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Oct 6

No. 13: Art as a Necessity

IMG_3923Last night was nuit blanche in Paris—the annual October evening where the whole city of Paris plays host to an all-night arts and cultural fête. This year, and I am kicking myself for somehow missing this seemingly impossible-to-miss spectacle, the night commencé avec four helicopters flying over Paris, each one containing one member of a string quartet, playing an avant-garde melody, joyfully broadcast into the night.

Having missed that, Superman and I did finally get our act together around 23h and joined in, strolling hand-in-hand through the warm autumn night.

Along with thousands of our closest friends, we spent the evening and early hours of the morn wondering through the streets exploring the contemporary art scene and stumbling upon all sorts of artistic expression. The white night included fantastical arts installations, live music and dance performances, films and performance art, fog sculptures, light shows, colossal playgrounds, and hands-on art workshops for children or those with le coeur d’enfant.

Musée du quai Branly, nuit blanche

Musée du quai Branly, nuit blanche

les berges, nuit blanche

les berges, nuit blanche

Museums, art galleries, cultural centers, cafés and restaurants stayed open all night, and hundreds of other events were on offer free of charge. The city center, like Cinderella’s pumpkin, was magically transformed into a sparkling gala, dedicated uniquely to art. Along the Seine curious art installations materialized out of the mist, and throngs of young people gyrated to the pulse of the night. At midnight a dazzling pyrotechnic display filled the sky.

Watching the planned parties and impromptu merrymaking overflow into the streets, I felt so incredibly lucky to be part of a place that values and celebrates art and creative expression, and feels sure that art is not just frivolous, but necessary.

Vocabulaire:

commencé avec: began with

le coeur d’enfant: a heart of a child

Nuit blanche: white night, light night; an annual all-night or night-time arts festival

Passer une nuit blanche: to have a sleepless night, to pull an all nighter, stay up all night

Oct 5

No. 12: Automne Deux Fois

Automne, j’adore!

I just can’t seem to get enough of fall in Paris and am looking forward to some travels further south in France over the Toussaint Holiday to see what autumn looks like there!

peppers in provence

follow the yellow brick road

follow the yellow brick roadfall 2012

Creuteuil
Creuteuil

 

Oct 5

No.11: Automne

fall 2012I love fall in France. I suppose I love it more than most because I come from a region of the USA where there is a conspicuous lack of deciduous trees. So, the radiant blushes of color surrounding me in France never cease to amaze. Sometimes I feel like a dolt, pointing out the vibrant reds and oranges that I suppose seem quite normal to most. But lately, I just can’t help myself. With summer gone, and the impending grey winter on my mind, I plan to enjoy every last drop of scarlet, amber and tangerine.

cascading colors

cascading colors

I think what makes fall even more special for me in France, is that there seems to be a boundless amount of planning, both at the public level as well as at the individual level. This dedication to civic design, on the government’s part is seen throughout France, from the smallest village to the major cities. The October flowerbeds and gardens fiery and fierce, compliment the arbors and forest, thoughtfully planted and groomed sometimes centuries ago. Meanwhile I think the Frenchies take pride in their own small piece of the world. They seem to have a very strong sense of follow through and possibly a sense of duty to their fellow citizens to provide their neighbors and community with something lovely to look at. Their sense of esthetics and beauty saturates what might otherwise be a gloomy backdrop to life.  I feel a commitment to beauty in France.

fall 2013 acorns

So when autumn is in the air and the seasons begin to change, not only are we spoiled by nature’s streaking sweep of the paintbrush, we are also spoiled by la madame’s sixth floor window boxes and her not-so-amateur palette of colors.

La jardinière de notre voisin

La jardinière de notre voisin

Oct 3

No. 10: Chagall

La Danse 1950-1952

La Danse 1950-1952

I am a huge fan of Marc Chagall.

I was lucky enough to see the Chagall exhibit at the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris at the end of summer, and it was stunning. I adore his vibrant palette and enthusiasm. Boy, could Chagall do color! As Picasso said, “When Matisse dies Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is”. Je suis d’accord, brother.

Although Chagall was born in Belarus, the French considers him first a French artist, and then a Russian painter. While he did spend the majority of his life in France, much of his work reflects and was inspired by his memories and dreams of his homeland in Vitebsk. But, fortunately for all us admirers, many of his most famous works can still be found in France.

Le Paysage Bleu, 1949

Le Paysage Bleu, 1949

The expos. A remarkable thing about living in Paris and France is the exceptional access to great works of art. At this exhibit, I fell in love with his fiddlers dancing on the roofs and his ghostly figures gliding through his magical sky, the green and yellow dancers and whimsical forms, the purple roosters and blue violins, the stuff that dreams are made of…his hopes, longings, and losses—a delightful and thought-provoking display of some of his major works.

A night at the symphony. The Palais Garnier, Paris’ famous opera house, is also the home to his famous, fanciful ceiling. Although there was a whole heap of debate and some very disgruntled Frenchies when he was first commissioned to paint it in 1963, it has become a much beloved part of any evening at the opera or ballet.

Palais Garnier, Paris

Palais Garnier, Paris

The windows. You may not know that a set of Chagall stain glassed windows is housed in Reims at the gothic Notre-Dame Cathedral. I was oh so pleasantly surprised to find them when touring Champagne country. Someday soon I hope to make it to Metz to visit Saint-Etienne Cathedral to see, as one French friend has told me the most “flamboyant” of all of Chagall’s windows.

Reims Cathedral

Reims Cathedral

The sets and costumes. On top of that, I just learned from my lovely daughter and dancer, Kitcat, that Chagall also designed and hand-painted the madly imaginative costumes and sets for the1942 production of Aleko, for the New York Ballet Theatre and did the same for New York’s Metropolitan Opera’s production of the Magic Flute, later in the 1960s. (Do I have to go to New York to see them? Does anyone know where they are housed?)

Fish

Fish

Clown costume, Aleko

Clown costume, Aleko

Most definitely on my radar this fall, is a trip to the Carrières de Lumières, via Marseilles, to see the “Monet, Renoir… Chagall: Journeys around the Mediterranean” expo…and, of course Nice is my Mecca. Someday I hope I’ll visit the Musée National Marc Chagall.

Vocabulaire:

Je suis d’accord: I agree

Oct 2

No. 9: The Eurostar

EurostarAnother thing I love about France is the Eurostar. Why? Well, when you get fed up with the Frenchies, it’s reassuring to know that a culture I understand a little bit better is a mere 2 hours and 20 minutes away by high speed train. For those with nightmares of dying a soggy death in a tunnel under the English Channel, you only have to close your eyes and hold your breath for a scant 22 minutes.

Inside the Chunnel

Inside the Chunnel

carte_eurostar

Oct 1

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No. 8: My Nespresso

NespressoI wasn’t always a coffee snob, in fact, I’m not sure that I am one. I’m pretty inexperienced. I’ve only been drinking coffee for a few years, turned on to the benefits of possibly staving off Parkinson’s disease, as it runs in my family. Watching my maman decline and eventually die from this dignity denying disease, I have chosen to cling to any remedy that offers a hope of preventing me from succumbing as well. So naturally when I saw the recent studies showing a link between prevention of Parkinson’s and coffee drinking, I very easily picked up the daily habit of drinking two café noisettes. (Which by the way has nothing to do with hazelnuts.)

I say easily, because it such a part of the French culture to have a coffee. They drink their coffees standing in the morning at a bar, sitting in a brasserie for lunch, reclining at their cafés at teatime, and of course, luxuriously finishing their final cup after dinner at a resto with a pack of cigarettes.

The Frenchies aren’t so much of  a coffee culture as they are a café culture, and I think that’s where things have gone wrong in regards to a good cup of Joe. I’m not sure it matters to them what they are drinking as much where they are drinking it, and with whom. There have been many an article and blog post written about the regretfully awful coffee served in France, with headlines ranging from bad to worse: Why is French Coffee so Bad?  How the French Ruined Coffee, and my favorite, How Not to Drink Black Tar in Paris.

But there is still hope. When I asked my Italian friend Sarah where to get a good cup of coffee in Paris, she said, and I quote, “There are only two places I can recommend: Coutume on rue de Babylone and the Fiat dealership (yes, no kidding, they have a bar there!!!) on the Rond Point des Champs Elysees”.

Guess I better buy a Fiat.Coffee3

Vocabulaire:

 

un café noisette: An espresso with a little bit of hot milk.

une noisette: a hazelnut

un restau: a cool way to say restaurant

Sep 30

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No. 7: Orléans

orleansOur newest favorite escape from Paris, when Superman and I are longing for some fresh air and greenery ,is to hop the intercity train to Orléans.

For the past 4 years, we have been listening to the Pimsleur Language Series on our iPods trying, with varying degrees of success, to improve our French. The characters in the lessons are always talking about traveling to Orléans. So finally, we took out a map and decided to find out what the people at Pimsleur were buzzing about.

Well, it just so happens to be a pretty swag city, and an hour away by train from Paris. If you catch the 8h30 train you can have a mini-vacation and be back in time for dinner.

orleansbikeOrléans is located on the Loire River and for some travelers this is the jumping off point to tour the Loire Valley. We like to go just for the pleasure of hanging out in the historic city, biking on the fabulous Loire à Vélo trail (a subject for another post), and for the endearing riverside cafés and half-timbered houses. (The NY Times has also cited Orléans for its “alternative” nightlife, trendy restaurants, including a relatively new, Michelin starred resto—might it be time to head back?)Orleans4

And of course, you can’t step foot tin Orléans without hearing a whole lot about Jeanne d’Arc. If you are a lapsed history buff like me, you might need a refresher on who exactly Joan of Arc was. She was the little lassie who threw on her armor in Orléans and stood against the British invaders during the Hundred Years War. Her devotion to God stirred the French to victory, and Orléans was liberated; of course, as these things never do seem to end well, the English later burned her at the stake for heresy.orleans3

(You can thank the handsome tour guide at the Maison de Jeanne d’Arc Museum for this history lesson, along with this little know fact: the Jeanne d’Arc’s pageboy haircut was also the inspiration for the ubiquitous bob haircut, which was so popular in Paris in the early 1900s!)4929719_f520

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