About Paris

"Rien ne se peut comparer à Paris"

(Nothing can be compared with Paris)

   - Eustache Deschamps

“When good Americans die, they go to Paris”
   - Oscar Wilde

“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life”
   - Thomas Jefferson

"You can please some of the people some of the time; Paris pleases most of the people most of the time"
   - (I said that)

Pinacothèque, Paris

Address: 28 Place de la Madeleine, Paris

Website: www.pinacotheque.com

Tamara de Lempicka - Queen of Art Deco 

Showing from April to 8 September, this exhibition covers the career of one of the prominent exponents of the Art Deco movement. The pictures, very distinctive with their vibrant colours and predominantly featuring strongly portrayed female subjects, are arranged in a roughly chronological way and trace Lempicka's life and work from her years as a young Russian émigrée, through her famous period in 1930s Paris when she moved in artistic and literary circles, to her declining years when changes in her style and her fortune became evident.

The pictures are reasonably well accompanied with explanatory text (in French) and a few incidents in her life are given more detailed treatment, through commentary and letters. There are two very brief film clips which do not add much to the exhibition.

The paintings are stunning and have great impact for the most part - the 'nature morte' (still life studies) less so.

I was slightly disappointed that my three personal favourites - 'La Dormeuse' ('Sleeping Woman'), 'Adam et Ève' and 'Femme à Colombe' ('Woman with a Dove') weren't included.

For those who are interested in seeing an exhibition which presents the movement against which, to some extent, Art Deco was rebelling, the other Pinacothèque site across the road has 'L'Art Nouveau: la Révolution Décorative' - also until September.

I would say that this is a worthwhile visit - allow at least 90 minutes.

Musée de Montmartre

Address: 12/14 rue Cortot, Paris
Website:  http://www.museedemontmartre.fr/


In the bustling, sometimes slightly vulgar streets of Montmartre, which are virtually swamped by tourist traps, this small museum stands quite apart.

The house itself is the oldest in Montmartre and was the home of several artists renowned in the area. It's worth looking up the history.

The collection focuses on the district and at the time of writing, the exhibition featured 'Le Chat Noir' - the history of the various reincarnations of the club, the circus, the 'Can-Can', the personalities and the art of the period, as well as lots of documentation and contemporary publicity material.

One room was set out as a small bar of the period - known as 'un zinc' because of the zinc tops of the bar itself. You will also see what seemed to be the original posters of 'Le Chat Noir' and 'Aristide Bruant' - so often reproduced and on everyone's wall in the 1970s.

Lots of things to see, with music of the period playing in the background.

The gardens are delightful. There are several spots which feature in well-known impressionist pictures. They are well signposted and referenced. Behind the house, you can see the Montmartre vines - old plantings which still produce wine.

All very interesting and worth a visit. For those who are interested, the museum stimulates lots of "I must look that up later" moments.

For those who don't read French, most of the pieces have short English descriptions but the documents are not wholly translated.

Highly recommended.

Pavillon de L'Arsenal - Paris la Nuit (Paris at Night)

Address: 21 boulevard Morland, 75004 Paris, France (Metro: Hôtel-de-Ville)

“Interesting impressions of Paris”

The building that houses the exhibitions presents a traditional facade but the interior is adapted to large-scale displays. An extraordinary floating ceiling of freeform metal strips is an interesting feature, which visitors can see from above by climbing to the third level.

The presentation on the ground floor charts the development - in pictures, maps, models and photos - of Paris from its earliest days to the present, covering city boundaries, housing, public spaces, roads, monuments etc. There is accompanying text in French and English and and at intervals you will find video presentations with commentary in French only. The centre of the floorspace is taken up by a giant panel of 'screens' which is in fact an interactive Google Earth display of Paris, operated from a console alongside it. 

The second floor has the temporary exhibition. At the time of writing it is Paris at Night -  a visual display - which follows the history of Paris once again, this time through a series of night-time images. There are numerous reproductions of great art works and photographs, showing the city at work and at play, all at night, with a focus on Paris as the city of light. 
You can see it until 6 October.

My only criticism was that, ironically, the room was a little too dark and because most of the photographs were quite small, it was not always easy to see them properly and even more difficult to read the small print of the captions.

The third level is a more practical project space. When I visited, it showcased the work of local students who had obviously been invited to submit their designs for areas of Paris that are currently being redesigned and developed (for example, the area around Les Halles)

The attractions of the Pavillon de l'Arsenal change from time to time and are free. A visit there is an excellent way to spend a couple of hours.

Le Coin des Amis, Paris

Address: 50 rue du Mont Cenis, 75018 Paris, 

Tel: 01 42 52 30 36

I visited this restaurant mid-week, without a booking, as part of a group of six. The decor is warm, colourful, friendly - even a little cluttered. Lovely. You will find the ceiling very interesting.

You will be greeted warmly and, if you need help, guided through the menu and the daily special offerings by the serveur, who is friendly and humorous. There is a reasonably small range of dishes  - focusing on traditional French cooking. Among those chosen by our group were the kidneys - cooked with a creamy sauce - and the steak - with a pepper sauce. These dishes were popular and served with superb ratte potatoes. They were judged to be perfectly cooked. The salmon was absolutely perfect - served with rice and a selection of vegetables. One of the group chose the onion soup (gratinée),which seemed to be a substantial meal on its own and its very generous blanket of cheese. The chef prepared a dish of assorted vegetables for one of the party who was vegetarian. 

Some delightful wine from the Médoc complemented the meals.

Overall, the meal, service and atmosphere were outstanding. I will certainly go there again. You should try it. Highly recommended.

Relais Il Campanile - Florence

Address: Via Ricasoli 10, 50123 Florence, Italy

Website: http://www.relaiscampanile.it/

 

Staying here was a good experience. It could be described as something between a bed-and-breakfast and a hotel. It is quite small with no restaurant or bar and relatively few rooms. Particularly good is the absolute central location - practically in the shadow of the Duomo. It is also very convenient to the train station.

 

I especially liked the friendly atmosphere. The staff were helpful and made the stay very pleasant. I also liked the independence of being able to come and go freely - rather like staying in an apartment - with no reception as such. The staff were not always there after breakfast but available by phone.

 

The room was quiet and comfortable - much more spacious than I had expected - with a well equipped private bathroom and plenty of wardrobe space. The decor was traditional and very charming.

 

Breakfast was continental-style and very plentiful - served on a tray and delivered to the room at a set time, according to your wishes).

 

I was very happy with this hotel and it was good value. I would definitely go back on my next trip to Florence.

Hotel Viator

Address: 1 rue Parrot, 75012 Paris, France
Website: (via booking.com) http://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/viator.en.html

The hotel is a few minutes' walk from the Gare de Lyon and because of the friendliness and efficiency of the front desk staff, the welcome was very pleasant.
The room, facing the street, was well furnished, spotlessly clean and perfectly quiet when the double-glazed windows were closed. At other times there was a little street noise but rue Parrot is reasonably quiet. The bathroom was very large and rather beautiful with good quality toiletries. Incidentally, because this is an issue with some hotels, I can say that the accommodation was exactly as pictured in the hotel publicity photos.

These are my own photos (left)

The only slight drawback was the lack of facilities to make tea and coffee in the room; this is common in Paris hotels.
The concierge was very happy, however, to chill a bottle of champagne and lend some glasses.



Breakfast was perfectly fine - the usual pastries, confiture and coffee but also eggs and a range of cereals - not so common in many Parisian hotels.

A good place to stay. It was a little more expensive than it should have been but very pleasant.

Hotel Annapolis - Aix-les-Bains, France

Address: 60 Avenue Marie-De-Salms, 73100 Aix-les-Bains, France
Website: (in French)           www.annapolis.fr/
              (via booking.com) www.booking.com/Annapolis


I arrived very late (and very tired) from Paris and was given an extremely warm welcome.

The outstanding thing about Hotel Annapolis is the delightful owner, who does everything to make guests feel happy and comfortable. From offering advice about things to see and do in the area to friendly chats at breakfast, she was the perfect host.

 

The room was spacious and comfortable with older style furnishing, which I found charming, and a good sized bathroom. This is not luxury accommodation but more than satisfactory and extremely well maintained. The rooom had a television and a fan but there were no facilities to make tea/coffee, which was the only small thing I might have wanted to change.

 

There is no lift in the hotel and the stairs might be a problem for some. The public areas are welcoming and very attractively furnished.

 

Breakfast was simple but plentiful - croissants, rolls, coffee and juice.

The hotel is a 2-3 minutes walk to the train station and a few more minutes in the other direction takes you straight into the heart of Aix-les-Bains.

 

This is a very highly recommended place to stay in this beautiful town.

Le Musée Carnavalet

Address: 23 Rue de Sévigné, 75003 Paris
Website: (in English) http://carnavalet.paris.fr/en/museum-carnavalet
 

This is an excellent museum which traces the history of Paris with dozens of rooms filled with art and artefacts, furniture, costumes and decorative items from ancient times to the present.

The gardens and buildings in which the museum is housed are incredibly beautiful. You can spend hours here and, almost unbelievably, it's free.

Click here to read more

Lavoir Moderne Parisien – 35 rue Léon, 75018 Paris

This is a place worth checking. You can see more details and find out what's on here (an English-language website)

The place has a very sixties feel and it was packed on the evenings I was there. It's difficult to generalise but tickets for concerts range from 8 to 15 euros