The webzine for English speaking Parisians
Twelve Bubbly Days of Christmas
Holidays are times to uncork a bottle of bubbly and make a toast. Although France’s champagne is the world’s most famous celebratory drink there are others that merit tasting. Since there are twelve days of Christmas here are a dozen bubblies to get you in the spirit this season. Continue reading “French Holiday Wines with Sparkle…”
Galerie Odile Ouizeman is showing Anne-Sophie Emard’s immersive installation “Twiinning Trees, Le bois est un document,” which poetically links two lime trees (tilleuls)… one located in the gallery’s indoor garden, and the other, a remarkable 400 year-old lime tree growing on botanist Sylvain Pouvaret’s arnica herb farm (located in the Auvergne, Puy-de-Dome).
The exhibition is a collaboration with “le projet Silvae and the Conservatoire d’Espaces Naturels d’Auvergne” (to December 10, 2024) Continue reading “Tale of Two Trees”
The tastes of autumn… Fall is a lovely time to stroll through a Paris market and take the opportunity to reconnect with local merchants. Your cheese vendor, wine shop keeper and greengrocer can help you celebrate France’s autumn bounty by pointing out in-season foods that complement each other, such as fruit, cheese and wine. Continue reading “Saying Cheese in French”
That the Butte’s wine is almost undrinkable has never gotten in the way of what has to be one of this capital’s best annual fests! This year the Fete des Vendanges de Montmartre takes place Oct 9-15, 2024.
As with any good party, this one has something for everybody: it’s part folklore, with fraternal orders from the winegrowing regions of France turning out in traditional robes and quirky hats, and part Arbor Day parade, complete with Harvest Queen, marching bands and street theater. Continue reading “Montmartre Fetes its Wine”
Chanson, tap dance, joie de vivre with a Frenchy jazzy cabaret on a barge on the Seine in central Paris? Sounds good to us! Check out the “Parisian Time Step” show–July 28 and August 04, 2024– from tap dancer Ruby Boukabou and singer/ dancer Wendy Lee Taylor (Lido de Paris) with piano by Philippe Petit and Cédric Caullaud on double bass. The show is a fun celebration of Paris, music and tap dance where the audience time travels back to the Belle Epoque with its cheeky polkas; 1930s music halls and smokey 1940s-50s Saint Germain jazz bars. Continue reading “Jazzy Dance Rendez Vous”
Fresh bread from the local boulangerie is one of the things we love about Paris… especially the Baguette. French baguettes received UNESCO’s world heritage status in 2022. According to the National Federation of French Bakers more than 6 billion baguettes are baked each year in France. Continue reading “Best Paris Baguette 2024”
Surrounded by woodland, next to a tranquil stretch of canal in a little-visited Paris suburb, sit the quietly astonishing remains of a gunpowder factory. Continue reading “The Parc de la Poudrerie”
Only in Paris for a few days and overwhelmed by the options? Follow this suggested itinerary for an unforgettable trip. The following is an extract from Ruby Boukabou’s “The Architecture Lover’s Guide to Paris” (White Owl Books), a fabulous new guide book catering to both armchair travelers dreaming of a future visit and those lucky enough to actually get to Paris during these troubled pandemic times. Available worldwide. More info and online orders at www.rubytv.net/books . Continue reading “36 Hours in Paris”
The “Robert Ryman. Act of Looking” exhibition at Paris’ Musée de l’Orangerie revisits the artist’s minimalist white on white paintings (until July 01, 2024). Quintessentially art for art’s sake, people either love or hate this kind of work. Ryman (1930-2019) is a self-taught American painter, who began working in New York in the late 1950’s. He spent most of his career exploring the foundations of painting. Returning to the formula of the white square time after time — which he chose for its neutrality— he explored all the material components of a painting from texture, to surface to lighting and hanging systems. Continue reading “Robert Ryman at l’Orangerie”
The “Tina Modotti. L’oeil de la révolution” exhibit at Paris’ Jeu de Paume (until May 12, 2024) revisits this legendary femme extraordinaire with a large exhibition tracing her career from silent film actress and model to photographer to Communist activist. Modotti (Udine, Italy, 1896 – Mexico City, 1942) moved to Mexico with photographer Edward Weston in 1923 becoming part of the “Mexican Renaissance” and its thriving post-revolutionary culture. Joining the circle of artists and mural painters there, she quickly combined Weston’s formalism with her own personal vision. She joined the Mexican Communist Party (CPM) in 1927 and used her camera to denounce the plight of the poor, paying particular attention to conveying the experience of Mexican women. Continue reading “Tina Modotti at Jeu de Paume”
It was on the southern edge of the arrondissement, in the wretched Faubourg St-Antoine that rumbling discontent was first channeled into working-class consciousness and into organized action against exploitation. When word was spread on April 28, 1789 that Monsieur Réveillon, a painted-paper manufacturer on rue de Montreuil, was planning to reduce his workers’ wages, the Faubourg St-Antoine rose up in a violent insurrection. Monsieur Réveillon had not anticipated such a reaction, for the lowering of wages he had intended was proportionate to the drop in the price of bread fixed by the authorities to ease social tension. His 400 workers had a different idea of fairness and Réveillon, terrified, ran for his life and sought shelter in the neighboring Bastille, the ominous fortress looming west of the faubourg. It took the intervention of troops and a death toll of 30 to put down the revolt, but any wise ruler should have sensed that further trouble was brewing … Continue reading “Bastille day…The story behind the celebration”