tokyo at the Les Grand Verres, you have a place with a bar of 13 meters long and creation of big American burgers of Preston Miller; you can reserve a table with an alcove and a view of the Tour Eiffel. Very healthy food here indeed And I have already mentioned before the new opening of the Hôtel Crillon at the place de la Concorde, well rooms from 1200€ and menu at the restaurant from 95-260€. All sitting behind its grand facade built in 1758 at the request of king Louis XV. You can dine of choice in the Les Ambassadeurs bar, Brasserie d’Aumont, and the Jardin d’Hiver. Just Paris is all about to the world
How about that wonderful Chou or the Paris-Brest cake. You know it was created in 1910 by Louis Durand a baker/pastry maker from Maisons-Laffitte. As he celebrated the passing of the peloton of cyclist in the Paris-Brest cycling race by the Croix de Noailles near his shop. The crown cream filling looks like the wheels of a bicycle. The Maison Durand still exist at Maisons-Lafitte (one of my hangouts when living in Versailles) ,and now managed by one of his great grandson, Stéphane. A must and a nice racecourse indeed near by
The famous Galeries Lafayette store at Haussmann has tours of the store with a guide. A world of watches until October 22nd will be on display with the biggest names in watches; also military style clothing from Army and Navy. Over 70K square meters of store a symbol of Parisien elegance with more than 3500 brands from all the best ,You now the neighborhood around the biggest flea market in the world Puces de Saint Ouen are undergoing transformation all around the fleas. New restaurants, boutique hotels, cinema, and much more. See it and enjoy it here
The biggest Congress hall of Europe is opening November 2017 by the Porte de Versailles. The Paris Convention Center. A chamber room hosting 5200 persons seated with 72K sq meters of exposition space !!! A new concept in work, my company has it too. I do not believe in it but a growing trend. CoWorking,sharing spaces for better working environment. The American We Work Lafayette started one space near the Opéra Garnier with 2400 places starting of 450€ per month. 33 rue Lafayette, 9eme arrondissement. The city of Paris and IAU of île de France team up to get some interesting statistics for the young in the city. According to this study, there are 410K children under 18 yrs in Paris out of 2,2m inhabitants or 18,50% of the population. It has 298 elementary schools, and 2300 hectares of green spaces or about 5700 acres or 22% of the total city surface. And this one you should know, it has 313 museums including the museum on grass or musée en Herbe.
Paris has many examples of the Romans were here. These includes the Institut National des Jeunes Sourds de Paris (125 rue Saint Jacques); Thermes de Cluny (extended on present day blvd Saint-Germain and blvd Saint Michel and see the walls in the museum) , arénes de Lutéce ( done in the rive gauche are by the building at 49 rue Monge where balls like petanque are play today), Aqueduct (found in the parc Montsouris at avenue de Reille), Puits (wells) gallo roman , parking , and the crypte archéologique. The story goes that Paris was calle Lutécia by the Romans, however the name recently has been found out to be from the Gallic word Lucotecia meaning marsh , You can go from the thermes de Cluny by the rue de la Sorbonne to the place de la Sorbonne and see the vestiges of it. The city contour the areas of the 4eme and 5eme arrondissement of today in the succession of streets such as rue Saint Jacques, rue de la Cité, and rue Saint Martin. At the end of this axis on the current blvd Saint Michel you see the Roman Forum at the place du Panthéon and rue Soufflot today gone of course. However, there is a trace along the parking of 61 blvd Saint Michel. Last and most impressive by me is the Crypte Archéologique just by the parvis de Notre Dame. There is an entrance and a small museum showing the L’Or du Pourvoir with coins moneys from the period to Napoléon III times.
Some news from France CLXXI October 3, 2017
Keep an eye on the Petite Ceinture of old railroad line now slowly been renovated into an oasis of Paris tranquility and beauty. the line was last used in 1993 but a growing project to renovated is still going on until 2020; The SNCF gave to the city of Paris 22km of the 32km of the line . The next new section to be done are in the 12, 14, 17, and 20 arrondissements. More than 18 km will be open to walkers and runners.
et’s start with something unique and rare, the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme, the biggest French museum dedicated to Jewish history from the Middle Ages to our days, and opened in 1998 in the Hôtel de Saint-Aignan ,the building with architecture from the 17C. Inside, you will find more than 12K works of art retracing the Jewish communities in France. It is located at 71 rue du Temple, 3eme arrondissement. You have to go to one of my favorite museums in Paris, the Musée Marmottan-Monet at 2 rue Louis-Boilly 16eme arrondissement. Claude Monet had cataract problems by the end of his life but never missed a great work of art even if not his. He usually exchange work with Renoir, Manet or Rodin. And of course, befriended many others such as Delacroix, Corot, Boudin,Jongkind, Caillebotte, Cézanne, Morisot, and Picasso. All to see now in the expo Monet Collectionneur until January 14 2018 And the unique Musée Maillol at 59-61 rue de Grenelle, 7eme arrondissement has the exhibition Pop Art Icons That Matter until January 21,2018. 100 masterpieces from the Whitney museum of American Art in NYC showing in Paris for the first time ever! Some works will be from Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Jim Dine, and Roy Lichtenstein. And by the nice Musée Jacquemart-André you have the nice exhibition of Le Jardin Secret des Hansen. Until January 15 2018. Museum is located at 158 blvd Haussmann 8eme arrondissement. From the kingdom of Denmark comes the collection of Ordrupgaard created very quickly between 1916 and 1918; included the cream of the Impressionists movement painters such as Monet, Renoir, Pissaro, Berthe Morisot, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Courbet, and Gauguin. Dazzling indeed.
And at the venerable Petit Palais of Paris at avenue Winston Churchill you have the exhibition L’Art du Pastel de Degas à Redon until April 8, 2018. The pastels had their golden age in the 18C with painters like Rosalba Carriera and Maurice Quentin de La Tour. It experience a revival in the 19C and early 20C, and it is this later period that will be showcase in the Petit Palais. Quick sketches and highly accomplished works by Renoir, Gauguin, Degas, andn Odilon Redon amongst others. Something pedagogic is shown at the Musée de l’Homme by the Place Trocadéro in the 16eme arrondissement. A wonderful scenegraphy on racism and awareness of discrimination in our society, call Nous et les Autres (Us and Others). Shown until January 8 2018;
And as it is one of my favorite areas of Paris, you can wandered around before or after and go see the Les Serres d’Auteuil, great botanical garden French style with architecture of the 1900’s and 5500 plant species as well as trees. It is at 3 Avenue de la Porte d’Auteuil , You have a wonderful event going on soon at Le Beffroi in Montrouge (dept 92) just south of Paris the Biennale d’Art Contemporain from October 12 to November 1 2017
And why not mention my love , Versailles! The hosts that have come here and visited and al. Now 10 million visitors per year!!! yes crowded at times but its all worth it and to beat the crowds ask me ::) There is a new exhibition showing the paintings, travel guides, tapestries, court attire, and weaponry and more of the times. This is in partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of NYC where the same will be in April 2018 for those lucky NewYorkers and visitors there. The exhibition is call, Les Visiteurs de Versailles 1682-1789, and will be here from October 24 and until February 25, 2018
At Giverny, Fondation Claude Monet, 84 rue Claude Monet get there from gare St Lazare in Paris to the station in Vernon then navette bus to Giverny. This is where Monet lived from 1883 to 1926 and did many of his paintings including the Water Lilies, admission 5,50€ and then varies according to temp collection on display Passing a bit out by Villiers-Le-Bâcle (dept 91 Essonne) you come to the Maison Atelier de Foujita. 7 route de Gif, you need a car from the porte d’Orléans A6 ,then the A10 direction Bordeaux exit Versailles ,direction Saclay on the D3 road to house. Great fame between the wars in Montparnasse Léonard Foujita buys this house in 1960 and lived his last years of his life here. The house is intact showcasing the architecture of Japan and France. Move a bit in the Essonne dept 91 and come to Yerres to see the Maison Caillebotte at 8 rue de Concy. You can get here from the Gare de Lyon direction Melun stop Yerres. Lived by his family from 1860 to 1879 and just open to the public recently. A park of 11 hectares an inspiration for the artist that did 90 portraits here and on the shop you can see original paintings of Caillebotte , Moving east you come to Barbizon dept 77 and see the Maison-Atelier de Jean-François Millet, the house he lived since his arrival in Barbizon in 1849 to 1875. You see his paintings , engravings ,and personal belongings of his time here And then we go north to Auvers-sur-Oise and see the Auberge Ravoux dite Maison Van Gogh; the lodging house that was the home of painter Van Gogh and saw his last days here, died in 1890. He lived here only two months but the place mark the historical point in painting. Here he does more than 70 portraits, and the furniture especially in the kitchen is wonderful too.
Some news from France CLXXII October 16, 2017
In the 17éme arrondissement de Paris on the street or rue Mère-Teresa you will see soon a passarelle that will bring together the ZAC Clichy-Batignolles (parc Martin-Luther-King) to the new district of Saussure-Pont-Cardinet. It will have 120 meters long and will be accessable to pedestrians, bicycles, buses and all vehicules with a speed maximum allow of 30 KPH or about 18 MPH. The bridge passarelle will be open by end of 2017. Métro Wagram, Rome, and the trains station Pont Cardinet take you here.
There is a new concerts sports arena just behind the Grande Arche de La Défense (Hauts-de-Seine dept 92) business and shopping area. The U Arena able to sit 40K ,and just opening with the concert of the Rolling Stones this coming Thursday. It will be the home of the Racing 92 rugby team of the French first league or Top 14. Inside you will be like entering a big oven of 40 meters high with seats in the shape of U around the field. The stands are exchangeable and could go from 5K to 40K persons, will take 20 hours to change the venue from a stadium to a concert hall. It will have 28 kiosks for food /drinks and an innovative system to order. The beer glasses will be filled from the bottom by a hole in the bottom of the glass. It will be super connected with 4G and Wi-Fi for all and 15K simultaneous connections . On its four corners will have a huge screen of 1600 sq meters to receive the images on 44 video projectors with roof mapping as well as in the 7th levels of 11 totals inside a glass enclosure.
Something closer to my old neighborhood town , this is the beautiful Saint-Germain-en-Laye: There is a gorgeous terrace with views over Paris of 2500 meters long just next to the castle that has been pressure clean for the first time in 100 years! The castle now houses the Musée d’Archéologie Nationale at Pl Charles de Gaulle. A magnificent piece of French history where Louis XIV was born in the old now gone castle and a very interesting museum of archeology from the area. Another great place to be is the Théâtre Alexandre Dumas at Place André Malraux, jardin des Arts.
The French version of the Opera ,the most Parisian of Verdi, Don Carlos , Opéra Bastille, until November 11 And the Barber of Seville or Le Barbier de Seville, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, from December 5-16 2017 at 19h30; a must theater very nice indeed How about the work of Le Temps qui reste at the nice Théâtre de La Madeleine, 19 rue de Suréne until November 4th At the Théâtre Edouard VII, 10 place Edouard VII, until November 14 admission 70€ worth it great show La Vraie Vie and beautiful theater not far from the Madeleine and grand department stores The Théâtre Le Ranelagh, 5 rue des Vignes (16éme) is showing until January 14 2018 the work of L’Avare. admission 35€. This is a nice seldom use theater but rather nice and a very nice area of my favorite Paris And not to be outdone, my beloved Versailles at the historically wonderful Théâtre Montansier, 13 rue des Réservoirs is showing the Le Médecin malgre lui
Not forget ever when in Paris, you must visit the Jardin des Tuileries, the first masterpiece of the grand gardener of France ,André Le Nôtre. Main entrance 113 rue de Rivoli facing rue Castiglione. At the wonderful Hôtel Nacional des Arts et Métiers, you find a wonderful restaurant inside. From the rue Réaumur go into the patio of the Hôtel and find the restaurant in a typical Italian trattoria style , mamma mia this is good, and of course the hotel is nice too but not tried. A great romantic meal in Paris, try it to believe, you will.
We go to Chantilly , and discovered the Pavillon de Manse. Here you find the machine des Grandes Eaux built in 1678 to feed water to the fountains and basins of the gardens of Le Nôtre. The pumps, siphons, and tubes have been restored and the young is encourage to experiment the new. The historical nice abbey or Abbaye de Royaumont, the biggest Cistercian monastery in the region of Île-de-France, and only 35 km from Paris. This is very nice solemn peaceful and beautiful architecture and history. It is reopening after renovations from now; see it at Asniéres-sur-Oise Just north of Paris at Pierrefonds ,they are celebrating the 150 years of the Castle. There will be aan exposition in Centre des monuments nationaux until Nov 20th putting together a series of photos and designs of the castle in 1867! In the heart of the forest of Pierrefonds ,the castle and its medieval looks are a figure of imagination and the history of royal France
At modern yet old Le Havre we are having the 13e Transat Jacques Vabre. Top chrono for Salvador de Bahia, Brazil on Sunday November 5 at 13h35. However, since October 27th at 16h the festival starts off in the center town with a course village on the wharfs of the basin Paul-Vatine where the 41 sailing boats will be tied up such as Class40, Multi50, Imoca, Ultime..etc. Free admission until November 5th Then, stick around in nearby Dunkerque for Operation Dynamo , the program on the beach or plage de Malo-les-Bains, the site of the evacuation of the allied troops to England in WWII. You can cap it off at the Musée Dunkerque 1940, house in a casemate bunker of Bastion 32, HQ of the defense of the fortified sector of Flandre (8€ admission) . Later ,visit the exposition of «L’envers du décor», consecrated to the turning of the film Dunkirk or Dunkerque. (free access until Nov 10th)
Going east to lovely Strasbourg to see the unique Château Musée Vodou house in an old water tower dating from 1878. It houses the biggest collection of private object having to do with the cult of Voodoo from West Africa in the world; more than a 1000 pieces collected by a true fan of the cult and Africa. Moving in back to Paris we can stop at Epinal and its museum of images or Musée de l’image, rich of one of the biggest collection in Europe with more than 100K printing on the course of the last 5 centuries from the 17C to our days. Saints figures, images of Napoléon, the WWI and contemporary artists illustrations. Coming closer to our new home at Nantes, discovered the wonderful city museum of arts or Musée d’Arts de la Ville ;one of the best in the region. After a long period of renovation it is now open with a new building dedicated to contemporary arts ,a new restaurant ,and library bookstore. You can walk from the train station You know there is a Louvre nord, north, yes it is at Lens. There is a new exposition on the place of music in the old civilizations of the old West to Rome passing by Greece and Egypt. they will do reproduction of sounds from old instruments and the oldest song known in the world. Interesting see it at Louvre Lens until January 15 2018
Going up to the west a bit to where family is located, you come to Le Cateau Cambresis and the wonderful museum or Musée Matisse, showing now the painter and illustrator Alain Godon on the idea of the importance of the voyages of Henri Matisse from New York to Tahiti. An expo of popular colors with 150 works to see. From now until March 4 2018. We move all the way south to Marseille and the Bonne Mère with the exposition of Jack London and his travels in the south seas between 1907 and 1909. It shows a mixture of audiovisuals, marine objects,and photos of the times many of which are on loan from the grand American and European museums. AT La Vieille Charité, 2 rue de la Charité, Marseille. Back up closer to me at Chinon, in the fortress open every day there is an open space the Camp des Assailants (Attackers camp) showing an exposition on the technique of the middle ages wars; all at the foot of this castle one of the most known in the old kingdom of France. Many rooms traces the history in a museographic showing with multimedia borne in 3D, sound etc. All until November 13. How about going to Burgundy and the always wonderful Hospices de Beaune ready for its 157th edition organize for November 19 on a gastronomic weekend of organ, food and festival of wines Leave you with a jewel of French castles in my wife’s region of Seine-et-Marne, Vaux-le-Vicomte, there is an exposition of film posters of those filmed in the castle from the Iron Mask to Moonraker, and Jean de La Fontaine amongst many
Some news from France CLXXII October 19, 2017
There is a new edition no 37 of the Asterix cartoon series out already in stores. Entitled “Astérix et la Transitalique” this new adventure takes them into a course on chariots across the transalpine peninsula facing teams coming from many countries at the times including a champion Roman named Coronavirus
The latest show by Bartàbas and the horses is coming on and expect a tour of France later on. It has been an inspiration for like me all lovers of horses. Putting the art on the arena and showcasing the horse at its very best. The spectacle is call Ex-Anima. See it is a must if in France. You get there for example from Opéra Garnier take metro line 7 direction La Courneuve-8-Mai-1945 and get off at Fort d’Aubervilliers, take exit or sortie 1 and walk about 3 minutes to Zingaro at 176, Avenue Jean Jaurès
From the local newspaper le Parisien I learn of new statues by the Centre Pompidou. Just open this morning the statues of Renzo Piano (seated) and Richard Rogers (standing), the two architects that built the Beaubourg 40 yrs ago! The statues are in solid inox steel and painted in two tones of green. They are facing in the Place Edmond Michelet facing the Centre Pompidou.
From October 20th to evening of November 5 2017 the rooftop of the tour Montparnasse will be a roller skating ring, time for school vacation. You will have a panoramic view 360 degrees where 80 skaters of all ages and all levels will slide in security. The roller skates will be provided on site but bring protection such as helmets and knee pads. The rink will be available 7 hours per day and two night sessions until 23h. The first is for October 28 on the theme of Halloween!! and the second November 4th with a Disco night! The Tour Montparnasse in the 59th floor at entrance by 33 avenue du Maine.
I like to tell you about a great cheese of France. It is from my wife’s region she grew up with it and has not stop even now. I got on it in 1990, and has become my favorite cheese as well. This is the BRIE and specially the crowned Brie de Meaux. The king of cheese, the cheese of kings crown in the Congress of Vienna 1815 by all leaders of Europe at the time of the peace after Napoleon. 774 Charlemagne said of Brie ” I just come to discover one of the table most delicious ever tasted” After trying a piece of the Brie de Meaux in the abbey of Rueil-en-Brie. By 999, Robert II the Pious, enjoyed so much that he helped sell it in person! 1200, the Brie becomes a political weapon when Blanche of Navarre served it to flatter king Philippe Auguste to obtained from him the regency of the County of Champagne . 1534; Rabelais cited the Brie in his novel Gargantua. 1600, Queen Margot makes toasts from the Brie to Henri IV that is very fond and stop him from seeing his mistress Gabrielle d’Estrées. 1668 La Fontaine served a Brie in the peak of a raven when telling of the story of the fox for his novel. 1710, king Louis XIV loves the Brie and wanted it every day in the menu. 59 cars do the trip Versailles-Meaux to supply him every week of the cheese for the table of the king!!! 1725 king Louis XV marries Marie Leczinska ,the gourmand queen that invented the bites à la Queen from the Brie cheese. 1815 at the Vienna congress minister Talleyrand a great diplomat serves the brie cheese where all proclaim it king of the cheeses and the cheese of kings. 1980, the Brie de Meaux received the designation of AOC as well as AOP as well as the Brie de Melun, the smaller cousin.
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 