August 26, 2010 by Shannon
Prakhar – Rainy view from Montmartre
Fifty degree weather? Rain? What’s next, sleet? The summer is obviously on vacation somewhere else this year. It packed up and went on a tour of Italy and Spain most likely, because it’s definitely not in Paris! The sun has been taking a big ole dump on my outdoor plans for quite a while now. I’ve been cooped up in my apartment too long, another week of this and I’ll be eligible for the hermit of the year award.
It’s time to brave the weather and see Paris from the inside out. Here are a few things that are tempting me at the moment:
YSL expo at Petit Palais: I’ve heard great things about this exhibit, but haven’t gotten around to going yet! It’s open until this weekend, so I’m down to the wire to get around to doing anything that could give me the slightest insight about how to dress my sorrily-clothed-self.
Kentrige 5 Themes expo at Jeu de Paume: This is by far one of my favorite museums in Paris; the expos never fail to disappoint! This expo looks particularly good. I like that it’s a mix of mediums – drawings, prints, films & all that. This is good because I have a real attention span pro- DID YOU SEE THAT BIRD FLY BY??
Tea at l’Hotel: My friend Rebecca introduced me to this place and it was love at first sight. It’s the perfect place to cozy up and drink your self warm again. Luxurious, a bit swanky, but they’ll let you sit and relax for hours with a good book. (Read: I’m cheap. 5€ is already a lot, so I’m getting my money’s worth!)
And here are suggestions from the Paris experts via Twitter! These people REALLY know their way around the city, you can trust them with your rainy vacation days! Please be sure to check their blogs and add them on Twitter for more insights!! Continue Reading »
Posted in Arts, Events, Parisian Living | 7 Comments »
August 2, 2010 by Marisa Morrison
Marisa Morrison, blogger, francophile, and addict of all things hip and Parisian, fills us in on Paris must-do’s this month. PS: Be sure to check out her gorgeous blog, the Neon Tea Party!
To most, August in Paris means one thing: les vacances! Each summer, following Bastille Day (July 14), Parisians ditch their usual city dwellings and head to country homes and seaside escapes for the remainder of the summer. This, however, does not result in Paris as a complete ghost town. Quite the contrary! August in Paris is a time for festivals and cultural events of all sorts, keeping tourists and remaining locals entertained and full of summer spirit. Whether you are interested in a high-energy music festival or a relaxing evening in the park, the City of Light has got you covered.
Fun and Games
Who said you have to ditch Paris for the South to soak up some rays on France’s best shores? From July 20 through August 20, the banks of Paris’ own Seine River and Bassin de la Villette will transform into veritable sandy beaches in this year’s 9th annual Paris Plages. Lie out on one of Paris Plage’s 800 lounge chairs under a real palm tree or partake in some beach-side activities, such as boating, badminton, pétanque, Tai Chi and dance classes. In association with Paris Plages, Fnac’s music festival, FnacIndétendances, hosted outside the Hôtel de Ville will feature over 30 free concerts on Friday and Saturday evenings beginning at 5 p.m. from July 23rd through August 14th. The line-up includes Arno, Arpad Flynn, Beat Assailant, Lafayette, and Acid Washed. Click here to check out the full line up. For more information on Paris Plage’s plethora of activities and events, check out the official web page here.
What would summer be without a good old-fashioned carnival? Spanning June 26th to August 22nd, the Fête Foraine des Tuileries has all the classics: a carousel, Ferris wheel, games, sugary treats, and so much more. The best part? It all takes place right in the center of Paris in the city’s most renowned garden! The festival is open from 11 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. Sunday – Thursday and 11 a.m. to 12:45 a.m. Friday, Saturday and holidays. Entrance is free and attractions cost 2-10 € each per person.
Music
Indétendances Music Festival by Hotel de Ville – Flickr.Whisker
Every summer since 2003, Paris has played host to three-day music festival Rock en Seine at the Domaine National de Saint-Cloud. This year, Rock en Seine will take place on August 27, 28 and 29, and has a line-up that includes both rock-and-roll heavy hitters such as Blink 182 and Queens of the Stone Age, and cult-followed indie rockers like Beirut and LCD Soundsystem. Tickets are available through Rock en Seine’s official website and cost 99 euros for all three days or 45 euros for each individual day. Coming with kids? Continue Reading »
Posted in Arts, Events, Parisian Living | 3 Comments »
June 17, 2010 by Genevieve Sandifer
This weekend, don’t miss the Shakespeare & Co literary festival, sponsored by one of Paris’ best English-language bookstores. The theme this year is Storytelling and Politics — with a fantastic roster of English-language writers, it’s the perfect occasion to brush up on a little left-bank expat intellectualizing… And here is the poster, created by Hip Paris blogger friend Badaude.
Related links:
- Shakespeare & Co Festival Website
- Badaude’s blog
- Vingt Paris has the low-down on the festival as well
Looking for a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, Provence, or Tuscany? Check out Haven in Paris.
Posted in Arts, Events | 2 Comments »
June 14, 2010 by Tory Hoen
It’s funny to think how my first visit to Paris involved the requisite art stops (the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay), and how I now get my artistic thrills by lurking in the dark doorways of artist ateliers in Paris’ fringy Belleville neighborhood. But as my relationship with the city has evolved, my understanding of the “real” Paris has evolved as well. I’m not knocking the d’Orsay (it’s worth it every time), but today’s contemporary art scene often happens behind closed doors. A few times a year, these doors open up, and I was lucky enough to be in Paris last week for the Portes Ouvertes de Belleville.
Having lived in this neighborhood this winter, I suspected that there was either some crazy drug trafficking or crazy art-making (or maybe both) going on in the ateliers that lined the rue de Belleville, rue Denoyez and rue Ramponeau. I really wanted to learn more about the scene but—because I am not cool by nature—I figured this was a dynamic subculture that was inaccessible to me. No longer!
My first stop the other week was at “Frichez Nous La Paix,” an artistic collaborative that is responsible for much of the incredible street art in Belleville. I had watched the evolving graffiti on rue Denoyez all winter, and meeting the artists responsible for it felt kind of like discovering that Santa Claus does, in fact, exist.
Continue Reading »
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May 24, 2010 by Badaude
NOT the Eiffel Tower. We’ve seen it so many times! From the Lumière Brothers’ 1897 Panorama to Merchant Ivory’s 2003 Le Divorce. You can also forget Sacre Coeur (Amelie, 2001) and Notre Dame (all the Hunchback movies). But there are hidden romantic movie locations all over Paris waiting to be discovered…
L’Hôtel Du Nord – Hôtel Du Nord – Michel Carné (1938).
Now this one’s complicated so listen carefully. When Michel Carné made his classic movie of doomed love and dreams of escape in 1938, the decrepit Hôtel Du Nord on the Canal Saint Martin had already closed. So set designer Alexandre Trauner reconstructed the building and a whole stretch of the canal (complete with bridges) on a soundstage outside Paris. The real-life hotel was saved from demolition by its newfound on-screen fame and is now a restaurant of the same name, capitalizing on the movie’s retro glamour. It’s well worth a stop for its boho setting as well as its manouche (gypsy jazz à la Django Reinhardt) nights every Thursday. Sadly the hotel does not actually rent out rooms.
La Place de Furstemberg – L’Appartment – Giles Memouni (1996)
I’m finding it difficult to track down the ‘little Place near the Luxembourg gardens’ where the lovers in L’Appartment, Giles Memouni’s 1996 little-known but impossibly romantic and twisty Hitchcockian thriller, meet, or fail to, but I think it’s the Place de Furstemberg in Saint Germain. Additional romance factor – Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci, the Brangelina of French film, met on set. While you’re there, you can also visit 19th century painter Delacroix’s house and studio, now a museum, in the corner of the Place. Continue Reading »
Posted in Arts, Tours and Classes | 4 Comments »
May 19, 2010 by Tory Hoen
Since the days of Hemingway’s “Lost Generation,” Paris’ English-language bookstores have been vibrant gathering spots for the city’s Anglophone community. To this day, they all keep a ready supply of ex-pat classic A Moveable Feast on hand, and it’s no secret that the legacy of literati past continues to inspire Paris’ contemporary writers.
Whether you’re a reader, a writer, or just a literary lurker (yeah, we can see you hiding behind the stacks), you’ll want to check out our list of the top five English-language bookstores in Paris. Most hold regular readings, which provide the perfect opportunity to mix and mingle with like-minded literary folk.
1. Shakespeare & Co. Founded in 1919 (in another location) by Sylvia Beach, Shakespeare & Co. has long been the grande dame of English bookstores in Paris. It was a regular hangout for the likes of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein and James Joyce, and over the years, nearly every major writer of the 20th century has passed through its doors. Nowadays, regular readings and workshops make this colorful spot a necessary pilgrimage for readers and writers the world over. Young “tumbleweeds” (aspiring writers on the go) still blow through to read, write and camp out in the shop’s upstairs room. For a calendar of upcoming events, click here. 37 Rue de la Bûcherie, 5eme. Tel: 01 43 25 40 93.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Arts, Parisian Living | 4 Comments »
May 13, 2010 by Erica Berman
All photos Erica Berman (Marcus’s flat, his courtyard and his stairwell)
On a recent Paris Sunday, Heather Stimmler Hall of Secrets in Paris invited me to meet her for an afternoon tea at artist Marcus McAllister’s painting studio, in the semi-underground and very interesting neighborhood of Goncourt. Meeting new people is always cool — but if artwork is involved, it’s even cooler. Goncourt is a hip, little, off-the-beaten-track quartier of the 10th, not far from the trendy Canal St martin, the up-and-coming St Marthe area and the Asian restaurants, outdoor markets and exotic supermarkets of Belleville.
I was met at the door by a smiling, American Marcus covered in paint with his cute doggy Grover at his heels. Marcus, an American from Arkansas, has been in Paris for 14 years and living in this sunny 1st floor studio for 11 of those. Marcus has been hosting Sunday afternoon tea and talks for 8 years now. Having crowds of strangers chez lui has become second nature and a tradition he enjoys immensely. Continue Reading »
Posted in Arts, Events, Parisian Living | 7 Comments »
April 14, 2010 by Melissa Ladd
While Paris is one of the best cities in the world to stroll through museums and gallery-hop, Melissa Ladd — friend and author of the wonderful blog Prete Moi Paris — has unearthed one of the more raw and authentic ways to discover the Right Bank’s true emerging artistic talent. Here she shares with us the return of the artist squat, right on the rue de Rivoli!
There’s ‘artsy-fartsy’, and then there’s what we call in French Bobo, meaning bourgeois-bohême… Meaning, well, ‘artsy-fartsy’! And then, there are actual real artists who don’t always come from affluent families that can afford to pay for a studio in Montmartre where they can pretend to philosophize on contemporary works that are too main-stream and “don’t dig into the real meaning of life”. The real artists are niched in little pockets of society, and they band together in hopes of surviving and being able to create their art.
You’ll find one such pocket at 59 rue de Rivoli, where an entire building has finally been given by the city of Paris to a band of bohemians.
Continue Reading »
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March 22, 2010 by Tory Hoen
One of the many great things about living in Paris is the multitude of vernissages (art openings) that seem to happen constantly in galleries and alternative spaces around the city. They’re generally free and open to the public, and they provide a great opportunity to check out both emerging and established artists. And of course, mixing it up with other art-interested people over wine and hors d’oeuvres is always a good time.
Tonight’s vernissage of note is that of American artist Ralph Brancaccio, whose mixed-media installations address current events in order to provoke positive social change. The vernissage is sponsored by Sarah McDonald’s Incubator 5066, an organization that helps to support and expose the work of emerging artists. The event will take place from 6-10pm at Patrick Ahmed’s Medley hair salon in the Marais.
Event details: 21, rue Vielle du Temple, 4eme. 6pm-10pm. Free and open to the public. For more information, call 06 20 59 84 46. Expo goes until May 1, 2010.
For more information on Ralph Brancaccio, check out his site, and learn more about Sarah’s art “incubator” by clicking here.
Written by Tory Hoen for the HiP Paris Blog. Looking for a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, Provence, or Tuscany? Check out Haven in Paris.
Posted in Arts | 1 Comment »
February 25, 2010 by Tory Hoen
“Le Baiser de l’Hotel de Ville” by Robert Doisneau
You may not know the name Robert Doisneau, but it’s likely that you’ve seen his iconic photographs of Parisian life in the ’30s and ’40s. If “Le Baiser de l’Hôtel de Ville” (see above) doesn’t make you want to hop a plane to Paris, I don’t know what will. But Doisneau’s oeuvre extends much further than the whimsical images we all know and love, and a current exhibit at the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson allows us a window into the full breadth of his career, which spanned much of the 20th century. Continue Reading »
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Supagroova, Lemmiworld
