Paris Things to Do Tips by Nemorino Top 5 Page for this destination

Palais de la Porte Dorée Palais de la Porte Dorée Review

This building from the year 1931 is now something of an embarrassment (anyone who isn't embarrassed ought to be) because the whole front façade is covered by crass propaganda bas-reliefs glorifying the French colonial system, which at that time was still in full operation even though revolts had already started in some of the colonies.

Originally this building was part of the Colonial Exposition of 1931, and from the beginning it included a popular Tropical Aquarium which still exists in the basement. For many years it also housed a Museum of the Colonies and the French Overseas Departments, which in 1960 was changed into a Museum of African and Oceanic Art. In 2003 this museum was closed, and its collections have now been integrated into the new museum of Quai Branly, which is more attractive and also less tainted by remnants of the colonial past.

At Porte Dorée the past remains, though, in the exterior bas-reliefs and interior murals which give an impression of how the French, or at least some of them, used to perceive the inhabitants of their then-colonies. The bas-relief in the first photo shows muscular half-naked natives (of wherever) mining copper and coal for shipment to France.

Second photo: This bas-relief shows natives in conical hats (perhaps in Vietnam) catching fish and other squiggly things, also for shipment to France.

Third photo: Dozens of half-naked natives working, fishing, hunting and of course carrying things on their heads to the French ships.

Fourth photo: In return for all these products, the French provided their colonies with such valuable commodities as Justice (blindfolded in this mural inside the building), Culture and Civilization. Or so they said.

Fifth photo: Here a gentle white man in a white robe (perhaps some sort of saint?) is being venerated by the local population, no doubt in Africa.

>>Next immigration review: Cité nationale de l’histoire de l’immigration<<

Address: 293, avenue Daumesnil, 75012 Paris

Directions: 48°50'6.91" North; 2°24'33.79" East
Métro and Tramway: Porte Dorée
Vélib' 12032 is now back in operation.

Paris from a tethered balloon

My grandmother once showed me a cartoon she had saved from her childhood (she was born in 1877, and the cartoon was from around 1890) showing a school class going on a class outing in a balloon in 1950. In fact the whole sky was full of balloons in this cartoon, because they thought balloon flight would be the most common form of transportation in 1950, which just goes to show that you can't always predict the future by extrapolating from the present.

When I saw that I could go up in a basket under the world's largest tethered balloon for a trifling twelve Euros I of course had to do it. The flight only lasted ten minutes, but it was invigorating and we had some great views of the western half of Paris.

Second photo: Looking north at the Seine and its bridges, with the Allee des Cygnes and the Statue of Liberty, which you can perhaps just barely see at the end of the island.

Third photo: A mother and daughter on the balloon flight.

Fourth photo: Coming in for a landing.

Fifth photo: The winch that lets the balloon rise and then pulls it down again.

Address: 2, rue de la Montagne de la Fage – 75015 Paris

Directions: Vélib' 15058
In the far southwest corner of Paris.
GPS 48°50'28.71" North, 2°16'26.29" East
Métro: Balard or Javel

Phone: 01 44 26 2000

Website: http://www.aeroparis.com

Parc André Citroën Parks, Gardens, and Squares Review

This is an exciting urban park with modern buildings on three sides and the Seine River on the fourth. And of course the world's largest tethered balloon going up and down in the middle.

It is located in the far southwest corner of Paris, on a site which used to be an automobile factory (hence the name) and before that was a melon patch.

Second photo: Parc André Citroën as seen from the world's largest tethered balloon.

Third photo: Our shadow on the park.

Fourth photo: Another part of Parc André Citroën on a hot summer day.

Directions: Vélib' 15058 or 15059
GPS 48°50'28.71" North, 2°16'26.29" East
Metro: Balard or Javel

Louvre: Hall Napoléon Louvre Review

When they were building the Pyramid at the Louvre in the 1980s, they also built a large underground exposition space called the Hall Napoléon, which is now used for temporary exhibitions. The exhibition I saw there in May 2013 was called De l’Allemagne (= About Germany), 1800-1939, from Friedrich to Beckmann.

To avoid queuing at the entrance, I bought an advance ticket the day before at the fnac store at 136 Rue de Rennes in Montparnasse. The ticket (fourth photo) cost twelve Euros plus a commission of 1.60 that I gladly paid. For three more Euros I could have bought a combination ticket for the exhibition and the rest of the Louvre, but I had read that there were over two hundred pictures in the exhibition alone, which I figured would be enough for one day. When I bought the ticket I had to tell them the day and time I wanted to come. The ticket was only valid for admittance in the half hour after the allotted time, but after that I could stay as long as I wanted to.

On my ticket it said I should enter by the Priority Entrance of the Pyramid, which meant that I could walk right past a long line of people and didn’t even have to put my backpack through the scanning machine. I just had to open my backpack and let a young lady glance inside. All she saw was my bicycle helmet, but that evidently convinced her I was a trustworthy person, so she waved me through.

The intention of this exhibition was to place the two hundred German artworks “in the intellectual context of their time”, and confront them “with the writings of great thinkers, chief among whom is Goethe.”

This was an ambitious and certainly well-intentioned project, developed jointly by French and German curators. But as VT member brueghel has pointed out in his tip Polemics about an exhibition, some German reviewers were outraged and claimed the exhibition was warming up old clichés and prejudices about Germany. They said it was trying to show that all of German thought and art led directly to Hitler’s dictatorship. Other German reviewers disagreed with this, as did French reviewers and the director of the Louvre.

So I wanted to see for myself what all the fuss was about. Since I am neither French nor German I consider myself a neutral observer in this case, but I should point out that unlike brueghel I am by no means an art expert. He is an amateur in the French sense of the word, meaning he is well-informed and competent in artistic matters, whereas I am an amateur in the English sense of the word, which means roughly the opposite.

Be that as it may, my opinion after seeing the exhibition De l’Allemagne is that it was rather spotty (no wonder, since it tried to cover a period of 139 years) but certainly not anti-German. The fuss in the German press merely shows how touchy some German critics are, but has little to do with the exhibition itself.

My main criticism of the exhibition is that one rather unimportant artist was over-represented, namely Caspar David Friedrich (1774 - 1840). Dozens of his paintings were on display (more than by any other single artist), including several large romanticized alpine landscapes that looked to me like a Disneyland vision of the Bavarian Alps, stretched vertically as some photo editing programs tend to do if you click the wrong option.

The posters advertising the exhibition (my first and third photos) showed part of a mountain landscape by a different German artist, Carl Gustav Carus (1789-1869).

I did learn something interesting about Caspar David Friedrich from the exhibition, however. It seems that Goethe, who always had a lively interest in the Natural Sciences, once suggested to Friedrich that he paint a series of pictures showing different kinds of clouds (cumulus, stratus, cirrus, etc.), following a system of classification that had recently been developed in England. Friedrich declined, saying that Nature for him was a matter of subjective impressions, not systematic observation.

So much for Goethe’s (lack of) influence on nineteenth century German painting.

The first painting in the exhibition, by the way, was a very famous one called Goethe in the Roman Compagna by Johann Tischbein (1751-1829) – on loan from the Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main.

Most of the other paintings in the exhibition were also on loan from various German museums, along with a few from Vienna and Saint Petersburg. Most of these paintings had never been shown in France before.

What I liked best about the exhibition was the section at the end where they showed a selection of paintings by Max Beckmann (1884-1950). For the Nazis, Beckmann was a prime example of what they considered degenerate art. In April 1933, as soon as the Nazis were in power, Beckmann was fired from his position as a professor at the Städel School in Frankfurt, and his paintings were systematically removed from German museums over the next few years.

Somehow the critics of the Louvre exhibition seem not to have noticed that the anti-Nazi Beckmann was so prominently represented.

Directions:
Vélib' 1013, 1025
Métro Palais-Royal-Musée du Louvre
GPS 48°51'39.60" North; 2°20'8.85" East

Phone: 01 40 20 51 77

Website: http://www.louvre.fr/en/expositions/German-art-and-thought-from-friedrich-beckmann-1800-1939

Atmosphère, atmosphère . . . Movies and Paris Review

If this scene looks familiar, it might be that you have seen the 1938 film Hôtel du Nord by Marcel Carné (or snippets of it on the internet) and recognize this as the place where Arletty delivered her now-famous line about “atmosphère”.

Actually she didn’t say it here at all, but on a film set that had been built at great expense outside the film studios in Billancourt to look like this section of the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris. Originally Carné wanted to shoot the film here, on location, but it turned out that there was too much noise from commercial barge traffic and the like, so he had to retreat to the studio.

I must admit that when I first looked at this scene on YouTube or DailyMotion I only understood one word, atmosphère, but after repeated listenings I started getting accustomed to Arletty’s accent and began to understand what was going on.

It turns out that she wasn’t talking about the romantic atmosphere of Paris. She was reacting to something nasty that was said to her by Edmond, her pimp and lover, played by Louis Jouvet.

Edmond in this scene is wearing a baggy 1930s suit and tie and has a fishing rod slung over his shoulder. Today he is just going fishing along the canal, but he knows he had better get out of France very soon because two of his former gangster buddies are looking for him and want to kill him. She says she wants to go with him, to a foreign country or the colonies or anywhere.

His reaction is: No, it would be the same anywhere. I’m suffocating. I need a change of atmosphere, and my atmosphere is you!

She replies: This is the first time I’ve ever been called an atmosphere. If I’m an atmosphere then you’re some sort of hick town out the sticks. (t'es un drôle de bled)

Then after a short rant she delivers her famous line:

« Atmosphère ! Atmosphère ! Est-ce que j'ai une gueule d'atmosphère ? »

This is a puzzling line for us foreigners, but my current theory is that it simply means: Do I look like an atmosphere? Or: Have I got the mug of an atmosphere?

This line is not in Eugène Dabit’s novel, in fact the whole scene was invented by the screenplay writer Henri Jeanson, who never dreamed it would become a cult scene that would be replayed over and over by drama students in the 21st century.

What makes the line so funny is the mocking, sarcastic way Arletty says it in her delightfully slutty lower-class 1930s Parisian accent. In effect she is informing Edmond that his days as her pimp and lover are over and he should bugger off and get the **** out of her life.

At the end of the scene she hands him his fishing bag and stomps off the bridge, shouting “Good fishing and good atmosphere!”

Second photo: For those who don’t recognize the scene, the mayor’s office has helpfully set up a sign entitled “Atmosphère, atmosphère…" next to the bridge with a drawing of the film set. What makes the scene look different today is that the trees, which were saplings in 1938, have now had over seventy years to grow up into large leafy chestnut trees.

Third photo: A small boat going through the locks of the Récollets.

Fourth photo: Square Eugène Varlin.

Next review from July 2012: Canal cruise on the Canal Saint-Martin

Address: Rue de la Grange aux Belles

Directions:
Vélib' 10111
Location on the Vélib' map
48°52'23.35" North; 2°21'50.81" East
Métro Jacques Bonsergent, line 5

Website: http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content/id/61373/h%C3%B4tel-du-nord.html

Don Giovanni at the Champs-Élysées Champs Elysées Review

The opera I saw in 2006 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées was Mozart's Don Giovanni. It was a festival of voices with world-class singers including Lucio Gallo and Anna Bonitatibus, both of who have given gala performances in Frankfurt, and Patricia Ciofi, whom I had seen on television but never live.

The setting in this production was a somewhat seedy little seaside town in present-day Spain or Italy, with Don Giovanni as a somewhat pimpish local potentate. What really impressed me was the ending, in which stage director Andre Engel managed to combine the last two scenes (I've never seen that done before). And after all these many years (this opera is 219 years old, after all) he even came up with a surprise ending.

Shall I tell you what it is? After the final jubilation chorus about how he got what was coming to him, Don Giovanni emerged unscathed from the flames, dusted off his dapper three-piece suit and stood there with a triumphant smirk on his face as the curtain fell.

Update: In May 2013 I saw the same opera in the same theater -- but in a different production with a different cast. Musically it was again first-rate and the audience was very enthusiastic. Prolonged rhythmic clapping at the final bows. A great thing for me was that two old friends from Frankfurt were in the cast this time: Miah Persson as Donna Elvira and Daniel Behle as Don Ottavio.

Second and third photos: The audience in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, 2006.

Fourth photo: People in the lobby of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, 2013.

Fifth photo: In the auditorium, 2013.

Related tips:
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
Concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, 2012

Address: 15 Avenue Montaigne - 75008 Paris

Directions: Vélib' 8045
Métro Alma-Marceau
Bus 42, 63, 72, 80, 92

Phone: 01 49 52 50 50

Website: http://www.theatrechampselysees.fr/

35,000 works of art Louvre Review

Three of the major museums in Paris have divided up the History of Art among themselves. The Louvre, being the largest, is responsible for Art from the earliest times up to 1847. The Musée d'Orsay takes over for the remarkable sixty-six years from 1848 to 1914, and the Museum of Modern Art at the Centre Pompidou shows works from 1914 to the present -- though this is not a hard and fast rule, and there is inevitably some overlapping.

I can think of one other city that has a similar division of epochs among its major museums, namely Munich, which has the Alte Pinakothek for European paintings from the 14th to 18th centuries, the Neue Pinakothek for the 19th century and the Pinakothek der Moderne for 20th and 21st century art.

There are 35,000 works of art on display in the Louvre, so it's sort of like the internet -- you can't possibly see them all, so you have to navigate to see what you want, or take potluck. And don't let yourself be overwhelmed by the sheer masses of fantastic artworks! My first photo is from room 39 on the second floor of the Richelieu wing, showing Dutch masterpieces from the second half of the 17th century.

Second photo: Most people enter the Louvre through the Pyramid in the central courtyard, but it goes faster if you buy a Museum Pass or simply an advance admission ticket, both of which are available at the fnac stores or at the Civette du Carrousel in the Carrousel du Louvre. These allow you to enter the museum more quickly through the priority entrance in Passage Richelieu. (When planning your visit, please remember that the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.)

Third photo: Le Pont du Rialto (Rialto Bridge in Venice) by Antonio Canal, aka CANALETTO (1697- 1768), in hall C on the second floor of the Sully wing.

Fourth photo: La nuit ; un port de mer au clair de lune (The night ; a seaport by moonlight), painted in 1771 by Joseph Vernet (1714-1789). On display in room 52 on the second floor of the Sully wing.

Fifth photo: The Galerie d'Apollon (Gallery of Apollo) has recently been restored after three years of work funded by a corporate sponsor. It is in hall 66 on the first floor of the Denon wing.

Directions:
Vélib' 1013, 1025
Métro Palais-Royal-Musée du Louvre
GPS 48°51'39.60" North; 2°20'8.85" East

Phone: 01 40 20 51 77

Website: http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp?bmLocale=en

Place du Châtelet Châtelet - Les Halles Review

The Place du Châtelet on the right bank of the Seine is unique in that it is flanked by two large and (from a distance) identical-looking theaters, both of which belong to the city of Paris.

The one on the right is the Théâtre de la Ville, which is where the great actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1943) used to hold forth, in fact the theater was named after her from 1949 to 1967, and one of the cafes on the ground floor still bears her name.

Spoken drama is still an important part of their program, but they also do numerous dance productions, classical music concerts and "musics of the world" featuring recitals by musicians from India and the Middle East.

The one on the left is the Théâtre du Châtelet, which used to be a municipal opera house but now presents mainly musicals, concerts and dance performances (as of 2013).

Second photo: Season poster at the Théâtre de la Ville.

Third photo: The Théâtre du Châtelet as seen from across the bridge on the Ile de la Cite, with a river barge going past.

Fourth photo: Place du Châtelet as seen from the Théâtre de la Ville.

Address: Théâtre de la Ville, 2 place du Châtelet

Directions: Vélib' 1002
Métro: Chatelet, Les Halles

Phone: 01 42 74 22 77

Website: http://www.theatredelaville-paris.com/

Guided tour of the Opéra Bastille Place de la Bastille Review

The only way to have a look at the backstage areas of the Opéra Bastille (unless you have business there) is to take a guided tour. These begin at 5.00 pm on some afternoons. The dates are not listed on their website, but there is a list at the box office or you can call +33 (0)1 40 01 19 70 to find out. Tickets go on sale ten minutes before the tour at window A of the box office, 120 rue de Lyon. Tickets cost 11 Euros, or 9 if you get a reduction.

The tours are in French, basically, but on the tour I took there was a young Asian couple that didn't understand French, so our guide repeated the main points in English. And he apologized profusely to the three Italian ladies that he couldn't do it in their language ("the language of opera, after all").

We started out by descending six floors (by escalator) to the lowest level, thirty meters below street level.

Second photo: From the lowest level there are huge elevators to bring things up to the stage.

Third photo: The workshops are huge compared to those in most opera houses I have seen. In fact everything about the Opéra Bastille is huge: the area at ground level is 22,000 square meters, and the total height is eighty meters, including the thirty meters below street level.

Fourth photo: One of the storage areas at stage level, with the same dimensions as the main stage.

Fifth photo: Part of the stage set for Wagner's Lohengrin, ready for use on the following evening. All the performances of Lohengrin were sold out, by the way, even though the large hall of the Opéra Bastille seats 2703 people.

Address: 120 rue de Lyon - 75 012 Paris

Directions: Vélib' 12001, 4007 or 11001
48°51'6.34" North; 2°22'12.24" East

Phone: +33 (0)1 40 01 19 70

Website: http://visites.opera-de-paris.com/?theatre=bastille&page=visiter

Les mardi musicaux de Saint-Roch Music Review

If you are in Paris on a Tuesday (except in mid-summer) you can attend a noontime chamber music concert in the beautiful setting of the Saint-Roch Church, one of the oldest and largest churches in Paris. Admission is free, but they would appreciate a donation if you enjoyed the concert.

The concert I went to was called "Mozart and his friends" and featured works by C.P.E. Bach, J.B. Wendling, F. Devienne and of course Mozart. The two musicians were Sylvie Berthod playing the baroque flute and Claire Pradel on the epinette.

Second photo: The two musicians taking their bows.

Third photo: An epinette is a small and not very loud eighteenth century keyboard instrument, a distant ancestor of the piano.

Fourth photo: The nave of the Saint-Roch Church.

Fifth photo: Like many public buildings in Paris, Saint Roch has some nice steps where people often sit to chat or eat their lunch. The group of children in the foreground spent over an hour on the steps, happily singing and stretching and obediently doing whatever their teacher told them to do.

Address: 296, rue Saint-Honoré, 75001 Paris

Directions: Velib' 1017
Métro: Tuileries, Palais-Royal, Pyramides

Phone: 01.56.40.15.16

Website: http://www.saintrochparis.cef.fr/spip.php?article58