Eye Prefer Paris is an ex-New Yorker's insider's guide to Paris. Richard Nahem writes his blog from his fabulous 18th century apartment in the fashionable Marais district of Paris
Besides the big thrill of spotting Brigitte Macron at Giverny last week, a minor thrill was seeing wisteria in full bloom. I was excited to witness the wisteria cascading their dark and light purple blooms on ancient farmhouses, and stone walls throughout the village of Giverny, because where I grew up in New York wisteria did not grow.
I have also included some close ups of exquisite tulips and an extraordinary single iris. I wish the scent of the flowers could waft up from your screen as you are reading this and viewing the photos.
August in Paris- My Marais Apartment for Rent August 16 to August 29
I am renting my Marais loft from August 16 to August 29 (Dates are flexible). Contrary to popular myth that Paris is closed in August, most shops, restaurants, and attractions are open in Paris, especially in the Marais. The weather is usually beautiful, temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s Fahrenheit during the day, dropping into the mid 60s at night. In case in gets warmer, I have an air conditioner in the bedroom and a large fan in the living area.
Minimum rental period is 7 days/one week, price 1500€ for 7 days/one week, 2900€ for 14 days/2 weeks.
Conveniently located by the Saint Paul metro, in the heart of the Marais, the apartment is a spacious one-bedroom 750 sq. ft. loftwith 12 ft. ceilings, decorated in chic Mid-Century Modern furniture and sleeps two people in a Queen size bed. Amenities include washer/dryer, 16" flat screen TV, dishwasher, internet connection/Wifi and free long distance calls to the U.S. The apartment is located on the second floor with a large elevator
If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Parisvideo about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.
Please remember to hit the LIKE button if you like it and SUBSCRIBE button to subscribe to my channel.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Tours start at 225 euros for up to 3 people, and 75 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you, my insiders, Paris.
I have never been to Giverny in April before, and last week I had the opportunity to visit twice with my tour clients.
Last Tuesday was a mostly sunny day and my client and I arrived at Giverny about 11:30AM. We toured the Japanese garden first and as we were walking we came upon a large crowd drawing unusual attention. An entourage of serious men in suits wearing headpieces passed us followed by Brigitte Macron and some Japanese guests. I greeted her guards and asked if I could take a photo and was pleasantly surprised when they said yes. It turns out Brigitte Macron was with the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie, who were here on an official state visit. Claude Monet was fascinated with Japanese art and culture, collecting over Japanese 230 prints in his lifetime, so it was fitting for Abe to visit Giverny.
Since it was April, the palette of flowers and greenery were vastly different from when I had visited in July, August, and September in years past. Rows of tulips dominated the flowerbeds in the most saturated colors of red, pink, yellow, and purple. One specimen of tulips with ragged edges in a specific shade of white that’s only produced in nature, was spectacular in its beauty. Cherry blossoms, azaleas, and lilac branches flourished in the landscape while the tail end of irises and daffodils claimed their last flowers.
I returned on Friday, to a mostly crisp, clear sunny day with much gratitude for being able to experience Giverny twice in one week in all its remarkable glory.
August in Paris- My Marais Apartment for Rent August 16 to August 29
I am renting my Marais loft from August 16 to August 29 (Dates are flexible). Contrary to popular myth that Paris is closed in August, most shops, restaurants, and attractions are open in Paris, especially in the Marais. The weather is usually beautiful, temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s Fahrenheit during the day, dropping into the mid 60s at night. In case in gets warmer, I have an air conditioner in the bedroom and a large fan in the living area.
Minimum rental period is 7 days/one week, price 1500€ for 7 days/one week, 2900€ for 14 days/2 weeks.
Conveniently located by the Saint Paul metro, in the heart of the Marais, the apartment is a spacious one-bedroom 750 sq. ft. loftwith 12 ft. ceilings, decorated in chic Mid-Century Modern furniture and sleeps two people in a Queen size bed. Amenities include washer/dryer, 16" flat screen TV, dishwasher, internet connection/Wifi and free long distance calls to the U.S. The apartment is located on the second floor with a large elevator
If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Parisvideo about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.
Please remember to hit the LIKE button if you like it and SUBSCRIBE button to subscribe to my channel.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Tours start at 225 euros for up to 3 people, and 75 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you, my insiders, Paris.
I am taking a blogging break this week. I am reposting some your your favorite Parisian’s of the Month. See you next week with all new content.
Where were you born and where did you grow up? I was born in the East of France, in Lorraine, near Metz. Then I lived in Verdun, a very old Carolingian city, where a terrible battle took place during WWI: Germans against the French. I was "living amidst history" since I was a child. I volunteered all my time to clean and restore the medieval and baroque Cathedral, built in 990.I was also an official guide to the battlefields.
I majored in art history and archeology, at the University of Strasbourg.
When and why did you move to Paris? Jean Jacques Ailligon, Minister of Culture, called me in 2002 to enter his Cabinet as special advisor for Theater and Dance.
At what age did your appreciation of music and art start and what were some early events that made an impact on you? At the age of 6, I received a birthday present: an LP of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, conducted by Karajan. Then I learned to play the piano. The first important concert I attended was performed by Jordi Savall, in Bar Le Duc in Lorraine;I was 16 years old. I got to know him personally and professionally,and we have now been friends for 35 years!
The first live opera I attended at 18, was in the city of Metz,and I had to travel there (60 km) on my motorbike!It was a performance of Monteverdi's “Ritorno d'Ulysse”. And the same year I attended a performance in Epidauro, in Greece … the antique tragedy I saw in that incredible theater had a very profound impact on me.
What was your first experience organizing music events? In 1990 I organized some wonderful musical concerts celebrating the "Millenium" of the Cathedral of Verdun. William Christie came, along with Philippe Herreweghe; the program included 8 concerts. It was a great success and I was eventually given the opportunity to program a full concert season in Verdun. After two years, I became general manager of the local theater. Then, in 1996, I moved to Forbach, on the German border, to run Forbach’s performing arts center.
You worked in Germany for a period of time. What were some of the positions you had there? I've an old connection with Germany. German orchestras and theater troupes were always guests in the artistic programs I scheduled.
In Germany, I worked on the resurrection of the “Perspectives” festival in Saarbrucken (2002). Then, in 2006, I became Cultural Attaché of the French Embassy in Berlin. The position gave me the opportunity to assist in organizing all the German-French projects taking place at the time, and I also managed a big French contemporary art exhibition in Berlin (2006), and a French theater season which took place in 2007 in Berlin.
When did you become the director of performances at Versailles and how did that job come to you? When Jean Jacques Aillagon, former Minister of Culture, became President of Versailles in 2007, he asked me to take on the direction of Chateau de Versailles Spectacles, a subsidiary of the Versailles organization which is in charge of all musical and special event productions that take place at the Chateau and in the gardens. My special expertise was in the field of French baroque music, but I also had studied the work of Robert de Cotte, an architect who had a large role in designing and building the Royal Chapel at the Chateau of Versailles, where many of our concerts take place. So the prospect of working at Versailles was very exciting for me!
What were some of the challenges when you first started? I had to professionalize, reorganize and extend all the open air projects (Musical Fountain Shows) that take place in the Palace gardens. Prior to my arrival, they attracted an audience of 650,000 spectators, and now attract an audience of over 1.3 million visitors. On the art side, I had to invent a new concept for international contemporary art exhibitions (Koons, Murakami, Kapoor, Eliasson....) that take place annually at the Palace. Perhaps most importantly, I needed to find a use for the Royal Opera which had only been recently restored. This meant proposing to the public a new series of concerts in the most beautiful court opera in the world … without being given a specific budget! Another challenge was to identify the music which makes sense to perform in that venue: staged productions, baroque music of France and Europe, stars, and other special events!
The Royal Opera of Versailles has been given back to the artists and audiences from all over the world. But for all these artistic projects, we need to be helped by donors and sponsors… As bizarre as it may appear, we do not have any public subsidies. If this amazingly beautiful treasure that is the Royal Opera, built for the wedding of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, means something to your readers, then we need their help to continue to stage "first class” performances in this unique venue.
What have been some the most memorable moments during your tenure? “Atys” of Lully, directed by William Christie; Monteverdi’s “Vespers” performed in the Royal Chapel by John Eliot Gardiner; Lang Lang performing in the Hall of Mirrors; an incredible night with Cecilia Bartoli who sang first in the Opera and then (it was a surprise for the public!) in the Royal Chapel, and finally in the Hall of Mirrors, where, as a firework display took place outside, she staged her encore in the most splendid palace room in the world! It was an unforgettable evening.... But I also remember Joyce DiDonato, Barbara Hendricks, Sonya Yoncheva, Opera Lafayette of Washington, Philippe Jaroussky, Bryn Terfel, Roberto Alagna, Natalie Dessay... and also, on our open air stage, a splendid evening with Anna Natrebko!
If you had the freedom and unlimited budget to create whatever event you wanted at Versailles, what would it be? If I had the budget, I would commission an opera about Marie Antoinette. There is no great opera about her, and I am sure someone could create a fantastic libretto based on her life ... a family life lived amidst splendor, with a tragic ending. I can picture a score in the style of John Adams mixed with Shostakovich and Britten!!!!
What are some of your favorite pieces of music and operas? I like all baroque music. The French music ... Lully, Charpentier, Rameau ... is my intimate musical language. The German music from Bach and his time is perhaps the most profound before the romantic era. The Italian music, from Monteverdi to Handel, is the most expressive: love and death are in every score..... Of course, I also like Beethoven and Wagner, “Carmen” and “Sacre du Printemps”, Verdi and Rossini!
What do you prefer about Paris? It's the city where you will never have enough time to take advantage of the cultural offerings: so many operas, concerts, plays, exhibitions... There is no other city in the world with so many cultural events taking place.
If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Parisvideo about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.
I am taking a blogging break this week. I am reposting some of your favorite Parisian’s of the Month. See you next week with all new content.
Where were you born and where did you grow up?
I was born in Sydney, Australia, but mostly grew up in a country town called Junee. Think Modesto, California, and you'll have some idea. When George Lucas, who was born in Modesto, had his STAR WARS heroLuke Skywalker say of his home planet "If there is a bright center to the universe, this is the place furthest from it," he caught both places exactly.
When and why did you move to Paris?
I moved here in 1989. The "why" is simple. In Los Angeles, I met a French lady and felt compelled to follow her back to Paris. We married shortly after and have been together ever since.
You were a film buff at an early age. What films and movie scenes made the strongest impression on you?
As a creature of Hollywood's golden age, cinema, for me, begins around 1928 with the coming of sound and expires in or about 1955 with the introduction of wide screen.
It's not to say that a western like THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, a Sci-fi fable like BLADE RUNNER or the melodramas of Douglas Sirk such as WRITTEN ON THE WIND don't induce a frisson, but in me, it never goes deep.
By contrast, the almost square proportions of the Academy Frame and the burnished tones of nitrate stock constitute, I believe, a paradigm that has never been equaled Films made within those restrictions can be emotionally moving out of all proportion to their content. They are cinema's sonatas and string quartets. SHANGHAI EXPRESS, NOW VOYAGER, CASABLANCA and THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL touch me profoundly. As Noel Coward remarks, "Strange how potent cheap music is."
You’ve written film biographies of Federico Fellini, Luis Buñuel, Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas and Robert De Niro. Was there a favorite out of these? What were some of the most surprising things you found out about them you didn’t know before?
It hard to top the experience of hanging out in Rome and being lied to by Federico Fellini but I got most fun out of unpicking the secretive life of Stanley Kubrick. Among the greatest surprises of my other film books was discovering that Robert De Niro's father, the painter Robert De Niro Sr., was gay, a fact the actor kept secret but which informs many of his best roles, not to mention his private life.
You live on a rather historic street. Please tell us some interesting facts about your street.
Because it runs between St Germain and Montparnasse, rue de l'Odéon has gathered literary associations as burrs stick to a rug. At No. 18 - our building - Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier shared an apartment from 1922 to 1936. They were visited there by every major figure of Paris's literary society, both French and expatriate, including Joyce, the Fitzgeralds, Gertrude Stein, Alice Toklas, and of course Ernest Hemingway, who famously "liberated" the building in 1944.
At No. 12, Sylvia Beach managed the original Shakespeare and Company bookshop and published Joyce's ULYSSES. Adrienne Monnier's Maison des Amis des Livres was just opposite at No. 7. Thomas Paine wrote THE RIGHTS OF MAN at No. 10 and at No. 8 Robert McAlmon's Contact Editions published Hemingway's first book, THREE STORIES AND TEN POEMS. At the top of the street, on Place de l'Odéon, the Theatre de l'Odéon, under protest by its then director, Jean-Louis Barrault, housed some of the most riotous of les evenements de '68.
You are an avid book collector. What are some of your rarest and most special books?
From two garages packed floor to ceiling, it's hard to choose favorites. One of the rarest is a first edition of THE GREAT GATSBY. I also have firsts of TENDER IS THE NIGHT and other Fitzgerald titles, as well as Hemingway'sA FAREWELL TO ARMS, THE SUN ALSO RISES etc. Among modern novels there's Salinger's THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, Faulkner's PYLON, Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD, my favorite John Updike, his short story collection PIGEON FEATHERS.... In French, Cocteau's LA BELLE ET LA BETE, inscribed by both he and his star Jean Marais, some books from Sylvia Beach's lending library inscribed by Adrienne Monnier; much science fiction and fantasy, most of it signed by Ray Bradbury and others. Manuscripts, photographs, letters, posters... bibliophily is less a hobby than an illness, and I'm a terminal case.
What books are currently on your night table?
Marcel Pagnol's LA GLOIRE DE MON PERE and the memoirs of book dealer and collector David Low, ...with all faults, published in Tehran (!) with a foreword by fellow bibliophile Graham Greene (both of these in connection with writing projects.) For pleasure, THE BOOK OF FUB, a collection of comic pieces by the British novelist Michael Frayn, and HAUNTS OF THE BLACK MASSEUR: THE SWIMMER AS HERO,Charles Sprawson's quirky memoir of aquatic feats performed around the world
Science fiction is another passion of yours. Who are your sci-fi heroes and villains and what do you consider the best sci-fi?
My first published writing appeared in science fiction magazines, often in the same issues as another neophyte, the substantially more gifted J.G. Ballard, whose dystrophic novel THE DROWNED WORLD I've re-read countless times. Of the same vintage, Alfred Bester's THE STARS MY DESTINATION recycled THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO in a swashbuckling style that engendered the baroque futurism known as Steampunk, a leading exponent of which, William Gibson, is among my preferred writers, in particular his deconstruction of modern media, fashion and cinema, PATTERN RECOGNITION.
If you could invite one literary character to dinner, who would it be and where would you take them? As a lapsed Catholic, I would enjoy debating dogma with one of Graham Greene's tortured apostates, probably Scobie, the spy exiled to Africa in THE HEART OF THE MATTER. And one wonders what became of the boys from LORD OF THE FLIES when they returned to civilization. Their reminiscences would make absorbing after-dinner conversation.
You started series of books in the last few years concentrating on specific neighborhoods of Paris including St. Germain des Pres and Montmartre. Your latest book is about Montparnasse. Please tell us some of the highlights and what attractions in Montparnasse we must visit.
I like a good anecdote, but the Paris histories of Hemingway, Kiki and Man Ray at the Cafe du Dôme and the Closerie des Lilas and the Jockey are as frayed as the cuffs of shirts too often in the wash. I hope that readers of MONTPARNASSE: PARIS'S DISTRICT OF MEMORY AND DESIRE will be encouraged by its slightly unconventional approach to visit or re-visit the traditional sites but see them with new eyes.
For this book, I looked elsewhere for stories; among the artists of rue de la Grande Chaumière,for example, whose stays in Paris are barely documented - painters don't write memoirs - or the models and menials who blush unseen in the lives of the great. Who knew that Ernest and Hadley Hemingway had a servant, or that Ernest slept with his concierge?
Everyone writes about La Coupole, but seldom mentions its basement dance hall or the craze incubated there for a French version of the Argentinian tango, a dance one writer characterized as "a black and juicy Havana metamorphosed into a slim golden cigarette."
Hemingway has left us his take on his first meeting with Scott Fitzgerald but I had the advantage of knowing Donald Ogden Stewart, the man who introduced them. This book was my first chance to publish his account of that historic event.
What writing this book taught me that, once you clear away the false tinsel that envelops Montparnasse, the real tinsel underneath is even more exciting.
What do you prefer about Paris? In nine books, I've tried repeatedly to answer this question, and always, partly at least, failed. The societies in which I lived before coming here were committed to the vision of a perfectible future achievable by hard work, enterprise and luck. None satisfied me. I felt like Jay Gatsby, reaching out for the light across the water that receded the closer he approached.
Paris forced me to abandon these ideals, to become instead the classic "stranger in a strange land." France's tradition of scholarship encouraged me to embark on a series of biographies, a form in which I'd never worked, and then to attempt the equally forbidding memoir form. The results more than justified the effort.
I prefer Paris because it encourages visitors to see the world with new eyes. Uniquely in my experience, the French look on their heritage of paintings and works of literature not as collectibles but as windows or lenses through which the world can be made sharper, more explicable. I write about it in the same spirit.
Taking visitors on walking tours introduced me to Paris all over again. There's no better way to learn of something than to explain it to others. Each walk is a new voyage of discovery. I hope to continue leading them as long as my feet and the stories hold out.
If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Parisvideo about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.
I am taking a blogging break this week. I am reposting some of your favorite Parisian’s of the Month. See you next week with all new content.
Where were you born and where did you grow up? I was born opposite Shakespeare and Company in the Hôtel de Ville hospital. I grew up in Paris, Norfolk and Scotland.
You spent your formative years in England and moved back to Paris to be with your father. How were those gap years in England and what was it like coming back to your father grown up? School was school and returning to live and work in Paris was a real discovery and exploration of books and characters.
It must have been an enormous task to take over the bookshop after your father passed away. What were some of the difficulties? I had to install a phone to start with (in 2003)! The book industry has undergone drastic changes over the recent years. Adapting to online competition and the use of e-readers was one aspect to consider, the other was how to modernize this bookshop without altering the atmosphere. That balance has been both my aspiration and challenge.
Obviously you had big shoes to fill regarding your father’s legacy. What were the expectations from other people? No idea! I’ve never tried to replace George because he is irreplaceable. I try and focus on what is needed for the bookshop and am constantly inspired by the writers I meet, the booksellers and the unique space.
How do you balance maintaining a modern day bookshop so steeped in the past? There are too many books to read and too many shelves to repair to think about anything else! Seriously I love the combination of the 17th century building, the old books and the new titles that arrive every day. It’s incredibly stimulating.
What are some of the myths about Shakespeare and Company you would like to publicly dispel? A lot of people who visit the store often ask where James Joyce slept or where Hemingway used to sit and borrow books and sometimes it is hard to break it to them that they are in the wrong place. We are the second incarnation Shakespeare and Company. Here, at 37 Rue de la Bûcherie, we were home to the beat generation, not the lost generation, though their impact is very much a part of the bookshop and it’s chameleon like history.
You are expanding the bookshop soon. Please tell us about the expansion and what to expect ? A café, a website… there are lots of others on my list but I might be dreaming: a bookshop farm, a shop around the corner dedicated to poetry, more space for children and their noise and songs.
There was a major spread about you, your father, and Shakespeare and Company in Vanity Fair magazine recently. What was the reaction and what benefits did it reap? Bookstores are becoming more and more of a rarity nowadays and so any opportunity to remind people that we are here, next to the bells of the Notre Dame, carrying on a tradition of selling good literature can only be a good thing.
Who are some of your favorite writers that have spoken at the shop? I was born after Allen Ginsberg and Richard Wright were here but I would have loved to have seen and heard them. For me, Lawrence Durrell was an incredible person to see reading from his quartet when I was just a child. We carry on the tradition and keep getting incredible writers over here from Martin Amis to Carol Ann Duffy and recently we even had the rock legend Jimmy Page!
What are your best selling books? I would say our biggest sellers are Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast”, Saint-Exupéry’s “The Little Prince” and not surprisingly, given where the bookshop is located; Hugo’s “A Hunchback of Notre Dame”
If you could invite one author to lunch, living or dead, who would it be and where would you have lunch? I think it would be really fun to share a Madeleine with Proust or sip at a Tomato Juice with Bram Stoker. We would have to meet at the shop, it is where I am most comfortable and I could get them to sign some first editions for our bookshelves.
What do you prefer about Paris? Everything. The architecture, the smell of fresh bread everywhere in the morning, the smiles on peoples faces as they enter the shop. It is the most beautiful city in the world. Francois I summed it up best way back when: “Paris isn’t a city, it’s a world”
Shakespeare and Company 37 Rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 Metro: Saint Michel Open daily 10AMto 11PM http://shakespeareandcompany.com
If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest A Bite of Parisvideo about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel.
If you love salted butter caramels, please watch my newest video about Henri Le Roux, the man who actually invented the salted butter caramel. Don’t let the them stick to your dental work!
I am now offering the selection of photos from the exhibition for sale by mail order. Since they are prints and not framed like they were at the exhibition, the cost is considerably less.
Photos come in three sizes
10 X 12 inches Price $60
12 X 15 inches Price $95
16 X 20 inches Price $125
Shipping in the U. S. by U.S. Mail is $12 per order
A 15% discount applies for orders of three or more photos
If you would like to order photos, please email me @ [email protected] and I will process shipping and payment.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Yesterday at approximately 7PM, Notre Dame de Paris suffered a devastating fire, which collapsed much of the roof and toppled and burned the spire. Over 400 fire fighters bravely worked to contain and control the fire and finally after an eight-hour battle, the fire was put out.
All of Paris and the world watched with horror, fright, fear, sadness, and finally consolation, as the very fiber of what Paris means to people was destroyed.
I was away from Paris when the fire happened and watched with sadness and sorrow about what had unfolded. I also felt helpless that I couldn’t be there to support my fellow Parisians during the devastation.
Since I started my tours in 2007, I have shown thousands of people the power and glory of Notre Dame. Some shed tears of happiness by the powerful spirit and beauty of the cathedral while others were awestruck.
I want to thank everyone who sent emails and Facebook messages alerting me to what happened along with their sympathy and support.
Already donations of hundreds of millions of euros have been pledged to rebuild Notre Dame and restore it to its former greatness.
Children seem to easily find their free spirit. They are quick to fall under the spell of music, color, and light. And there’s no place quite like the Ateliers des Lumières to see first-hand these moments of unrestrained soul.
In this darkened space, immersed in sound and images, children show their true colors. They dance. They jump through the moving lights on the floor. They meet their shadowed selves on the walls. They touch the walls as if they can’t wait to find a path into the projected world.
They let the magic surround them . . . and make us all want to set our spirits free.
A selection from Meredith's In Play series will be featured at the upcoming Paris Alumni Network Exhibit at the Galerie Maître Albert (along with dramatic new work from her Le Cirque series). The PAN show also includes work from 14 other artists working in a variety of media. Gallery hours are from 11 am to 7 pm tous les jours from April 30 until May 11. The gallery is at 6 rue Maître Albert near Notre Dame.
Meredith Mullins is a fine art photographer, photography instructor, and writer for OIC Moments and Bonjour Paris. Her work can be seen at www.meredithmullins.artspan.com or in her award-winning book, In A Paris Moment. She is available for private photography instruction/exploration in Paris and also teaches WICE photography classes. For more information, contact her at [email protected]
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Tours start at 225 euros for up to 3 people, and 75 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you, my insiders, Paris.
Once the most celebrated avenue in Paris, the reputation of the Champs Elysees has been greatly tarnished in recent months by the violence and destruction the Gilet Jaunes have inflicted on it. Also, once the marker of retail luxury, the Champs Elysees in the past few years has given way to cheap food and retail chains such as Five Guys and H & M.
The tides are turning on the Champs Elysees by the opening of a new Galeries Lafayette. Housed in the former Virgin Megastore, the four-story, 700,000 square foot space is a breath of fresh air in the faltering times of big store retail. The building was constructed in the 1930s and some of the original Art Deco details have been restored thanks to Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, who respected the architecture and at the same time updated the design for the 21st century with innovation and style.
Interestingly enough, Théophile Bader, the founder of Galeries Lafayette, bought a hotel on the Champs Elysees in 1927 to open a branch of the store, but the crash of 1929 dashed his hopes. Today the new generation of the Galeries Lafayette family is fulfilling Bader’s dream.
I visited the store last week and was very impressed, considering I find most types of luxury stores like this much the same, featuring the same merchandise and brands. Yes, they sell the top luxury brands such as Chanel, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, and Gucci, but they also sell some cool, more under the radar labels such as Haider Ackermann, Sacai, JW Andersen, By Far, Thom Browne,Elie Top and an exclusive collection for the store by Rei Kawakubo for Commes des Garcons.
Going through a tunnel-like entrance on the main floor, facing left is a grand marble staircase and brass banisters, something you would find in a 1930s movie musical with dancers parading down the steps. There’s also a replica of the bottom half of the Eiffel Tower climbing up to the second floor atrium. The sleek cosmetics and beauty department is a glossy affair with mirrored walls and counters, rows of quirky color nail polishes and festive, white paper streamers hanging from the ceiling.
The second floor is a designer’s showcase, where the big bang brands are sparsely displayed on racks so that each piece stands out on its own. On the cutting edge of technology, the digital hangers have a touch screen that tells you the sizes the garment is available in and also directions to the nearest fitting room. Don’t want to wait on the queue to pay for your purchases? No worries, the 300 store stylists will ring you up straight away, in addition to assisting you with finding the best personal look for you. The men’s fashion department is equal in size with the women’s, which is rare, and also has cutting edge labels.
I frequently go to the movies on the Champs Elysees because the theaters are some of the best in Paris, but it’s always difficult to find well-priced, casual restaurants because there are either fast food joints or overpriced tourist traps. The Galeries Lafayette Champs Elysees has an excellent food court with a good selection of appealing food counters and communal tables to sit at. I had a swell, spicy Asian chicken salad at Little Zhao for lunch for 7€ and other offerings in the food court include paté at Maison Verot,vegan fare at Maisie Café, and seafood from Kaspia Deli.On the dessert side, there are branches of Pierre Marcolini and Alain Ducasse chocolate, plus the only outside branch of Stohrer, the oldest patisserie in Paris. Good news is the food court is open till 10PM every night and the store until 12AM.
Cult fashion designer Jacquemus, has partnered with Kaspia restaurant, to open a Citron, a Provence inspired restaurant that is the new chic boite to be seen at.
I am now offering the selection of photos from the exhibition for sale by mail order. Since they are prints and not framed like they were at the exhibition, the cost is considerably less.
Photos come in three sizes
10 X 12 inches Price $60
12 X 15 inches Price $95
16 X 20 inches Price $125
Shipping in the U. S. by U.S. Mail is $12 per order
A 15% discount applies for orders of three or more photos
If you would like to order photos, please email me @ [email protected] and I will process shipping and payment.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
I was in the city of Bordeaux in March to do some research for an article for a publication I write for.
I visited Bordeaux in 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed spending two days exploring the magnificent architecture of early 19th century limestone edifices, (Baron Haussmann used Bordeaux as a model to rebuild Paris), great food, charming people, and of course, wine. Click here to read my post about Bordeaux .
It was a brilliant, sunny pre-spring day and the light hitting the limestone buildings was stunning. I am always on the lookout for interesting doors to feed my door addiction, and Bordeaux is a great new source. The best feature of the doors of Bordeaux were the tops of the doors, with fanned our patterns and iron latticework. I also loved the rusted and worn address numbers and the carved stonework on some.
Do you have some favorites here?
Photo prints of any of these photos can be ordered and delivered to you. Email me at [email protected] to order or for more info on sizes.
The big difference between now and my last visit to Bordeaux, is that now it’s only two-hours by train, a perfect day trip.
I may go to Bordeaux again to photograph some more doors.
I am now offering the selection of photos from the exhibition for sale by mail order. Since they are prints and not framed like they were at the exhibition, the cost is considerably less.
Photos come in three sizes
10 X 12 inches Price $60
12 X 15 inches Price $95
16 X 20 inches Price $125
Shipping in the U. S. by U.S. Mail is $12 per order
A 15% discount applies for orders of three or more photos
If you would like to order photos, please email me @ [email protected] and I will process shipping and payment.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Tours start at 225 euros for up to 3 people, and 75 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you, my insiders, Paris.