“Just take a deep breath and relax!” Lambert Wilson tells me as we sit down to discuss his stage and film projects for the year. Given the actor-singer’s reserved character and his sometimes strained relationship with the press, the advice sounds more like self-encouragement.
How Do You Say Frisbee in French?
Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s the Hale-Bopp comet … no, it’s a “flying disc,” more colloquially known as a “Frisbee.” These days, more and more discs are being sighted hovering over French territory: this fast-growing sport now counts over 180,000 players nationwide. No one is prouder of this fact than the Fédération Flying Disc France, which celebrates its auspicious 20th anniversary this year. Created in 1977 to promote disc-related sports and structure disc competitions, the federation now boasts 24 official clubs, 30 teams and more than 450 licensed players in France. With more than 40 nations registered with the World Flying Disc Federation, “Frisbee” could be one of the most popular sports on the planet by 2000.
House Guests from Hell
The news is out. Nine million Americans are traveling abroad this year. But the more important statistic is how many will be visiting YOU this summer!
Jazz Spotlight: Ted Hawke
Drummer Ted Hawke first set eyes on Paris in 1991. He liked what he saw. He was in the middle of a big band gig but it didn’t feel like just another tour stopover, like the hundreds he’d made all over North America, Europe and Japan. It felt like home. After that first experience he started coming back whenever he could, his visits growing longer with every stay. Three years ago he definitively jumped ship. What made him do it? “It was the vibrations. The more I saw of Paris, the more I felt them. They’re practically the same as New York’s. Plus all the festivals and culture and stimuli, and the African music. It’s fantastic for that, and there are lots of great musicians based here too.” Continue reading “Jazz Spotlight: Ted Hawke”
Calvin Klein’s Newest Obsession
It had to happen one day or another. After McDonald’s, Coca Cola and Woody Allen, the next major American institution to arrive in Paris is Calvin Klein. America’s best-known fashion designer is scheduled to open a 650-square-meter megastore at 49, avenue Montaigne. Designed by London architect Claudio Silvestrin, the interiors, fashioned after Klein’s Madison Avenue store, are faithful to the designer’s clean, luxurious signature style: pristine white walls, limestone floors, brushed and shiny stainless steel counters and dark walnut chairs. “Each detail was designed to communicate the quintessential idea of modernity, pure luxury and quality, void of ostentation and excess,” says a Klein spokesman.
The Allure of Chanel
“Genius is the ability to foresee the future,” Coco Chanel often said. But even Mademoiselle, as she was often called, could never have imagined that 26 years after her death, her small boutique at 31, rue Cambon would be the nucleus of a multinational business including a network of stores around the globe. One of the best known fashion names of the century, Chanel is unique. It is the only house that has remained faithful to the spirit of its namesake well after the founder’s death, without compromising the original image. Today, Chanel is the most powerful fashion firm in France. Continue reading “The Allure of Chanel”
French Meal Up in Smoke
The setting is straight out of the Michelin guide: linen tablecloth, silverware that’s actually silver, no prices on the menu. The soup bowls have gone back to the kitchen and the wine has been sampled and judged a good choice And just as the main dish arrives, the family at the next table–mere, pere and 16-year-old fille–reach for the pack of Gauloises next to the centerpiece. Another meal lost. Continue reading “French Meal Up in Smoke”
Goutte d’Or…Africa in Paris
A tiny patch of Africa transplanted to Paris, the Goutte-d’Or is one of the last remnants of genuine working-class village life in Paris. Despite desperate struggles by local associations to rescue it from the hands of technocrats determined to “clean up” the area, demolition has already begun and the usual characterless buildings of our times are cropping up, notably the new police station, easily distinguishable by its tricolored flag. Continue reading “Goutte d’Or…Africa in Paris”
Remembering Paris in 1947
Fifty years ago this month, Paris was swarming with the task of recovery – material and psychic. The spring of 1947 brought with it a huge wave of displaced Europeans, and Paris emerged as a “plaque tournante” for a battered continent finding its bearings. In the crowded streets around the Gare Saint-Lazare one heard Polish, Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian. The little hotels were stuffed with people with tattered suitcases, unpronounceable names, and small wads of US dollars and perhaps a few pieces of gold sewn into threadbare overcoats. Many handed over everything they owned for a visa to a far-off country, Cuba or Venezuela, Canada or the United States, the promise of a new start. Many stayed, dug in, opened little shops and became part of France’s merchant class. Others battled to gain passage on a Salvation Army charter boat that left from Le Havre and pulled into the Hudson River two weeks later. Continue reading “Remembering Paris in 1947”
Tattoo Art Revisited
For many the word “tattoo” conjures up images of black-leather-clad bikers straddling Harley-Davidsons or sleazy waterfront saloons where drunken sailors have hearts and mermaids tattooed on their biceps. Very few people would actually consider tattooing an art form. Yet it qualifies as one of humankind’s oldest artistic expressions. Two fine current exhibits feature decorative body art. Contemporary artist Antoine Tzapoff studied Indian dance rites in Mexico, resulting in a superb series of 25 documentary paintings on view at the Maison de l’Amérique Latine. The Marquesan exhibition at the Musée de l’Homme highlights magic rites and the extraordinary nature of Marquesan tattoo designs, which cover large areas of the body. Continue reading “Tattoo Art Revisited”
Montmartre, Pigalle and La Chapelle
Crime and the passion of social ideas; anarchists and artists; sex, drugs, rock ‘n’roll and working class heroes … Paris’ 18th arrondissement has seen it all. Its history tells the tale of some of the major social forces shaping life in this city. From the Paris Commune to the struggles of Paris’ 19th century working class to last year’s “sans papiers” occupation of the district’s Saint-Bernard church, the18th has been a crucible of political, social and artistic ferment. Continue reading “Montmartre, Pigalle and La Chapelle”