I Prefer Paris

Pierre et Gilles- Double je 1976-2007

Note: Dear Subscribers,
I apologize for the non-working link for the jazz video yesterday.
Here is correct link:
Download september_song.mov
Please be patient as it may take a few minutes to download

I went to see the Pierre et Gilles retrospective pre-deciding that at most, it would be an amusing experience of some kitschy photographs.

Yes, I was amused but also enchanted, impressed, and disturbed, by the special and strange universe they have created. Pierre & Gilles met in 1976 and have been lovers and collaborators ever since then. They have invented their own world of photographic images that include themes of religion, war, peace, love, male sexual eroticism, sainthood, and others. The work is purposely artificial to create a look of fantasy and the unreal.

The well-curated exhibit was large but not overwhelming and each room was painted a specific perfectly matched color to the mood of the photos. I especially liked the series of self-portraits on the second floor, making themselves into James Bond spies, presidents & Generals, cavemen, astronauts, and bride & groom.

The boys used many celebrities including Catherine Deneuve looking like a fairy tale princess, Nina Hagen in black patent cat suit in bondage, Madonna in Chinese costume, and my favorite, Kylie Minogue as a nun with black stockings and garters riding a white carousel horse.

They idolize their subjects and sometimes almost literally put them on a pedestal. Even a simple portrait of a North African boy selling things in the metro is like an angel smiling down on us.

The ornate and beautifu frames add another dimension to the work and I found my self spending as much time looking at them as the photos. A frame with a border of small happy face buttons in day-glo put a happy face on moi.

The male nudes are a large part of the exhibit and some explore the clichés of gay male porno, exaggerating the size of many of the body parts.

One overall theme you can see in all the photos is a child-like and playful spirit that comes through all of them. Even the photo of a naked Palestinian boy and Israeli boy kissing under a palm tree has a naïve innocence and belief that love could conquer all.

Pierre et Gilles- Double je 1976-2007
Jeu du Paume
1 place de la Concorde
Metro Concorde
Open 12pm to 7pm daily, Tue till 9pm, Sat and Sun 10am to 7pm, Closed Mon.
Admission 6 Euros
Till 9/23
http://www.jeudepaume.org

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 Jazz Hot

I was working from my apartment on Sunday afternoon and started to hear some jazz music playing in the background, thinking it was my partner putting on some music. I listened for a few more minutes, really enjoying what I was listening to, but realized my partner never plays music like this. I asked him what it was, and he blankly stared at me saying it wasn’t him but it was live music being played downstairs on the street. I looked out the window on St. Paul square and there were two musicians jamming away, one on an upright piano and the other on the saxophone. I immediately went downstairs to hear the lively and foot stomping melodies. A large crowd gathered, swinging to the music. They played a combination American classic jazz and swing tunes. Here is a video clip of them playing September Song.Enjoy !

You may buy their CD’s on their website:
www.olivierfranc.com

Download september_song.mov
Please be patient as it may take a few minutes to download
Video clip courtesy of Vincent Gagliostro

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

 

The New Hotel of Marseille

Going mostly by the pictures, I booked the New Hotel of Marseille for 2 nights on my recent visit. The long shot photo of a sleek pool with the comfy lounges sold me.

It’s been a cool, gray and somewhat rainy summer in Paris and all I wanted was some sun to warm my body and a pool to swim in.

The New Hotel of Marseille is located in a quiet area called Le Pharo right by the water and only a fifteen-minute walk to the Vieux Port.
It falls into the boutique hotel category, which is a fairly new concept for France, a generic been-there-done that one over 10 years ago for New Yorkers.

The front of the hotel was in a converted 18th century building called the Institut Patsteur (probably a research lab) and the lobby was stark with a distinctive whiff of knock-off Philippe Starck design. It was minimalist with a touch of whimsy – an ornate white milk glass chandelier.

Up the black slate stairway was the open and airy lounge/restaurant with generic modern designed couches and chairs in shades of pale gray and red with pink throw pillows. The area extended out to the pool that has a dark wood plank floors, long slim rectangular pool, and well padded cushy chaises. Because the pool area is on the second floor, there is a beautiful view of the sky and city and the highlight is Fort St. Nicholas from 1660, now a National Heritage building.

I had dinner at the hotel’s Victor Café with nouvelle Provencal cuisine prepared by a young chef Jerome Pollo.I chose the 29 euro 3-course menu. It started with slices cantaloupe and honeydew, local ham, and Port wine. The cantaloupe was much sweeter than the honeydew and the combination of the three flavors balanced well. Veal medallions in a honey sauce were excellent and the small roasted potatoes were done to perfection. Grilled figs on a shortbread cookie with house made pistachio ice cream were refreshing. Even though the figs were on the tart side, the ice cream added enough sweetness to make it dessert, and not a fruit course. A nice touch from the chef was Victor’s Potager, a fresh herb garden in the entranceway to the hotel where he picks fresh herbs to prepare the food.

My room was comfortable and pleasant with the usual amenities for this kind of hotel: extra thick mattress, soft high thread count sheets, flat screen television, mini-bar with gourmet treats, and thick, plush towels. The best part was the olive oil soaps and toiletries made in Marseilles, which is famous for it’s soap. I looked to raid the maid’s cart to stock up on the soap to take home, but I was outsmarted and apparently the hotel doesn’t have them. I guess toiletry thieves like me are common.

I recommend the New Hotel of Marseille if you like simple, modern and comfortable.

New Hotel of Marseille
71 boulevard Charles Livon
13007 Marseille
Tél : +33 4 91 315 315

View more photos of Marseille on the right sidebar under Photo Albums

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

 

A Marseille Minute

I decided to take a quick 3-day break to Marseille last week for some R&R with some sun.

Thanks to the TGV, the super fast train in France, Marseille is only 3 hours away. I arrived at 12:30PM on Monday, to crisp, sunny dry weather. Located in southwest France on the Mediteranean, Marseille, a port city, is the second largest in France, with a population of a 1,500,000 people.

I headed to the old port –Vieux Port, the center of town where all the boats are moored. The view was much like a clichéd postcard with hundreds of fishing boats, sail boats, and ferries crowding the port. Hungry to have some bouillabaisse in its native city, I had lunch al fresco at Le Fetiche restaurant. The 3-course menu at 17 euros was a good value and the bouillabaisse was tangy, thick and the seafood was ultra fresh.


Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde

I took the way too touristy tram my friend recommended around the city but it was a good way to see the city at a slow pace. The final stop is Notre Dame de La Garde at the highest point of the steep and hilly city. Even though the church was infested with tourists with noisy, crying children, I don’t know what was more beautiful, the church or the magnificent vistas overlooking the city.

Tuesday morning I found a café overlooking the small city beach near my hotel. It was a cool, fresh morning and the beach was buzzing with a volley ball game, Tai chi classes and beach guards in skimpy bathing suits attending to their duties.

I relaxed the rest of the day like a lazy slug at the rooftop pool at my hotel. Getting restless by late afternoon, I went to the Panier, which is the oldest neighborhood in Marseilles. The hilly, narrow streets were empty and it was hard to get a feel for the area because most stores and restaurants were closed for vacances. The worn out buildings had colorful paint chipped doors and many had cartoon-like paintings on them. I found a few art galleries with interesting, local crafts, paintings and sculptures.


Le Panier

Dinner was at a quirky restaurant called La Karbonade and I sat outside overlooking the port. The restaurant presented its appetizers and desserts in a most clever and original way, serving them in small Mason jars. I had a yummy chilled Brandade (mashed potatoes & salted cod) with a layer of tomato sauce and for dessert Tiramisu topped with raspberry sauce.

La Karbonade

I met a delightful and interesting friend of a friend of mine, Mireille for a long lunch on Wednesday. She lived in St. Julien, which is a young, hip area with many cafes, stores and galleries, much like the East Village in New York. The grungy streets were vibrant with very detailed spray painted graffiti covering many of the walls. We lunched at a place that was a clothing boutique, record store, café, and hair cutting salon all in one.

St. Julien Graffiti

Mireille told me to walk down the rue D’aubagne to see the North African and mid-east food shops. I discovered Univers Alimentaire at #34, an amazing emporium of spices, nuts, dried fruit, grains, cooking tagines and anything Middle Eastern you could think of. I perused and smelled my way through the overflowing barrels and vats of spectacular and rich colored exotic foods. I stocked up on almonds and cashews, as they were only 8 euros a kilo. Diabate, a smiling African man was most helpful.


Diabate from Univers Alimentaire

Even though I covered a lot in 3 days, I think there is a lot of undiscovered Marseille left for me to see and I will return.

Addresses

Le Fetiche
7 rue de la Paix
04 91 54 00 98

La Karbonade
42 Quai de Rive neue
04 91 55 02 27

Univers Alimentaire
34 rue D’aubagne

View more photos of Marseille on the right sidebar under Photo Albums

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 Gastronomie dans l'art at Artcurial

I’ve been hungry to see Le Gastronomie dans l'art exhibit at Artcurial and my mind finally feasted on the clever and smartly curated show of food as art.

The show is in yet another gorgeous 19th century neo classical mansion (you are all probably getting bored already with my gorgeous mansion descriptions), the Hotel Dassault on the Champs Elysees.
Cleverly divided into 6 categories, les repas, les entrees, la cuisine, le marche, les fruits and les desserts, the work ranges from the 15th century Dutch masters to 1960’s pop art artists.



I’ve been hungry to see Le Gastronomie dans l'art exhibit and my mind finally feasted on the clever and smartly curated show of food as art.

The show is in yet another gorgeous 19th century neo classical mansion (you are all probably getting bored already with my gorgeous mansion descriptions), the Hotel Dassault on the Champs Elysees.
Cleverly divided into 6 categories, les repas, les entrees, la cuisine, le marche, les fruits and les desserts, the work ranges from the 15th century Dutch masters to 1960’s pop art artists.

Artcurial is an auction house that features different shows throughout the year. There’s an excellent bookstore stocked with hard to find art books and café on the premises.

Warning: Don’t see the exhibit on an empty stomach!

Le Gastronomie dans l'art at Artcurial
Till September 21
Hôtel Dassault
7 rond-point des Champs Elysées, 75008
Open daily 11AM-6PM
Admission 5 euros
Metro: Franklin Roosevelt, lines 1 & 9

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

 

Geranium Boxes in the 16th Arr.

I have a thing for Parisian geranium boxes.

I was in the upscale 16th Arr. the other day, which was like a ghost town because all the residents are on vacances. It was a great opportunity to roam the streets and take photos of the La Belle Époque style apartment buildings, rich with ornate architectural details. The terraces of the buildings flowed with an over abundance of the purest white, the rosiest pink, and cartoon red geraniums. The dates of when the buildings were built, between the 1890’s and the early 1900’s, are subtly etched on the façade. Most of the photos were taken on Ave. Victor Hugo and its side streets, between Place Victor Hugo and the Arc de Triomphe.



Some great examples of the period iron work

Maison Prunier at 16 ave. Victor Hugo, is one of the top seafood and caviar restaurants in Paris with Art Deco mosaics dating from the 1930's.

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

 

Cafe Le Victor Hugo

After my disappointing visit to the Musee de Contrefacon, I went to nearby Place Victor Hugo, a pretty square in an elegant neighborhood.


I stopped at the Café Victor Hugo for a café noisette and was charmed by the old fashioned Parisian décor. The back wall had elaborate Victor Hugo themed murals and the banquettes were of rich dark velvet browns, greens, and reds. Art Deco patterned geometric shaped lamps and chandeliers gave the café a romantic ambiance. My petite brown cup and saucer along side a Dijon colored pitcher both with gold rims set on the brass bar, looked like a Paris postcard photo waiting to be taken.



As I sipped my coffee, I basked in the joy of the tradition of the Parisian café unparalleled anywhere else.

Café Le Victor Hugo
Place Victor Hugo
Metro: Victor Hugo

Pink Car Follow-up
Patricia Staton-Thomas sent me this photo in response to my pink car photo on my Musee de Contrefacon story.

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

 

Musee de Contrefacon: Not So Fabulous Fakes

I schlepped more than 30 minutes on the metro twice (it was closed the first time) to see the Musee de Contrefacon. Being curious for months about a museum filled with counterfeit objects, visions of amusing copies of famous art masterpieces lining the museum walls danced in my head.

The museum is housed an impressive private house on a quiet residential street in the ritzy 16th Arr., right next to Avenue Foch, the equivalent of upper Park Ave./Fifth Ave. in New York. I later learned the building, built in 1898, was called the Hotel l’Union, and the design was based on the original Marais hotel de particulier’s built in the 17th century.

As I entered the musty museum, my visions of the art masterpieces danced right out of my head, as I was presented with modern consumer products in shabby, dimly lit vitrines. The first room had fake Louis Vuitton, Fendi, and Gucci bags with small signs saying “faux”(fake) and “vrai”(real) next to them. The other 3 rooms of the museum repeated the same thing, showing luxury watches, Disney story books, Barbie dolls, popular DVD’s, and more mundane objects such as real/fake Bic lighters and Gillette razors, all in a dull and uninspired display. There were large informational signs with statistics about the effects of counterfeiting, with facts how about over 50% of all medications sold on the Internet are fake. There was one bright spot: the Lucite sculpture filled with hundreds of scrapped knock-off designer watches.


These could be dangerous

I think the museum should bring in a savvy curator to update this interesting idea with a clever and imaginative display. Until then, I would not go out of my way to visit the not so fabulous fakes at the Muse de Contrefacon.

Musee de la Contrefacon
16 rue de la Faisanderie,75116
Metro: Porte Dauphin
Open Tuesday to Sunday, 2PM to 5:30PM
Admission 2.50 euros

Near the entrance to the metro, I believe I found a car even smaller than the Smart Car. It’s called an Aixam.

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

 

Luxembourg Gardens:Femme y es-tu?

Strolling through the Luxembourg Gardens the other day, I got to see the "Femme y es-tu? Sculpture show I had written about in my August Eye Need to Do’s.

Forty-five artists were commissioned to do a series of sculptures throughout the park. There are 12 sculptures throughout the Luxembourg Gardens that represent the Queens of France (not the French gay population).



Artist Noel Pasquier chose Marguerite d’Angouleme, wife of King Henri II, with a dramatic and fiery mosaic sculpture representing a lava burning bush. Franck Sorbier went a more amusing route, putting a black velvet cape adorned with oversized Tarot cards on Marie de Medici. Wela designed an abstract charcoal mural around St. Clotilde, wife of Clovis, who was the first king to convert to Catholicism in 500 AD.


The gardens looked lovely as usual but walking around locating all the sculptures made for an intriguing scavenger hunt.

"Femme y es-tu?
Luxembourg Garden
Till September 23
Metro: Odeon, RER Luxembourg

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

 

Hotel Bellechasse: Under the Sheets with Christian Lacroix

Hotel Bellechasse, with rooms designed by Christian Lacroix, has just opened in the 7th arr.

I had a fun opportunity to get a full tour of the spanking new hotel by the press agency. I was not impressed with the lobby as it was not in Lacroix’s elaborate style or the minimalist style of the past moment either.


Once I entered the rooms it was a different story: they were pure Lacroix couture down to the last silk tassel. Divided into a series of 7 categories with names like Avengers (an ode to Emma Peel), Musketeer, Quai d'Orsay, St. Germain, Jeu de Paume, Patchwork, and Tuilerie, the 34 rooms run the gamut of decorating styles, from modern sleek to Baroque dark and cozy. One series of rooms, which has a shiny, white bathtub in the middle of the room with dark walls, were clearly designed for a romantic Paris weekend. One interesting detail was the light wood walls in some of the rooms that turned out to be not wood at all but wallpaper. It brought back a childhood 60’s memory of the wood Contact paper walls in my parent’s kitchen. Most of the rooms have whimsical print wall murals made out of waterproof fabric, with many in a butterfly motif. The most amusing one was the series of large old playing cards murals.


Located on a quiet street right across from the Musee D’Orsay, you can revisit all your favorite Impressionist masterpieces. Nearby rue de la Université is lined with upscale, sometimes snooty, antique shops.

Hotel Bellechasse
8 rue de Bellechasse
01.45.50.22.31
Rooms from 290€ per night
www.lebellechasse.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