Adolescent children like to do something different and a bit scary, a visit to the Catacombs in Paris is one of those things you can offer them and they will like it.

The Catacombs gather the remainders of approximately six million Parisian, transferred between the end from 18e century and the middle from the 19e century, progressively of the closing of the cemeteries for reason of insalubrity. Along a labyrinth of obscure galleries and narrow corridors , the visitor discovers the bones laid out in a “romantico-macabre” decoration. Pillars, bells of subsidence or bath of feet of the quarrymen evoke the origin of the places, the limestone quarries, while sharpening the curiosity of the visitor. This underground museum restores the history of Parisian and invites to a voyage out of time.

Catacombs of Paris, 1, avenue of Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy ,75014 Paris, Tel.: 01 43 22 47 63, M° Denfert-Rocherot

Schedules of opening : from 10 AM to 17 PM, every day except Monday (last admission at 16 PM )

You can visit the catacombes in private, take 1:30 h more or less ; you can also take a guided tour

Les Catacombes written by Dirk Sabbe in: Paris with kids

Tags: paris with kids

Terminus Nord, just in front of Gare du Nord is an old institution. It is open every day, even on Sunday evening ( exceptional in Paris) and until very very late. And early in the morning you can have your “petit déjeuner”.

The restuarant is reasonably priced, full of Parisians and has nice ?plateau de fruits de mer?. The staff is friendly and even if they don?t speak English, they try to help you out.

We did arrive rather late in Paris and were hungry. Almost all the restaurants in the neighborhood were clossing. So we went to Terminus Nord. We had a real nice dinner with our kids. (One of our kids would like to work there for a month or two, just because of the real Parisian ambiance) We came in at 22.30 h, the place was half full. The waiters had some time to chat with some “habitués” as there were an professor, an old piano artist, a young couple after a performance,…

We ordered some rumsteack with “beurre Maître d’Hôtel”, it came with french fries and a salad ; a dozen oysters (even in July they were delicious) and the best of all “steack haché minute”, the waiter did a great job seasoning to perfection. As a dessert everybody took our family favorite “crème brulée”.

Terminus Nord, 23, Rue de Dunkerque, 75010 Paris

Terminus Nord written by Dirk Sabbe in: Events

Tags: restaurants / drinks

1. Avoid eating in a restaurant that has a menu written in English.

2. Don’t be afraid. They can’t and won’t hurt you.

3. Don’t ever call a waiter “garçon”

4. Try to make reservations.

5. Return to a restaurant if you like it.

6. Parisians dine leisurely.

7. Don’t talk loudly.

8. Stand your ground without being aggressive.

9. Visit a street vendor at least once in Paris.

10. Alway be courteous. Remember that you are a guest in their country.

About eating and drinking in Paris written by Dirk Sabbe in: Events

Tags: restaurants / drinks

When we were there last week, we enjoyed having a drink (happy hour comes with real big pints) and do some peoplewatching. On the terras was a young Parisian lady in a red dress with white little dots correcting some papers. Next to us, two beautiful young Brasilian ladies telling their whole life when at a certain moment one of them gave a sign to some young males (dressed in skinny jeans, sneakers, short haircut with a bless, 1day unshaved) who joined them for a while. And then there was the young couple : he was coming from his work, in costume with a stylish briefcase – she in classical outfit (gray skirt and a blouse white and gray stripes, ballerina shoes) did some shopping. Before heading home they had one drink. They took 4 chairs, so that nobody could bother them. She put her little bag next to me and then I could see she did some lingerie-shopping. And then there was the classy young Senegalese lady, dressed in tradional fabrics bright orange and blue, nice juwels and funcky sunglasses. She knew how to drink a “petit café” and impress.

Café Le Turgot,  2,Rue Turgot, 75009 Paris

Le Turgot written by Dirk Sabbe in: Events

Tags: restaurants / drinks

The first large retrospective exhibition dedicated to Yves Saint-Laurent the fashion designer is set to take place from 11 March to 29 August at the Petit Palais. Discover this beautiful exhibition, you still have some time, but buy your ticket in advance on-line or in the Fnac (even with a ticket be prepared to be in line for 3/4 of an hour). The exhibition is very worthwhile, you will recognize photo’s, advertisement, maybe fashion clothes.

The Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent and the Petit Palais (City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts) are showcasing the first Yves Saint-Laurent retrospective exhibition since the fashion designer passed away. A total of 307 haute couture and prêt-à-porter models are on show, ranging from the designer?s beginnings at Dior in 1958, with the famous ?Trapèze? collection, to the splendour of the evening dresses from 2002. He revolutionised women?s wardrobes.In 40 years of creating, Yves Saint-Laurent revolutionised women?s wardrobes, by drawing on aspects of the male evening suit, trouser suit and safari suit to dress women, thereby passing attributes of power from one gender to the other.

Numerous photographs and films shed light on the historical background, the development of the Yves Saint-Laurent style and the aspects underpinning his creations.The designer took inspiration from the streets (1971 scandale collection), his dreamlike journeys (Russia, China, India, Spain, Japan, Africa and Morocco) and interaction with art (Modrian, Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh).

?I?ve always had the highest of respect for this profession, which isn?t an art form per se, but which needs an artist in order for it to exist? – Yves Saint-Laurent.

Rétrospective YSL, Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris ,Avenue Winston Churchill , 75008 Paris

YSL in Le Petit Palais written by Dirk Sabbe in: Culture

Tags: culture, events

By Robert Fisher
Fodor’s Editor

If you love Monet and Renoir you?re in good company?these fathers of Impressionism are among the most beloved painters of all time. But who would have thought that they also made amazing road-trip buddies? I “hit the road” with them during a recent trip to France, to savor the summer-long Impressionist Normandy Festival (June?September). Along the way I discovered towns and gardens that are a bevy of 3-D Gauguins, “virtual” Monets, and pop-up Pissarros. Here’s how to enjoy the best of France’s celebration of art.

Hitting the Road with Monet

With more than 150 special events, the Impressionist Normandy Festival reveals how the region became the “cradle of Impressionism” and forever influenced the history of world art. As a Monet junkie, I?ve spent a lifetime seduced by his paintings and this was the perfect opportunity to learn more about what exactly seduced him.

My week-long vacation proved to be an exuberant, intoxicating feast of art. And feast it is?in one tightly packed 100-mile stretch of coast you can take a road trip through the history of 19th-century painting, the giants of Impressionist art acting as your kindly tour guides. Many of us already know that a visit to any major museum is enough to virtually transport a viewer?by way of Monet?s luscious water-lily paintings, Boudin?s vibrant beach scenes, and Renoir?s Seine river vistas?to beautiful Normandy. But it is one thing to marvel at masters? paintings in museums, and quite another to visit the actual sites and scenery that inspired them. I’ve compiled some highlights to take the guesswork out of the vast festival schedule and, perhaps, help you make some lasting impressions of your own.

Brushing Up on Impressionism

Why Normandy? The reasons, historians tell us, are simple and yet extraordinary. Back in the 1860s, Parisians were as stressed out as today?s New Yorkers and just as desperate to escape the frenzied effects of urban industrialization. Voila! The construction of a new rail line turned the westernmost province of France into the “Hamptons” of Paris, and almost overnight, scores of elegant Parisians flocked to the seaside towns of Deauville and Trouville to promenade by the sea in their Worth gowns. Upon returning home many of them bought examples of then-revolutionary beachscapes. And once back in Paris, liberated from the confines of their stuffy studios, artists traded shop talk about painting en plein air (”in the open air”). Normandy became the new promised land because, thanks to the sea and its river estuaries, the region had the most mercurial weather in France. It became the perfect place to capture the fleeting aspects of nature.

I Left My Heart In Etretat

Etretat, a storybook fishermen?s village welcomed Monet one winter in 1868. This end-of-the-world spot might have been expressly composed for the artist by nature: views of spectacular chalk cliffs, soaring rock needles, and rolling sand dunes practically demand you to pick up brush and palette. Perched midway along Normandy?s Alabaster Coast, it is a Fisher-Price toy village with streets lined with 19th-century houses covered with sculpted wood figures. No matter there are no museums there?the entire village could be a museum exhibit.

The stunning white-sand beach and white-chalk rocks, such as the Manneporte?a limestone portal likened by author Guy de Maupassant to an elephant dipping its trunk into water?are major elements in the landscape. Here Monet became a pictorial rock-climber with the help of his famous “slotted box,” built with compartments for six different canvases, allowing him to switch midstream from painting to painting, as weather patterns momentarily changed. I experienced this first-hand when an unexpected downpour threatened to terminate my climb up the cliff footpath. The guide was quick to reassure me, “Just wait: in Normandy we have great weather several times a day!” For an artist like Monet, intent on capturing the ephemeral (he would have been glued to the Weather Channel), Etretat’s constantly changing weather was ideal. For more information visit our destination guide or www.seine-maritime-tourisme.com to find a full list of hotels and restaurants. (If you want to join Offenbach and Victor Hugo?s names in the guest book stay at its Château Les Aygues.) Etretat rocks!

Painting the Town

The Impressionists went on to colonize every point of the compass in Normandy, including Honfleur, whose harbor, lined with half-timbered houses, is so picturesque that I wished I knew how to paint?mere photographs don?t do it justice. A few blocks from the port is the town?s Musée Eugene Boudin, named to honor Honfleur?s most famous native son. The first to set up his easel outdoors (a revolutionary act at the time), he wound up holding painting sessions for the likes of Monet, Pissarro, and Jongkind at a pretty seaside auberge which today is the noted hotel Ferme St-Siméon (www.fermesaintsimeon.fr). During the festival, the museum is hosting a striking show called “Honfleur: Between Tradition and Modernity, 1820-1900″ (through September 6th), which traces how earlier styles, including the School of Barbizon, were veritable springboards for Impressionism.

Lying at the center of Normandy?s compass is the bustling river port capital of Rouen, whose Fine Arts Museum is hosting the festival’s focal show, “A City for Impressionism: Monet, Pissarro, and Gauguin at Rouen” (www.unevillepourlimpressionnisme.fr, through September 26th). The high point is the room hung with 11 of the 31 paintings Monet did over a three-month period, in 1892, of Rouen Cathedral. “Everything changes even if it is made of stone,” said Monet of this series?clearly the cathedral façade was simply a pretext to capture the essence of every hour from dawn to twilight. Embrace your inner Monet by heading across from the cathedral to Rouen?s tourist office and signing up for “Learn to Paint like Monet,” a mini-tutorial that allows you?thanks to a professional artist on hand, a watercolor set, and a traced outline of the cathedral façade?to paint your own Rouen cathedral. By a stroke of luck, I wound up sitting on the exact spot (second floor front, third window from the right) where Monet once set up his easel. Alas, my “Monet” wound up looking like a… Picasso.

We’re in the Monet

Fittingly, my final stop was the picturesque village of Giverny, where Monet spent forty-five years (until his death in 1926) tweaking the terrain of a former farm into a veritable live-in Impressionist painting. Adjacent to the Claude Monet House (www.fondation-monet.com)?its cozy rooms, done up in sugared-almond hues, Art Nouveau furniture, and Japanese prints, are open to the public?he created two legendary gardens (like the house, open May through October). Some people refer to the Clos Normand as “the Liberace of gardens” due to its avalanche of pink flowers, but a stroll here underscores how Monet regarded the garden as a painting (he said, “the most beautiful masterpiece I have done is my garden”), and vice versa. I confess I shed a tear upon entering the Water Lily Garden, set with the famed Japanese footbridge and water-lily pond. Magically, the real world appeared to dissolve and, just for a moment, I had the sensation of stepping into a 19th-century Impressionist painting. This garden is so precisely similar to his paintings that I realized the Impressionists had nothing to invent?it was all there, in Normandy, to begin with.

I arrived at Giverny around 4 pm (during summer in Normandy it stays light until 10 pm)?while the water-lily flowers had closed for the night I was just in time to see a gardener cleaning the pond from a rowboat. In a flash I recalled the “late” water-lily paintings?the celebrated canvases that show a horizonless sky reflected in the water including one that sold for $80 million at Christie?s last year?and realized that Monet must have painted those from a similar rowboat. These paintings were done near the end of his life when he was suffering from cataracts brought on by incessant smoking and too much sun. Ghost colors, blurry shapes, and lapidary shades of blues (he could no longer see reds or yellows) helped these works open the door to the new age of 20th-century abstraction. The garden at Giverny was truly an avant-garden.

Not far from Monet?s house is Giverny?s sleek new Musée des Impressionistes (www.mdig.fr), which just hosted a major show of the festival, “Impressionism Along the Seine River” (through July 18th) and now features an exhibition of photographs by Olivier Mériel of towns immortalized by the Impressionists (through October 31st). But be sure to continue several blocks down Rue Claude-Monet past the museum to the Hotel Baudy (restaurantbaudy.com). Painted cake-frosting pink, this was the place where droves of artists stayed while visiting chez Monet. Today, Renoir could enter the dining salon (it is now only a restaurant) and feel entirely at home, so little has anything changed. Out back is one of the most beautiful rose gardens in France, whose winding paths take you to a tiny studio-hut which Cézanne once briefly called home.

Unfortunately, I won’t be in Normandy to enjoy the most communal event of the festival, but this is the perfect time to make your own plans. The indoor-outdoor Great Impressionist Ball will be held in Rouen on September 24th, the last day of the festival. The public is invited to attend on the condition that they dress only in white, to create a giant blank canvas onto which a master lighting expert will project constantly changing splashes of color?similar to brushwork?an effect that will be captured on video and instantly played on large screens. Start planning your own pilgrimage by getting the full run-down on the Impressionist Normandy Festival Web site or www.seine-maritime-tourisme.com?and then get ready to book your own flight to Monet-land!

Getting Here

Often turning a 2 hour trip into a 3 hour ordeal, the Parisian exodus every weekend can gridlock the A13 highway to Rouen so it’s best to opt for the frequent trains that leave every two hours from Paris’s Gare St-Lazare (70 minutes, ?19.50) for Rouen. From Normandy’s capital you can head to Normandy’s coast by taking the train to Deauville and then using buses (www.busverts.fr and www.cars-perier.fr) to Etretat and Honfleur. You can also take a train from Paris directly to Deauville (2 hrs, ?26) or one to Le Havre (2 hrs, ?27); from either station buses leave for the coastal towns. As for Giverny, a train from the Gare St-Lazare on the Rouen-Le Havre line heads to Vernon (which also has rail links with Rouen), from which buses, taxis, or a long hike will connect you to Monet’s village six miles away.

Normandy Art Festival: Have an Impressionist Summer! written by Dirk Sabbe in: Culture

Tags: culture

Paris’ position as the preeminent moviegoing city is not an accident; it flows from France’s belief in and commitment to the art of film. This is a country that believes, more strongly and self-consciously than even America, that film is part of its heritage, its actual cultural identity.

Paris has a wide diversity of movie theaters as it has films. Two are so unusual that you have to visist them, though they show mostly French or French-subtitled fare. One is the Panthéon, 13 Rue Victor-Cousin in the 5th Arr.. Built in 1907 it is the oldest movie house in Paris, the first to show films in English, and it still has a remarkable stylized facade that features the outline of a venerable projector. The café has been refurbished by Cathérine Deneuve with the help of a Parisian antiquair in 2007.

Then there is La Pagode. Looming forbiddingly over 57, Rue de Babylone in the 7th Arr. like a Japanese Addams Family house, La Pagode, with its brooding side garden and stone lions, may be the most atmospheric movie theater in the world. It was built by a French architect but with many decorative elements that came from Japan. It started life in 1895 as a ballroom for one of the wealthy owners of the nearby Bon Marché department store and became a cinema in 1931. It got a huge restauration some years ago.

The other great theater where Hollywood films, especially if they’re Disney, may be playing in Le Grand Rex. This impressive 2800 seat movie palace ( one of the largest in Europe and possibly the largest in the world still showing movies every day ) is the highest-grossing theater in all of France. Le Grand Rex, on Boulevard Poissonière in the 10th Arr. is a national historical monument, so its three levels of seats, original wall murals and Art Déco decorations are kept in impeccable condition. It was built in 1932 with an interior meant to recall the Tunisian childhood of entrepreneur Jacques Haik. It had kennels and a hairdresser and was used late at night by Hollywood mogul Darryl F.Zanuck as his private screening room. Such luminaries as Ray Charles and Bob Dylan have taken the stage, which is larger than the old Paris Opéra. If you like they do a one hour interactive tour behind the scenes ” Les étoiles du Rex ” by reservation only.

And of course you can also go to the new MK2 chain in the shadow of France’s controversial François Mitterand National Library. It has also a bookstore well stocked with a strong cinema section, a classical-musica boutique features CDs from the French label Harmonia Mundi and a 5000 title DVD store. Any of these shops would be worth a visit, to have them all together in the lobby theater is a dream come true.

How to make sense of all this ? How to deal with the French repertory custom of changing programs every day of the week and sometimes showing several different films a day ? The answer is Pariscope, an inexpensive pocket-sized weekly guide to the city’s events that devotes nearly 100 of its pages to a comprehensive look at film in Paris. It sells at almost every newsstand in Paris, goes on sale midweek. The magazine has addresses, métro stops, admission prices and the all-important show times, plus the notation about whether the film will be in its original language (v.o.) or dubbed into French (v.f.).

How tho make sense

Paris, with popcorn written by Dirk Sabbe in: Culture

Tags: culture, nightlife

The atmosphere is sixties-seventies with a twist. Music is good and on a big screen they show old french musictelevision. When there is a rugby match it’s shown on the big screen too which gives it a sporty macho ambiance at that moment.

Nostalgique French Pub, 46, Rue de la Tour d’Auvergne, 75009 Paris, open 7/7 until 2 h

Nostalgic French Pub written by Dirk Sabbe in: Nightlife

Tags: nightlife

Marché St.-Quentin, 84 B, Rue Magenta, 75009 Paris

Marché St.-Quentin written by Dirk Sabbe in: Markets

Tags: markets

You can also assist to cheese degustations that change with the season.

Marie-Anne Cantin, 12, Rue de Champs-de-Mars, 75007 Paris, M° Ecole Militaire,

Excellent cheese written by Dirk Sabbe in: Events

Tags: shopping

In front of the restaurant is the wine-shop where you can find nice wines with an excellent price/quality.

Le Miroir, 94, Rue des Martyrs, 75009 Paris, tel 01 46 06 50 73, M° Abbesses

Le Miroir written by Dirk Sabbe in: Restaurants

Tags: restaurants

Magasin Trudon, 78, Rue de Seine, 75006 Paris, M° Odéon / Mabillon

Cire Trudon, candles with history written by Dirk Sabbe in: Events

Tags: shopping

A sunny Sunday-afternoon written by Dirk Sabbe in: Events

Tags: canaux, uncategorized

At dinner as a lot of restaurants in Paris it can be quiet expensive but there are excellent deals to be had at lunchtime . Or you can just head to the adjoining salon de thé to toast your savvy tourist skills with an alfresco flute of Champagne or a fine tea.

Les Ombres, Musée du quai branly, 27 quai branly ,75007 Paris, tel. + 33 1 47 53 68 00, M° Iéna / Alma-Marceau / Bir Hakeim

The Eiffel Tower without a queu written by Dirk Sabbe in: Practical

Tags: practical, restaurants

Summer is here to stay, so what better idea than to scour Paris?s mysteries and lost nooks and crannies in a race against time? If that sounds like just your cup of tea, then you?re in luck because next weekend, Saturday 3rd July, the capital will be transformed into an urban playground full of treasure seekers, marking the start of the annual Great Paris Treasure Hunt.

Organised by the City of Paris, the treasure hunt will start at participating districts? town halls (3rd, 6th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 19th and 20th and St Ouen) from 10:00am to 1:00pm, when instructions in English and French will be distributed to participants who will have until 3:30pm on the same day to reach the final destination. To enter the treasure hunt is free and you can sign up by filling in your details online or by simply turning up and queuing on the day.

The hunt will lead participants all over the city, whereby treasure hunters will follow clues, solve riddles, speak to locals, shopkeepers, and artisans alike, whilst discovering areas of a city, such as its hidden gardens and secret passages. The first participants to reach the finishing point will be eligible to win several prizes, the top prize being a concert at an undisclosed location that evening.

The toughest of treasure hunters will also be able to win a holiday by solving the 10-part riddle that will be told at the prize-giving ceremony. This riddle will lead to a secret hiding place where a Jericho rose will hold a password and telephone number. The first participants to call in with the password will be the happy winners of the free holiday.

The Great Parisian Treasure Hunt began five years ago and was started by deputy mayor of Paris, Jean-Bernard Bros. His aims via this event are on par with the event organiser, Audrey Epeche?s: ?The initial idea was simply how to discover and rediscover the city off the beaten path, by creating an event based on interactions, encounters and conviviality?. If the past five years? treasure hunts? successes are anything to go by, then be prepared for your usually calm streets to be invaded by over 20,000 bolting charade-fiends! The very first treasure hunt took place in just one district and has since expanded to most of the city as it has attracted people from all over, who are keen to explore the city under a different light and in a more interactive way rather than through guide books.

The game will plunge you into a world of legend and myth as Paris unveils its secrets and casts its spell on you just as you thought you had finally got your head around it all.

Treasure Hunt written by Dirk Sabbe in: Events

Tags: events

Cul de Poule, 53 Rue des Martyrs,75009 Paris tel 01 53 16 13 07

Cul de Poule written by Dirk Sabbe in: Restaurants

Tags: restaurants

To Bonton with the kids written by Dirk Sabbe in: Paris with kids

Tags: paris with kids, shopping

Charlot is wellknown for its Seafood Platter but Charlot?s Seafood Bisque and Swordfish Steak are amongh quite recommended specialities.

Its decor is a little bright with motifs of sea, pink colors, and several mirrors making the restaurant appear larger than it is. Charlot Roi des Coquillages has a lively and entertaining atmosphere.

In short, it?s a good restaurant to experience for those looking for a nice time.

Charlot Roi des Coquillage, 12, Place de Clichy, 75009 Paris, M° Clichy

Charlot Roi des Coquillages written by Dirk Sabbe in: Restaurants

Tags: restaurants

You can drop in here for an early breakfast or a delayed supper as the cafe remains open till late in the night. During winter, you can dine alfresco at the winter terrace that overlooks the Boulevard des Capucines, while summer months see crowds filling in at the open air terrace that gives a great view of the Place de l?Opera.

While in paris, this is one destination you should not miss.

Le café de la Paix, Place de l’Opéra, 75009 Paris, M° Opéra

Le Café de la Paix written by Dirk Sabbe in: Restaurants

Tags: restaurants

Text: Aran Cravey for Vingtmagazine

Visions of the mystic splendors of the exotic East have long beguiled the imagination of Western artists. Nineteenth century painters such as Jean-Léon Gérôme and Eugène Delacroix were enchanted by the stories and decorative objects imported  from the newly colonized French territories. Fascinated by the allure and mystique of the ?Orient?  or, what we now know as Northern Africa and the Middle East, Western artists appropriated the masterful techniques and combined them with their own imaginative visions to create a pastiche of two cultures often referred to as ?Orientalism.? The term has since fallen out of favor as anachronistic, yet, the mystic charm of its artistic tradition continues to inspire the creative imagination.

In the new exhibition ?Orient-Hermès? at the Institut du Monde Arabe, Leïla Menchari, one of  the luxury brand?s premier designers, has combined the sumptuous products of the label with her own images and memories of a childhood spent in Northern Africa. Renowned for her exquisite design concepts found in the store?s Paris windows, the Tunisian born designer has created eight individual vignettes that capture the allure and fantasy of the mythic East.

Drawing from the mythology and fairy tales learned as child, Ms. Menchari brings the sensuous textures and fragrances of her heritage, together with the design and prestige of the iconic luxury brand, to create eight opulent compositions that are treasure troves for the senses.

Orient-Hermès at l’Institut du Monde Arabe written by Dirk Sabbe in: Culture

Tags: culture

La Grande épicerie written by Dirk Sabbe in: Events

Tags: shopping

The Musée Jacquemart-André presents until August 2010 a prestigious collection of paintings by the Spanish masters offering a selection of paintings that has never been exhibited in France before. Among them are works by artists from the Spanish School such as El Greco, Ribera, Murillo, Sorolla, Picasso, Dalí and Miró. The exhibited works are selected from the private collection of Juan Antonio Pérez Simón, an important Hispano-Mexican businessman and celebrated art collector who began to build his collection in the 1970s.

From El Greco to Dali written by Dirk Sabbe in: Culture

Tags: culture

Roads along the Seine are to be closed after 43 years in an attempt to return the backs to their ” former beauty”.

The roads were built by Georges Pompidou as part of his great “expressway program”. Up to 70000 cars a day travel along the Seine’s left bank on what is known as the Pompidou expressway, a dual carriage way along the right bank built in ‘67. Pompidou was an arid motorist who once declared : “The French love their cars.”

The banks have been UNESCO World Heritage site since ‘92. Delanoe, the mayor of Paris who introduced Paris-Plage when the banks become a temporary beach every summer, said that removing cars from sections of the riverbank would help cut pollution and boost the capital’s international standing. He declared war on the “unacceptable hegemony” of cars, introducing new trams, bike and bus lanes and the Velib cycle rental scheme since 2001.The move have been welcomed by most non-motorists but car- and taxidrivers have complained that congestion has become intolerable.

Undeterred, he planned to pedestrianise a 2 Km stretch on the left bank from Orsay to Pont de l’Alma near the Eiffel Tower by 2012. There are also plans to include steps down to the water, as well as gardens ,walkways, green “islets” and a botanic garden.

To avoid gridlocks, cars will not be totally banned from the right bank, but the expressway will become a boulevard with traffic lights and bike and pedestrian areas.

“The idea is to transform an urban autoroute into a living space with areas where there will be no cars” said Delanoe.

Cars that ate Paris are given the boot written by Dirk Sabbe in: Practical

Tags: practical

His new book “Parisians, an adventure history of Paris” tells the story of Paris through the lives of its most colourful citizens. These include spies, scientists and businessmen as well as photograpers, philosophers and prostitutes that are part of Parisian mythology.

The book begins at the dawn of the French Revolution, and ends a few months ago. There are also some excursions to the medieval and prehistoric past.

It traces the spread of the city from the island in the Seine that was the home of the Paris tribe to the mushrooming suburbs that inspire more fear today than when they were patrolled by highwaymen and wolves.

Reading this is an adventure, one which will turn even the briefest trip to Paris into a tumble through time.

Parisians : An adventure history of Paris written by Dirk Sabbe in: Culture

Tags: culture

Text: Rooksana Hossenally  for Vingt

The Palais de Tokyo has teamed up with an unlikely partner to create Nomiya, a floating experience to be relished up close to the heavens amongst Paris? unique skyline. Replacing the Everland hotel room, the previous project that sat on the Palais de Tokyo rooftop, the contemporary art museum has now turned to collaboration with Electrolux, the Swedish electrical appliances manufacturer, to give its visitors an exclusive slick and sophisticated restaurant concept.

Based on the tiny bars lining Japanese streets, hence its name, Nomiya is a small rectangular capsule with a table for twelve guests, designed to open the channels of communication between strangers. The floating restaurant melts into the Parisian skyline no matter the time of day: at lunchtime the capsule of glass and steel offers a bright, weightless atmosphere reflected in its white walls and clean minimalistic lines, adorned by great big bay windows letting Paris seep through the room. The views of the Quai Branly Museum and the Eiffel Tower are needless to say, breathtaking. The evenings are quite different: Nomiya is transformed as it is bathed in an almost fluorescent purple light. Its main feature becomes the Parisian nightscape dotted with tiny lights and of course, the Eiffel Tower shimmying in a sequin blazer as it watches over the French capital.
The unique piece of contemporary design was created by the artist Laurent Grasso and his brother architect, Pascal Grasso and opened last July. In the kitchen, Gilles Stassart, renowned for his experimental cuisine, oversees the innovative yet unpretentious creations presented with a quirky twist  -  radishes stuffed with foie gras, langoustine carpaccio doused in a sublime coconut and pickled ginger dressing, an osso bucco with polenta and white truffle?to say more would spoil the surprise.

Stassart elegantly combines fresh ingredients, all healthy of course if not all organic, with surprising flavours and garnish; the lunch menu is revised weekly and the dinner menu daily. The kitchen is also visible to the guests; everything from cooking, serving, to tasting happens in the one room. Guests are able to get up and move around to admire the 360° views of the capital, glass of champagne in hand, whilst stopping by to have a chat with the chef, his assistant, and the maître d?hôtel, who are also well-versed in the art of discretion for guests who prefer a little privacy. Despite Nomiya?s apparently cold appearance upon entering, the atmosphere soon warms as the staff greet the guests and the action begins in the kitchen. Soon enough the concept transpires through the guests who begin conversations across the table with total strangers; one cannot help but share the exceptional experience in such a contagiously intimate atmosphere.

To get to the restaurant guests cross the museum to the small green exterior garden, up the scaffolding and onto the rooftop. There sits the self-contained microcosm from which you can lay back and be mesmerised by Paris? changing skies and passing clouds?time stands still in this stylish little white box of serenity?

Nomiya, also known as the project ?Art Home?, is a temporary installation and will grace the Parisian skies until September. As part of the experience, and if guests choose so, there is also the possibility of participating in a two hour cooking workshop with Mr Stassart. Workshops take place from Tuesdays to Sundays from 12pm onwards (27 euros for lunchtime workshops, 45 euros for dinner workshops and 15 euros for children). Reservations for the restaurant are usually taken a month ahead, so planning your visit is essential (60 euros for lunch which includes a glass of champagne, 1/3 bottle of wine, mineral water, a starter, a main course, dessert and coffee; 80 euros for dinner including the same as the lunch menu but with cheese).  Nomiya is closed on Mondays.

Nomiya-Palais de Tokyo,13 avenue du Président Wilson,75016 Paris

Nomiya : a floating table on the Parisian skyline written by Dirk Sabbe in: Restaurants

Tags: restaurants

Considering the West’s proclivity toward drowning Asian dishes in salted sauces, the concept of Japanese-French fusion cuisine would probably drive many chefs to seppuku. Deftly ducking the perils of gastronomic disaster, Sous les Cerisiers sprinkles rather than smothers its lovingly prepared menu. While the delectable dishes may inspire the same empathy and sorrow of the fragile cherry blossom’s short lifespan the restaurant will endure the highly competitive Parisian gourmet scene through a combination of culinary craftsmanship, innovation and flair.

This careful balance of tradition and influence comes courtesy of Sakura Franck, a Japanese expatriate who traveled working the kitchens of the world before landing in Paris. Years of teaching honed her creativity, an occupation she continues to employ at Sous les Cerisiers today. Her comfort, respect and understanding of both cuisines is revealed in the menu. Dishes carefully marry the tastes of east and west, adorning the bright and clean flavors of her homeland with the vibrant sauces and ingredients of her adopted country.
At first glance the menu seems as small as the number of tables. However, the intriguing concepts of foie gras sushi and duck in sake sauce quickly appeals to the gastronomic heretic in all of us. Two giant prawns, stripped to the tail and laid in a light orange sauce, waltzed between the fresh flavor of the crustacean and the sweetness of the citrus. Steamed daurade was presented sans head, prepared in a traditional and unobtrusive Japanese fashion accompanied by rice. Dessert flipped the tables, the French stepping to the foreground with the Japanese as moral support. A rich moelleux au chocolat enjoyed the essence of the east through a sweetened green tea sauce.

Design and presentation are important to both the Japanese and French cultures. Franck collaborated with Norwegian designers Ralston & Bau to create a unique dining experience. Initially bright and open with broad windows, the room withdraws, growing softer. Intimate lighting creating the illusion of privacy without sacrificing space for partitions. Adding a little fun to the elegance is the use of opera costumes as decoration, both for seats at the rearmost table and along the front walls.
Due to the small size reservations are recommended. The bilingual staff provides formal service without rigidity, and Ms. Franck may step away from the stove to say hello. An expansive wine and sake list is complimented by what is probably Paris’ most comprehensive tea selection. Not an every night occasion but a unique experience in a crowded field, from the delicate fusion of flavors to the artistically designed dining room.

Sous les Cerisiers,12 rue Stanislas ,75015 PARIS, tel. 01.42.77.46.24,

Mº Montparnasse Bienvenue/Vavin/Notre-Dame-des-Champs

Sous les Cerisiers : Franco-Japanese Fusion written by Dirk Sabbe in: Restaurants

Tags: restaurants

They can drive a poney or for the very small go on a wooden horse.

Every Sunday starting 21 th of March until 23 the of May, from 12h , the whole family can enjoy the open doors, living the passion for horses.

Surprises, animation, workshops, even meeting with the professionels, will keep every member of the family happy. An event not to be missed !

The take-off is at l’hippodrome d’Auteuil the 21th of March, also the 28 th.

On the 11th of April, the 3th prix de la Ligue Nationale de Rugby and its players will be held at l?hippodrome de Longchamp. That day all the events and animations will be around rugby. Meeting with the players are organised for the big ones.

25th of April its a normal Dimanche au Galop a Longchamp.

Also every sunday of May there will be a lot of activities at the hippodromes, especially during the long weekends.

Hippodrome d?Auteuil – Route des Lacs – 75016 Paris
Hippodrome de Longchamp – Route des Tribunes – 75016 Paris

Les dimanches au Galop written by Dirk Sabbe in: Paris with kids

Tags: paris with kids

Language

One of the best ways to avoid being a stranger is to learn a little of the local language.

The French may appear prickly at first to English-speaking visitors, but it usually helps if you make an effort to speak a little French. A simple, friendly bonjour (hello) will do, as will asking if the person you’re greeting speaks English (parlez-vous anglais?).

Be patient, and speak English slowly?but not loudly.

A phrase book and language-tape set can help get you started.

Etiquette in Paris: 15 Things Every Visitor Should Know written by Dirk Sabbe in: Practical

Tags: practical

Out on the Town

When visiting a French home, don’t expect to be invited into the kitchen or to take a house tour. The French have a very definite sense of personal space, and you’ll be escorted to what are considered the guest areas. If you’re invited to dinner, be sure to bring a gift, such as wine, champagne, flowers, or chocolates.

Table manners are often considered a litmus test of your character or upbringing. When dining out, note that the French fill wineglasses only until they are half full?it’s considered bad manners to fill it to the brim. They never serve themselves before serving the rest of the table. During a meal, keep both hands above the table, and keep your elbows off the table.

Bread is broken, never cut, and is placed next to the plate, never on the plate. When slicing a cheese, don’t cut off the point (or “nose”).

Coffee or tea is ordered after dessert, instead of with dessert. (In fact, coffee and tea usually aren’t ordered with any courses during meals, except breakfast.)

Checks are often split evenly between couples or individuals, even if someone ordered only a salad and others had a full meal.

Eating on the street is generally frowned on?though with the onslaught of Starbucks you can sometimes see people drinking coffee on the go.

Etiquette in Paris: 15 Things Every Visitor Should Know written by Dirk Sabbe in: Practical

Tags: practical

Greetings

When meeting someone for the first time, whether in a social or a professional setting, it’s appropriate to shake hands.

Other than that, the French like to kiss.

For the Parisians, it’s two bisous, which are more like air kisses with your cheeks touching lightly?don’t actually smack your lips onto the person’s face!

Etiquette in Paris: 15 Things Every Visitor Should Know written by Dirk Sabbe in: Practical

Tags: practical