I Prefer Paris

Richard Serra’s Promenade for Monumenta 2008 at the Grand Palais

Spellbinding.

That’s the best word I can use to describe the Mounmenta 2008 Richard Serra Promenade exhibit at the Grand Palais.

Monumenta is a three-year series of art exhibitions where the Grand Palais invites a major international artist to display his work. The organizers promote it as a challenge, since the artist has to fill the largest existing ironwork and glass structure in the world, a Belle Epoque style palace built in 1900, measuring a whopping 162,000 square feet. Last year it was the incredible Anselm Kiefer Falling Stars and in 20010 it will be Christian Boltanski.

My friend Diane Pernet went to the opening on Monday, where Richard Serra spoke about the installation. He said his favorite time to see it was at night, as it takes on a much different feel to it then the daytime.

I went last Friday night at about 10PM with Diane and some friends. It was a beautiful clear, balmy spring night. Once I walked into the exhibit, I was awestruck. It was almost devoid of people and the silence of the vast space struck me. Five tall metal, slightly curved, walls towered over me and I was filled with peace and solitude, much like the experience of being in a sacred religious temple. I walked around for about an hour, viewing from it from every angle I could, and each place I stood was a unique opportunity to marvel this masterpiece.


Looking above at the complex, spiraling skylight, outside the French flag was waving. It took my breath away. It reminded me again how lucky I am to be living in this amazing city, a place that symbolizes art and beauty more then any other place I’ve ever been.

There’s not much else to say than this is a must if you are in Paris in the next month.

Monumenta 2008:Richard Serra Promenade
May 7 till June 15
Grand Palais
Ave Winston Churchill, 8th arr.
Metro: Champs-Elysees-Clemenceau
Monday & Wednesday 10AM-7PM
Thursday to Saturday 10AM-11PM
Tickets http://www.fnacspectacles.com/recherche/rechercheRapide.do?search=monumentaa>

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Courtyard Delight

I went to my dentist yesterday for a painful experience, cleaning my teeth, and left with a pleasant one, finding a lovely new courtyard in his building. The dentist’s office is in a residential 18th century building next to the Etienne Marcel metro station, bordering the commercial Les Halles area. The building is pretty non-descript from the outside but once inside there is the quaintest courtyard with a country setting. A private terrase is surrounded by bottle green iron fence festooned with the lushest ivy. Around the rest of the courtyard were window boxes in bloom and flowering potted plants. A young woman was feverishly planting away and I can see the plants and flowers were her pride and joy. I love discovering new finds like this and I always tell my tour clients some of the most beautiful Paris sites are the ones hidden behind the big doors in these courtyards.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Eye Prefer Paris Tour Photos: Kari Raaen and Jodi & Chelsea

Kari Raaen is a professional photographer specializing in child and family portraits. She was referred to me by a good friend in New York who told me Kari was one of her best friends and was coming to Paris.Kari specifically wanted a tour with good photo ops and I promised her my tours were full of them. Along the way, Kari fell in love much like I did with all the beautiful doors we passed. She started to shoot them and inadvertently choose mostly blue ones. I told her it would be great to do a blue door series for my blog. Most of the doors are located in the Marais and Ile St. Louis. Take a look at Kari’s wonderful portraits on her site.
www.kariodellphotography.com

I had a fun afternoon with former New Yorker Jodi and her daughter Chelsea, on spring break from college, who now live in Boca Raton, Florida. It was one of those typical schizophrenic weather days in Paris where the sun was shining one minute and the next it was pouring rain. So in between the cloudbursts we ducked into the Marais’s high fashion shops and Jodi and Chelsea did some major damage. One of the stops was Lobato, the top shoe boutique in the Marais with labels Pierre Hardy, Marc Jacobs, Lanvin, and Martin Margiela among others. Jodi tried on a stunning pair of Easter egg blue and dark brown shoes with a large gold buckle. Being the classic shopping enabler, I told her that there was no question about it: she must buy them. Here’s a photo. Wear them well Jodi.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

May 3, 1968

Last Saturday, May 3, commemorated the 40th anniversary of the historic student riots in Nanterre and Paris in 1968.

I was recently contacted by a woman named Helene Sotsky from Massachusetts from a mailing I did through a travel organization called WITIA. Helen was kind enough to share with me her vivid story about how she spent her junior year in Paris during the 1968 riots. I thought it would be interesting to read a first hand account of the historical events that changed France. Enjoy! Thanks Helene.

I have such vivid recollections of my time as a student in Paris--my daughters tell me that I still speak of that time as if it were yesterday--not just les événements--but the whole year. I remember the day it really started in Paris (no one paid much attention to Nanterre)--there were about 5 students protesting--we didn't know about what yet at the time--then 10 police came. Then 20 students came. Then 50 police came...and so on. The mother of the family I was living with in the 16e was of Russian origin, but had come to France as an infant and was very,very French. But still, she remembered all she had heard of the Russian Revolution. She actually went to the Théàtre de l’Odéon and gave a speech, telling the students that they didn't know what they were doing by fomenting rebellion (of course, she and her family always spoke about the good ol' days under the Czar) and disorder. She had courage, I'll say that for her. I think it's hilarious that Dany le rouge is now known as Dany le vert because he espouses ecological causes!

One of the most ridiculous memories I have is of the first day that the students began occupying the Sorbonne. Several people in my program were in a class at the IPFE (Institut des Professeurs de Français à Étranger) waiting for the teacher to arrive. The representative of the French students came in to advise us to leave since they were planning to occupy the building and it might turn violent. Sounded logical to us...we all got up to leave when the director of our program came running in, telling us that we shouldn't leave because the teacher was a full professor and we were required to wait 15 minutes for her to show up! We all left anyway. Ours was the only junior year program to remain in Paris. All the others brought in buses from Belgium to get their students out. Our program paid the various professors to come to Reid Hall and give us our final exams so that we could get full credit for the year. I walked from the 16e to Reid Hall and back every day, through tear gas, barricades, --all that les événements brought to Paris. It was a frightening time because no one knew if the government would fall. There were soldiers with machine guns all over and the city was surrounded by tanks. But we were young and believed we were invincible. When we finally left in the beginning of June, the ship was still flying a red flag when we arrived in the port--but we finally made it. I always loved the French flair for understatement and discretion--everything that was closed and boarded up, had a sign apologizing that they were closed 'en raison des circonstances'--

Each time I returned to Paris, I went to visit my French family--first with my husband, then with my daughters. Then one of my daughters visited the mother of our family when she went with a friend to Paris. We stayed in touch until they died. I still sometimes go back to the same street just to see what it looks like.

Photos courtesy of www.pollyvousfrancais.blogspot.com

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

May Eye Need to Do’s:Richard Serra at Monumenta 2008, Vincent Gagliostro’s St. Gael, and French Open 2008

Monumenta 2008 at the Grand Palais: Richard Serra’s Promenade
Richard Serra’s Promenade is the chosen show for Monumenta this year at the Grand Palais. Monumenta, the three-year art project now it its second year, invites a major world artist to install works with the challenge of filling the colossal space. Serra’s monuments of steel will surely fill the space magnificently.

Monumenta 2008:Richard Serra
May 7 till June 15
Grand Palais
Ave Winston Churchill, 8th arr.
Metro: Champs-Elysees-Clemenceau
Monday & Wednesday 10AM-7PM
Thursday to Sunday 10AM-11PM
Tickets

St.Gael
In one predatory glance, ripping his image form the magazine, (thought) the most beautiful mouth I had ever seen. That’s the startling statement from artist Vincent Gagliostro’s new show about his obsession with Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal (Y tu Mama Tambien, Babel, Motorcycle Diaries). Gagliostro reveals his predatory nature as an artist (his contention, that all artists are somewhat predatory) exploiting this particular subject through his particular brand of gay politics and activism. Artist Susan Shup (April’s Parisian of the Month) curates this highly charged installation of videos, paintings, and photomontage.

Saint Gael
Miss China Beauty
May 15 to June 9
3 rue Francaise, near Etienne Marcel, 1er
Open Tuesday to Saturday, 1:30PM –6:30PM
01.42.46.28.22
Metro: Etienne Marcel
www.gagliostro.com

Jazz Festival at St. Germain de Pres
The left bank’s renowned café and cabaret area celebrates with its annual jazz festival. A latino style Swing Ball, the London Community Gospel Choir, Jacky Terrasson, and a tribute to the Beatles by pianist Bojan Z and Italian singer Petra Magoni are some of the exciting acts on the bill.

Jazz Festival at St. Germain de Pres
May 6 till May 23
http://www.festivaljazzsaintgermainparis.com/

2008 French Open at Roland Garros
See the top players duke it out for two weeks at the red clay courts at Roland Garros. Will Federer finally beat Nadal to win his first French Open? Tune in and see.

2008 French Open at Roland Garros
May 25 to June 8
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/index.html

Poet in New York: Bianca Li
Bianca Li’s latest dance piece inspired by Federico Garcia Lorca’s visit to New York in 1929. Opening to rave reviews last year in Granada, the eclectic mix of flamenco, jazz and modern groove features 21 dancers and 10 musicians.

Poeta en Nueva York
May 7th – May 17th
Théâtre National de Chaillot,
1 place du Trocadéro,16th arr.
Metro: Trocadero
http://www.theatre-chaillot.fr/

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Le Premier Mai

Today is May day/le premier Mai, one of the most important holidays on the French calendar. It’s their version of Labor Day in the U. S., a workman’s holiday. All of Paris is closed including museums, shops and even my Club Med Gym (can’t work off those calories from my big dinner last night). One of the traditions of this holiday is to give friends and family a Lily of the Valley plant or stem. The tradition started on May 1 1562, when King Charles IX received one as a lucky charm and each year after that he offered them to the ladies of the court.

Hundreds of stands are set up all over the city selling the white, fragrant lovelies and many organizations raise money by selling them because they are exempt from paying tax on them.

I bought mine from a cute young girl sporting a stylish silver studded black cap in front of the St. Paul church (pictured above).

A Version in Chocolate

In My Apartment

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Sundays with Polly & Richard

I am pleased to announce another fabulous monthly feature.
Are you ready? It’s Sundays with Polly and Richard.

My friend, fellow blogger, and Paris adventure cohort Polly, aka Polly Vous Francais, and I have inadvertently started a Sunday ritual. A few months back we casually met for lunch on a random Sunday and after that, we made it our day to meet. One of us thinks of an exhibit or cultural event or even some area to discover that we haven’t been to before and also include a nice, leisurely lunch. We both thought it would be interesting to write about our experience each time and see what our unique viewpoints would be after both seeing the same thing. Polly has a curious, quick mind like mine and is always pointing out the clever and the unusual in the things she sees. We even went so far as planning on somebody videotaping us and making a new spin on those nauseating morning talk shows in the U.S. Something like this:

Richard: Hi!!! I’m Richard and this is Polly !!! Polly, what day is it?
Polly: It’s Sunday, with Polly and Richard, silly!!!!!!

Ok, maybe not that corny. We’ll work on that. We can wear berets, horizontal striped T-shirts with bandanas around our necks, and speak English with bad phony French accents, like in the 50’s sitcoms (Think Lucy in Paris). It’ goes without saying, cheesy accordion music will play in the background.

Last Sunday we went to the Pierre Paulin: Design in Power exhibit at Les Manufactures de Gobelins. Pierre Paulin is one of the most prolific and innovative furniture designers of the 20th century. He turned 80 last year and after 6 decades he is still going strong, designing for Artifort. The magnificent and ornate Belle Epoque style building built in 1912 is the perfect backdrop for Paulin’s Jetsons-like futuristic furniture.

The main floor had tasteful but not very innovative pieces but what made it so intriguing was each piece had a mirror under it to see the intricate details of the base, while it reflected the mirrored ceiling above. It was a challenge not to get dizzy from the optical illusion and photo taking was tricky. Below is a failed attempt to capture a photo, marred by the top of my balding head, squinting into the camera. Upstairs was the meat of the exhibit with Paulin’s signature modern low-slung upholstered chairs and sofas. A long, red, white, and blue swirl couch and four armless club chairs in orange & yellow on a gorgeous 18th century tapestry were the standouts.

Lunch was hearty salads at Le Canon des Gobelins, a cheerful, corner café on the Boulevard Arago across from the museum. Vincent and my friend Rosemary joined us and we talked at length about the ongoing challenge of the day-to-day dealings with the idiosyncratic French customs and culture.

It was the perfect spring day, with brilliant sunshine and a cool , sweet smelling breeze. Afterwards we walked through an undiscovered park named Square Rene LaVall. A triangle of luscious dark pink tulips flanked by blue wildflowers surrounded by lemon yellow blossoms made it clear that spring was shouting “I’m finally here!” Wisteria, which I rarely ever saw in the U.S., was thriving on the outside fence. Very unlike Paris, modern, 60’s style buildings surrounded the park and a 32 story hi-rise with a roof top pool (quite an anomaly for Paris) that Polly had Google mapped and was curious to see, cast its long shadow.

We ended the day at a café with some long cool drinks before Polly ran off to a glamorous cocktail party. I look forward to more adventurous Sundays with Polly and hope you do too.

Sorry there’s no photo of us: the absent minded dynamic duo forgot to take one.

Now read what Polly had to say about our Sunday.
http://pollyvousfrancais.blogspot.com/2008/04/sundays-with-richard-and-polly.html

Polly's Dream Condo with a Swimming Pool on the Roof

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Cité Malesherbes: My Adventure with Benjamin & Cassie

My tour clients Benjamin Brown and his wife Cassie are the cutest, sweetest couple you ever want to meet. They are on a romantic vacation for two weeks, as they are celebrating Cassie’s 30th birthday, and are touring France and Italy, the first time in Europe for Cassie. Even in Benjamin’s email before the tour, he sounded like the nicest guy, with the enthusiasm and excitement of a kid traveling to a foreign land for the first time.

Since they seemed to have a sense for adventure, I did a tour a little outside the norm. First we visited the Palais Royal, then the Bibliotechque Nationale to see the incredible Sophie Calle show, ambled through some of the shopping passages in the 9th. Arr. and finally to rue des Matyrs, a wonderful food shop street near Pigalle. At the end of the street we came upon a voie privé (a gated, private street) named Cité Malesherbes, which had the most intriguing houses. As we peered through the massive, black wrought iron gates, a man punched in a code on the keypad and entered. The door closed slowly, and with a mischievous grin on her face, Cassie said” C’mon, let’s go in”. I was as game as she was, so just as the gate was about to close, we slipped through.

Once on the inside, we explored the quiet, stately voie prive with its distinctive and unusual architecture. Unlike most Parisian blocks where the buildings are more or less the same architectural style with little variation, there was a mélange of styles and periods from classic Haussmann to Swiss chalet to Italian style villa with colorful tiles and carvings. I researched the web for more information about this fascinating street and didn’t come up with much. Johnny Hallyday, France’s answer to Elvis Presley, was born at #12 in 1943 and after Johnny moved out the French Socialist Party Headquarters moved in.

Like the expression the teacher is always learning from his/her students, the Paris tour guide is always learning new things from their clients. Thanks Benjamin and Cassie for our wonderful adventure.

Cité Malesherbes- off rue de Matyrs, 9th arr.
Metro: Pigalle or Notre Dame de Lorette

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Fractional Ownership:How to Make the Paris Dream Come True

Tour clients are always asking me about how they would go about buying or renting an apartment here. Like me before I moved here, they dream of having an apartment in Paris. I recently found out that there is a way to own an apartment without the hassle of dealing with the French real estate system, which can be treacherous sometimes.

It’s called fractional ownership and is similar to a time-share, except that fractional owners actually own a proportional share of the title of the property. You purchase a four-week ownership per year (or more weeks if you like) and it can be a fixed time or flexible, depending on what kind of plan you buy into. The newly renovated, luxurious apartments come with amenities like dishwasher, washer & dryer, gourmet kitchen stocked with food & wine before you arrive if you wish, secured storage, concierge services, air conditioning and a laptop computer. They are located in upscale, residential, and central neighborhoods including the 6th, 7th, or 4th arr.

There are two companies I highly recommend that specialize in fractional ownership and I have met the owners. The first is Fractional Paris and right now they are offering ownership at 7 rue Mahler in the Marais, right across the street from moi. The property is a meticulously renovated, well-appointed two-bedroom apartment that sleeps six with a private terrace and two full bathrooms.

The other company is Paris Pied a Terre, owned by Walid and Charla Halabi. Right now they are offering three properties, a one, two, or three bedroom apartment located in the 6th and 7th arr. The décor is sleek, modern but homey and no expense has been spared in the renovation.

Price start at $142,000 for a one-bedroom, 1/12th share (one month). Ownership is expressly designed for investors outside of France.

The best reason of all to purchase a fractional ownership apartment in Paris is so you can take an Eye Prefer Paris Tour at least once a year with me. If that’s not a good enough incentive, I don’t know what is.

http://www.fractionalparis.com- Ask for Laura
in France: 01 72 77 00 39, or 06 78 91 84 53, from the US: 917-779-9950
http://www.parispiedaterre.com- Ask for Walid +33-(0) 631170303

Please tell them Richard from Eye Prefer Paris sent you.

If you buy this one, please invite me for a glass of Champagne

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Mirella: Wedding Cake Dresses

I pass by these shop windows all the time and I am astonished by the extravagance of the dresses in the window. I’m not sure who wears these creations, but it has to be a certain kind of bride that can carry it off. To me, they look more like wedding cakes with swirls of white butter cream. Not sure what the black cocktail number is. Maybe for a dark, wicked bridesmaid?

I went on their website www.mirella.fr and found a whole world of wedding fantasy dresses with names like Jasmin, Magnolia, Amelia, Tulipe, Mimosa, Nuance, and Hortensia. Let’s just say if you saw a bride coming down the aisle in a get-up like this, you would never forget her.

Mirella
23 rue du Roi du Sicile, 4th arr.
Tel. 01.43.38.04.00
Metro: St. Paul

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com