Video of the exhibition and what is planned.

What You Will See At The Exhibit
The photos of Doisneau show fresh and hard working faces. They are fresh because the people voluntarily look into his camera. They knew him when he came to the market place to record action now and then. His first photos were in 1933.

These photos are taken (1933 – 1968/1971) Pierre Delbos, a photographer friend of Robert Doisneau said that what “surprised  him”was how people would see Doisneau and come up to him. He didn’t have to ask them to have a photo taken. He says that Doisneau had a “flair”a certain way of looking at the people; he really liked being around them.

In the past it seemed the market would last forever. The later photos show a consciousness. Everyone being photographed knows that Les Halles, the market in the center of Paris is dead. They know Doisneau has come to Les Halles to record a fleeting moment. They look voluntarily into Doisneau’s lens with a happiness that seems to contradict the predicted end.

“… The exhibit is an opportunity for those were not around to see Les Halles when it was one big hole in the ground or who missed seeing the “Baltard”- designed pavilions from 1866. It is a view into the life, color and character of the neighborhood between the 1930s and 1970s …”. View some of the photographs on Picasa Web.

Doisneau’s project
Plans began in the 1960s to move Les Halles. Lack of modernity, limited space compared to the needs of a growing capital city, hygiene and density threatened the market’s future near Saint-Eustache.  Robert Doisneau, worried and mad, decided to rise at 3 a.m., travel from Montrouge south of Paris once a week. He “plunged into the whirlwind of activity to see, to live and to photographer everything” before the end.

He says he wanted to photograph the workers at dawn when they unloaded the trucks; be around those who set up their stands and filled them with merchandise. Filming was difficult : it was dark, fatigue slowed his reflexes, yet there was so much to photograph. At the same time, he said it was intimidating. But he became attached to the work; he knew it was going to disappear. He wanted to “absolutely record the memory”.

Doisneau’s photographs of this time have become part of Paris history, its legacy, its heritage. His photographs provide an esthetic and sociological view. He even recorded the destruction in 1971 of every bit and piece of the “belly”. He even traveled to the new “belly”at Rungis to understand and to see what became of his merchant friends. Instead of Baltard’s pavilions of decorative metal, rivets and glass, they were now in a universe of concrete.

Ongoing Forum des Halles Timeline
Today instead of food, meat, fish and flowers, Les Halles is a vast underground shopping mall complex. Once again Forum des Halles, going through a make over.

The History of Les Halles began in 1135 when King Louis VII ordered a Parisian central market. The market expanded in 1785 to make room for the flowers, fruits and vegetable markets. Due to sanitary reasons the bones from the cemetery of the Innocents were sent to the catacombs under the Faubourg de la Tombe-Issoire near Denfert-Rochereau in the 14th arrondissement.

Sanitation was an issue again in the 1800 and led to a competition to re-look the market. In 1848, the architect, Victor Baltard won for his design of pavilions. Ten pavilions were constructed between 1852 and 1870; the last two were finished in 1936.

The first six pavilions were destroyed in 1971. These Baltard pavilion frames were sold as scrap metal. Two pavilions found benefactors. One of the pavilions was dismantled and reconstructed at Nogent-sur-Marne east of Paris. The top frame of a second pavilion is in a park in Yokohama, Japan.

The RER and line 4 of the Metro were inaugurated in 1977. The shopping center opened in 1979; the parks was completed in 1986. The hole in the ground is once again partially visible. Work on the new forum will continue through 2016. One of the features will be construction of La Canopée (The Canopy) opening onto the park.

Hôtel de Ville (French page with videos)
February 8 to April 28, 2012 (Free)
Open daily except Sunday and public holidays: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Last entry: 6:30 p.m.
29, rue de Rivoli 75004 Paris
Metro: Hôtel de Ville

Exhibition Catalog
In English and in French
 Robert Doisneau : Paris les halles market 30 euros at the exhibition or in Paris bookstores
By Vladimir Vasak Flammarion catalog exhibit

Other Robert Doisneau photo books available at the exhibition:
Paperback R Doisneau Paris 20€
Robert Doisneau 1912-1994 (Icons) 8 euros at the exhibit
by Jean-Claude Gautrand, Edition Taschen in French, English and German

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Play time for Coumba

Associating a zoo with Paris strikes a different chord from looking at historic buildings. However, le Jardin des Plantes is historical with its own zoo called La Ménagerie . Founded in 1794, this zoo is considered to be the oldest in the world along with de Schönbrunn in Vienna. Among its 2,000 inhabitants, the ménagerie celebrated 168 births in 2010. One of the newborns in the singerie (monkey house), Coumba, became a bit of a celebrity in 2011 with an accident.

The inexperienced mother mangabey became too rough with her baby and broke its arm. Wearing a cast is a hard way to start off life for a newborn. Coumba, the female Mangabey was born in February 2011 and by the age of one and a half months was wearing an arm cast. Coumba’s arm repaired quickly as you will see in the Paris Mayor’s video . The video shows Coumba with her doudouthat she cannot do without, at the age of 15 days, 1 month, 1 1/2 months in her cast, two months, 3 1/2 months and 5 months, with her mother, Chensie, visitors and her care giver.

After hours of play, it is almost nap time for Coumba

Other zoo babies born in 2011 are Kaïlin and Gaya, clouded leopards (panthères longibandes),  Pablo, a Przewalski’s horse, Gansu, the yack, an ara macao, rock squirrel, a markhor (a goat with long twisted horns) and more. The birth of the clouded leopards is the first in France.

Searching for a translation for the word mangabey lead to more information than I imagined. The sooty mangabeys are associated with the HIV virus.

The ménagerie (map)
Having close to 2,000 animals caged in close proximity is dangerous for the spread of disease. During the 1980s, the Jardin des Plantes zoo realized that caged animals might suffer from this captivity. They began adapting the environment to the animals’ needs and well-being. Instead of having large animals such as elephants, lions and bears, the ménagerie adapts its space for the smaller species (panthers, pandas, foxes, birds, etc.). Those most threatened with extinction take priority in order to preserve their genetic variety.

During your visit, you encounter 240 mammals (orangutans, snow panthers, pandas, etc.; 390 birds, 210 tortoises, crocodiles, lizards and snakes; 140 amphibians, 900 insects, crustaceans and spiders. They live in small round thatched roof cabins designed in 1802, by the architect Molinos. Maria Antoinette’s farm at Versailles is the inspiration.

The large bird house, unique in the world, was constructed in 1888. The other quarters for the zoo are the Vivarium built in 1926, the monkey house (Singerie) built in 1936 and the cat house (Fauverie); all three in Art Deco style.

Contrary to Jardin des Plantes’ Natural History Museum (La Galerie de l’Evolution) that is dedicated to extinct species, La Ménagerie is dedicated to preserving the living. Threatened species can reproduce and be reintroduced into the wild. Despite being in captivity and based on the registered birth rates, the research done to replicate the natural environment of each of the animals for movement, vegetation, habitat in general has paid off.

Jardin des Plantes’ Facebook page has more photos or visit the Paris Mayor’s page with more photos and videos .

Le Jardin des Plantes  (Use Google Translate)
Le Muséum (The museum complex, including the zoo) – available in English
57 rue Cuvier Paris 5th
Other entrances: rue Buffon, rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire, place Valhubert
Open every day 9 a.m to 6 p.m.
Admission to the zoo (La Ménagerie): 9 euros/7 euros children (free for children under 4 and the disabled) – Partial access for the disabled
Metro, RER: Line 5 (Austerlitz), Line 7 (Censier Daubenton), Line 10 (Jussieu or Austerlitz or RER C
Bus: LInes 24, 57, 61, 63, 67, 89 and 91
Batobus: Jardin des Plantes
Practical information

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Grab your knitting needles, embroidery threads, patchwork and hoops. The Paris Needlework Fair (l’Aiguille en Fête) takes place in February (February 9 and 12, 2012). The fair is not restricted to age or gender. The men are knitting alongside the women and there is even a sporting event: Speed Knitting!

The annual Paris needlework fair began in 2004, and continues to grow and attract talent from around the world.

Susan O’Connor is flying in from Australia giving special classes in English. Her classes (January 31, February 1, 2 and 3) are being held at the famous Au Ver à Soie.  The cornflower pinball and scissor sheath class is being held on Wednesday February 1 and the stumpwork class is on Friday, February 3. More details below. Contact Nathalie @ auverasoie.com  Susan is the Editor of the Australian Smocking and Embroidery magazine published quarterly by Country Bumpkin.

Judging from the other needle and craft shows coming up, it appears that Paris is the kick-off for the festivals. Some examples of shows that follow the Paris show are the International Craft & Hobby Fair in Kent, England; the Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival in Ontario, Canada and the Craft & Quilt Fair in Tasmania. I had no idea!

Be sure to use Google Translate  to read the French pages of  l’Aiguille en Fête in rough English. Two of the exhibition “Expositions” pages (“When the big schools put on a show…” and “Men Only”) contain interesting information and photos.

Fashion Schools
Some of the larger fashion schools and designers of textiles are exhibiting from France, Russia, Austria, Sweden, England, Japan, Holland, Belgium and Germany. One of the schools representing England, the Royal School of Needlework, sewed the lace flowers on Kate Middleton’s bridal skirt and bustier. The sewers were required to wash their hands every thirty minutes to avoid “tarnishing” the white fabric. Read more about the schools participating (use Google Translate) in the needlework fair.

For those of you enchanted by the art of creating with needles, this ninth edition of the international fair of leisure textiles, is gathering together 250 exhibitors from around the world. The 2012 edition expects over 38,000 visitors interested in sewing, knitting, patchwork, crochet, embroidery, lace.

Some exhibits to look for from around the world: Furoshiki and the Amigurumis from Japan or from Italy, the Punto Antico, an Italian embroidery technique. The fair Web site provides the list and location of all exhibitors from A to Z.

Men Are At The Event, Too
James Hunting, Richard McVetis, Nigel Hurlstone and Gavin Fry are four English embroiderers in the spotlight … Four styles, four approaches to embroidery and demonstrate. Embroidery is not just for women.

Knitting isn’t just for women either. Men are participating in the speed knitting competition. The winner last year, however, was a woman.

Speed Knitting
Speed knitting has been THE sporting event at l’Aiguille en Fête since 2006. In this sport of needles in 2011, 200 knitters participated during four days of competition. Colette Cauchy was the speed champion in 2011, knitting 235 stitches in three minutes!

Step Up To The Bar
Go to Bar à Couture© to make your shopping bag. It is simple, free, fast and fun.

In twenty minutes, you discover the newest sewing machines and make yourself a shopping bag to use during the show. The Bar à Couture© is a concept created by the Aiguille en Fête in 2011.

British clubs and schools – use Google Translate to read about their exhibits

Au Ver à Soie Visit the British flag at the bottom of the page or in English: Silk Thread
Visit Country Bumpkin for details on Susan O’Connor’s classes, including kit costs, level and class requirements. (Flyer)

Dates of Susan’s classes (9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Au Ver à Soie:
January 31: Smocking for beginners
February 1: Cornflower, Scissor Sheath and Pinball
February 2: Cot or Knee Blanket – The Softest Touch
February 3: Stumpwork – Loves me, loves me not
Please contact Au ver à Soie or email Sally Bradshaw: sallyb@countrybumpkin.com.au
Book online at http://www.trybooking.com/bbFi
If you have any questions regarding class requirements, please email: susan@countrybumpkin.com.au
Susan will be in Eton and Windsor (choose “Events” on their Web site) between February 16 and 18, 2012

l’Aiguille en Fête Practical Information
When: Thursday, February 9 to Sunday, February 12, 2012
Thursday, and Friday 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Grande Halle de La Villette
Metro: Porte de Pantin (Line 5)
Admission: 12 euros; unlimited pass and groups for the event: 25 euros

Read about Ultramod the old mercerie shop (buttons, ribbons, hat makings – new and vintage)

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Lots going on in Paris for those traveling with girls aged eleven and eight. Exhibitions include the Babar in the toy gallery (until September 2, 2012) at the Musee des arts decoratifs. Toys for boys at he Musée de la Poupée, a fun little museum with a wonderful display of dolls through the ages. The doll museum currently have two exhibits on until March 11, 2012: the toys for boys and the other a joint exhibit with Choco-Story(also until March 11, 2012), the chocolate museum:

“‘Exquisite Ephemera’ is a temporary exhibit in two parts presented simultaneously at the Musée de la Poupée-Paris and at Choco-Story, the chocolate museum, showing a selection of the best Victorian scraps from the ODIN collection.

These two complementary exhibits show images representing children playing with dolls for the Musée de la Poupée and chocolate trading cards representing children from 1875 to 1915 for the chocolate museum Choco-Story….” Read more on the Musée de la Poupée-Paris Web site .

A combined ticket for the visit of the 2 exhibits at the Musée de la Poupée-Paris and at the  Musée du chocolat / Choco-Story is available.

This ticket can be bought in both museums, available for a visit of each exhibit from October 5, 2011 to March 11, 2012. Single price giving access to both exhibit is 14 euros.

For the Holiday Season
The annual Jours de Fêtes at the Grand Palais and Babar celebrating his 80th birthday at the Musée des arts décoratifs. Read about Christmas lights and the Ferris Wheel at Concorde (until February 19, 2012) and the Grand Palais carnival under the big top (under the glass nave)

Puppets and Marionettes in Paris

More Things To Do With Children In Paris

Musée de la Poupée-Paris,
Hours: OpenTuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., (Closed Monday and Holidays)
The museum will be closed on December 25, January 1, April 8, May 1, 8, 17.
Impasse Berthaud (near 22 rue Beaubourg), Paris 3rd
Metro: Rambuteau
Bus: 29 – 38 – 47
Wheel chair access

Musée gourmand du chocolat/Choco-Story – Read about the museum on an earlier post, “Chocolate Museum in Paris“.
Hours: Open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Last entry is 5 p.m. he museum is closed on December 25 and January 1.
A visit lasts between one and one and a half hours.
28 Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, Paris 10th
Metro: Bonne Nouvelle or Strasbourg Saint-Denis

Jours de Fêtes
Grand Palais
December 18 – January 1
Hours: 11 a.m. to midnight; last entry at 11 p.m.
December 24 and 31: open until 8 p.m.; last entry at 7 p.m.
Admission: 5 euros; each ride is 2 to 4 euros. Check at the box office, there may be a single 15 euros ticket, good for all rides

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Modernization can mean a return to what was. For example, the Parc Butte Chaumont will be restored to its 1867 landscape between 2013 and 2017. In the case of the Ritz Hotel, what was is faded. The hotel did not earn the label “Palace” so it is closing down the summer of 2012 and upgrading. The city, hotels and transportation are trying to become more accessible to those with limited mobility.

Preparing your vacation, you might want to know what’s what between now and 2020. Some of what is being changed follows. Read about openings, closings and renovations concerning leisure, culture, urbanism, gastronomy  and accommodations or take a gander at the teaser list:

• Reopening of the Musée Picasso after renovation and extension (May 2013),
• Reopening of the Musée Galliera after renovation (2013),
• Creation of a Théâtre de la Marionnette (Puppet theatre), rue Mouffetard in the 5th arrondissement (2013),
• brasserie and a luxury suite on the rooftop of the Moulin Rouge
• Extension and modernization of the Roland-Garros tennis stadium,
• End of work at Gare Saint Lazare (train station), with 10,000 m2 of shops on three levels (March 2012),
• Creation of green spaces and pedestrian areas along a 2.3 km stretch on the Left Bank and Right Bank of the Seine (July 2012),
• Parc des Buttes-Chaumont and restoring of it to its original state of 1867 (2013-2017),
• TGV train station at Orly airport (2020)
• Launch of the Louvre online reservation system (beginning 2012),
• Opening of an Angelina restaurant/tea room in the Hôtel de Sully (beginning 2012), Conversion by Japanese architects Sejima and Nishizawo of the former La Samaritaine department store into a luxury hotel, Le Cheval Blanc, with 80 rooms and suites overlooking the Seine, a conference centre and shops (2011-2014),
• Closure of The Ritz for full renovation, including the restaurant L’Espadon and the cooking school Ritz- Escoffier (summer 2012-Christmas 2014)
• heart of the Thoiry zoological garden, with 25 rooms fully accessible to persons with disabilities (end 2013)

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Your HOTEL and APARTMENT RESERVATION is a contribution to maintenance costs of my BåLOG, WEBSITE and NEWSLETTER. Using GOOGLE helps, too. THANKS!

Start planning your holiday sightseeing with Lots of Christmas in Paris,  the Ferris wheel, merry-go-rounds, decorated streets and the festival/carnival at the Grand Palais. The list is long for holiday fun in Paris with holiday concerts and church services , nativity scenes, Christmas markets, holiday concerts and Christmas decorations with a Paris theme.

One hundred and seventy-five chalets are set up along the Champs-Elysées, which is expecting 14 million visitors until January 3, 2012. The lights along the  Champs-Elysées  (statistics) turn on November 22, 2011. The Ferris Wheel will turn at Place de La Concorde until February 19, 2012.

Santa’s Secretary
In France, the idea of writing to Santa was created by the PTT Minister (Postes, télégraphes et telephones) (now La Poste (Translation to help you), Jacques Marette in 1962. Santa’s secretary answering the letters was really Mr. Marette’s sister, Françoise Dolto, a pediatrician and psychoanalyst.

The French equivalent of Santa Clause first wore a white costume, which matched his beard and the snow. He gradually adapted his suit to match other countries.

The idea of Santa Clause in a red suit came to France and was first featured in a department store poster. In 1925, the department store, Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville (BHV) puts the red-suited Santa figure in an airplane.

Ice Skating at the Hôtel de Ville
Two rinks skating rinks are open at Hôtel de Ville between December 16 to March 4. One rink is for grown ups and the other is reserved for those under six.
Licensed rink monitors will keep an eye on the different skating levels (beginners, old-hands, groups) to help with technical tips and keep the peace.

Patinoire de l’Hôtel de Ville.
Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, Paris 4th
Metro: Hôtel de Ville (Lines 1 and 11)

Open: Monday to Friday noon to 10 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Free lessons (in French) for beginners, demonstrations, hockey, etc. Saturday and Sunday morning 10 a.m. to noon
Weekday mornings are reserved for various groups and centers in the city of Paris, including handicapped

Access to the skating rink is free for those with their own skates.
Others may rent skates for five euros. The available sizes (European) are 25 to 49. Two-blade skates (size 27 and smaller) are available for children.
A photo ID is required to rent the skates.
For safety reasons, you must wear gloves.

More Ice Skating Information

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What fits in two small Paris apartments but takes up two exhibition floors at the Grand Palais? The Stein Collection.

Gertrude Stein, the writer, and writer’s magnet in the early twentieth century was also an art collector. She, her brothers and sister-in-law set an avant-garde trend that showcased Matisse and Picasso. The original collection is so large that it now takes up two floors of the Grand Palais/RMN in Paris.

Gertrude and Leo Stein lived in a small two-bedroom apartment in the sixth arrondissement of Paris. Their older brother, Michael, and his wife, Sarah, lived close by in a small two-bedroom apartment with a long hallway and high ceilings. They collected the work of artists before the artists became famous (Matisse, Picasso) or as an artist was being recognized (Cézanne). The collections covered their apartment walls.

This adventure in art collecting at the advent of modernism can be seen in Paris until January 16, 2012. It then moves to New York City and back to San Francisco (the family’s United States home). If you cannot be here or there, listen to their story forever with the Grand Palais audio guide or purchase the iPad or the iPhone application from iTunes. I downloaded both. My download recommendations are later in this story.

The exhibition
Divided into three parts, you first meet Leo, whose 1902 arrival in Paris draws the rest of the family to join him and pursue their own curiosities about art.

The second section introduces you to Michael, the older brother, in charge of the Stein finances, and his wife, Sarah, who arrive in 1904. They originally thought about opening an antique store. What a contrast of ideas, when you consider they were the patrons of and life-long collaborators with the modern Matisse.

The third section is devoted to Gertrude Stein who left her psychiatric medical and psychology studies to join her brother in 1903. This portion of the exhibition focuses also on her relationship with Picasso. She and Leo were his first patrons.

Initially, upon moving in Paris, Leo and Gertrude’s sharp artistic eyes went for Renoir, Manet, Degas. Shortly, they began buying Matisee and Picasso. Michael and Sarah’s eyes were strongest for Matisse. The family, who began training their artistic recognition on turn-of-the-century artists saw what was art’s future. With money from their father’s business and inheritance, the Steins lived a bohemian lifestyle developing their eye for these up-and-coming artists.

The works, dispersed around the world, are now reassembled in Paris to show the collection’s vastness and the family’s gift of perception.

Saturday Night at the Steins
The Steins found and patronized Cézanne, Picasso and Matisse. The family was at the forefront of “isms”: fauvism, cubism and surrealism….. Leo, Gertrude, Michael and Sarah bought when these three artists and others were affordable, prior to 1914. It was an artistic heyday of “Saturday nights at the Steins”.  The invited came to see the new purchases. Their celebrated 1905 find was Matisse’s colorful facial depiction of his wife, the “scandalous” La Femme au chapeau. It caused such a stir, that everyone wanted to be a part of the Saturday night event to see it.

The evening began at 6 p.m. at Michael and Sarah’s. At 9 p.m. the party moved to Leo and Gertrude’s. Leo explained art to the party guests with a passion; Gertrude listened and learned.

After the First World War, her talent for spotting avant-garde art works turned toward writers. In one corner of the exhibit, a video shows her reading from her writings. In this section, you learn of her influence on the “lost generation“.  You will better understand the few segments of the movie “Midnight in Paris” when people collect around Gertrude Stein at home on rue de Fleurus. Artists, sculptors and writers would later characterize and portray her as “an artistic guru”.

More about the exhibit
The exhibition is on two floors. You cannot return to the beginning of the exhibit, which begins on the upper level, once you go down the stairs. I had a hard time leaving to take the stairs, afraid that I had missed something.

The magnitude of this collection blew me away. It was hard to imagine that back in time, people really searched out the art market looking for the classics and in the Steins case the precursors of new art. And how did they fit it all into such small spaces? Did they really own all of this? I had to return through the exhibit a second time verifying the ownership label next to each piece of art.

Each label shows names and dates when pieces were exchanged between Leo, or Gertrude or with Michael and Sarah. At one time, they owned it all. In 1913 Leo and Gertrude split from each other at rue Fleurus and split the art. They went their separate artistic ways because Leo cared neither for Picasso’s new cubism, nor Gertrude’s direction in art preferences and her companion, Alice B. Toklas.

Michael and Sarah lost many of their Matisse paintings when they were impounded. They were shipped to Berlin for an exhibition and never received them back. Their shipment coincided with the start of the First World War in 1914.

The exhibition and the audio guides provide fascinating stories of this family, their life style, their influence on the rivalry between Picasso and Matisse, who first met each other at the Stein’s. The exhibition demonstrates the development of artistic techniques and avant-garde forms before they became the norm.

A Clairvoyant Portrait
Pablo Picasso painted a portrait of Gertrude Stein around 1906 soon after she and Leo became the patrons and collectors of Picasso’s art. He began using his split image of an eye looking one way while the other looks right at the viewer. Stein is leaning forward, looking sure of herself, hair tight to her head in contrast to other photos of her in the early 1900s.

Some one remarked that the painting did not look like Gertrude Stein to which Picasso replied, “It will.”

Across the room on a wall with Man Ray photos from the families’ collection is a photo with Gertrude Stein standing in front of the portrait many years later. She has become the painting’s image.

Plans for the Matisse, Cézanne, Picasso….The Stein Family
This exhibit was first shown at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (May 21 to September 6, 2011). After Paris, the exhibit moves to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (February 1 to June 3, 2012) before its return to San Francisco (watch the videos).

Recommendation for the audio guide
No matter where you rent, buy and download them, all of the audio guides are produced by the Réunion des Musées Nationaux (RMN).

These are the alternatives to access an audio guide for any exhibits at the Grand Palais:
1) Rent an audio guide at the museum for five euros in various languages.
2) Order, pay and download the audio guide (without illustrations) from the RMN Web site
3) Buy and download the application for your iPad or phone at the museum using their WiFi connection.
4) Buy and download ahead of time the application from iTunes.

The museum’s audio guide player is easy to use and you drop it off when you are finished.

If you download the audio guide from the RMN Web site and have any problems, call the phone number and someone will help you who speaks English. (I had a problem; it was resolved.  With my payment confirmation number, they sent me the link for the download.) The downloaded audio guide works well when the paintings are in front of you. It is yours to re-listen as often as you like.

The advantage with the iPhone application is the image and the accompanying number. Instead of looking for the number on the wall at the exhibition, you can spot the image. When you want to re-listen later on, the image is on your phone and serves as a quick search reference. The iPad application is more advanced because it provides text information.

The RMN’s did you know section for more visitor information.

Matisse, Cézanne, Picasso …. The Stein Family
Grand Palais, Galaries nationales
until January 16, 2012
Open: Friday to Monday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.,
Tuesday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
December 24 and 31: closes at 6 p.m.
Closed December 25
Metro: Line 1, Chalmps-Elysées-Clemenceau
Information on tickets and audio guide downloads
Catalog available – if buying the nine euros catalog (in French) at the Grand Palais, I recommend “Connaissance des arts” with La femme au chapeau on the cover.

© 2011 Colleensparis.com
Your HOTEL and APARTMENT RESERVATION is a contribution to maintenance costs of my BLOG, WEBSITE and NEWSLETTER. Using GOOGLE helps, too. THANKS!

Fingers Dancing Toward Eldorado
In May, one of Paris’ young artists performed in the Salle Gaveau concert hall. What a treat to sit in the upper balcony and watch her fingers dance across the keys as she took us on a voyage through Latin America with French and Latin composers and her own compositions. I thought her album would have to keep me company after that performance. But she is back in concert.

Lydie Solomon’s concert and album puts the search for the mythical Eldorado to music. This is an imaginative, musical story that takes us from sixteenth century Latin American conquerors to the gold prospectors of the twentieth century.

The venue this time is the Théâtre de l’Ile Saint-Louis Paul Rey, an intimate and elegant concert hall, the smallest in Paris. The theater is located at the corner of Pont-Marie along the Quai d’Anjou.

Her autumn/winter performances are broken into three parts; specfics are detailed in her program. Read more about Lydie’s program (in French) …. or read the Google Translation.

Listen to excerpts from her album, Eldorado. Read the dates of her concerts as DD/MM/Year. Lydie‘s regular performances of piano and song continue until February 29, 2012; concert cost is 15 euros.

Festival Marin Marais
Near our apartment is a church whose bell rings every Sunday, which adds to the ambiance of Paris’ largest outdoor food market (Bastille/Richard Lenoir). As the church calls its worshippers, the beautiful sound reminds me of the interior of this church: All wood, two levels and excellent acoustics.

Every year we pass by the church in October or November and see people enter for 5 p.m. concerts on Friday or Saturday evenings. “One of these years we’ll go …..” has been the mantra. One of these years finally came around when we paid the ten euros each registration for the baroque concerts, we had to ask ourselves, “Why did we wait so long?”.

One of the concerts we attended was the group “Le Concert des Planètes” (translated) performing “Musica Transalpina” – madrigal music – (Lucile Richardot, mezzo-soprano; Alice Cota, Marie-Suzanne de Loye, Mélusine de Pas, Aude-Marie Pilo, and Naomi Inoué playing the viola da gamba; and Ghislain Dibie, playing the orgue positif).

The music touches on a period when Italians came to England during the reign of Elizabeth I. This madrigal period begins around 1562. The Italians translate the words of their compositions to English. Flash forward and change the religion and the monarch to James I in the 1600s and the British who play madrigal change their names to sound Italian….

Voices in whatever language begin to sound like the stringed instruments in madrigal, which Lucile Richardot performs powerfully and beautifully.

Twenty concerts are performed in October and November at three different venues. The church Temple du Foyer de l’Âme is near Place de la Bastille. The Lycée Henri IV chapel is near the Saint-Etienne du Mont church (where Marais was inspired to write his celebrated Sonnerie of Sainte Geneviève du Mont). The third is the intimate cellar of 38Riv’.

Every year the Marin Marais Festival, first held in 2006, celebrates the birthday of the musician and composer, Marin Marais. Marais played in the court of Louis XIV , the Sun King, for forty years.

An annual one-time registration of ten euros per person is required to attend the concerts. Registration is possible before any of the concerts. You receive a card to show at the door, which is good for all the concerts. Other instruments in the concerts are the harpsichord (clavecin), cello (derived from the viola da gamba), lute and theorbo, natural trumpet, sackbut (sacqueboute), cornett (cornet à bouquin) and timpani (timbales).

Additional money that spectators put into the basket (corbeille) for each concert goes directly to the performer(s). The average donation is according to your pleasure or five euros minimum (for two of you: ten euros).

The printed program with details on the performers and performances for the festival costs three euros. The on line program is available either at the Festival Marin Marais Web site or the Mayor of the 4th  arrondissement’s Web site.

Le Théâtre de l’Ile Saint-Louis Paul Rey
39 Quai d’Anjou, Paris 4th
Metro: Pont-Marie or Saint-Paul
Telephone: 01 46 33 48 65 call for reservations

Temple du Foyer de l’Âme
7 rue du Pasteur Wagner, Paris 11th
Metro: Bastille

Chapelle du Lycée Henri IV
23 rue Clovis, Paris 5th
Metro: Cardinal Lemoine

Cave du 38Riv’  (due to limited space, reservations are advised)
Follow the arrows (fleches) in their “Visite” option  to see why the space is limited
38 rue de Rivoli, Paris 4th
Metro: Hôtel de Ville
Email reservation: reservation at 38riv dot com

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The Eiffel Tower is about to provide its visitors with a step into dizzying suspension. Soon visitors to the first level will look straight down the Eiffel Tower through a plate of glass instead of looking through the fence. The idea of the architect, Alain Moatti, is to give the impression of floating above Paris.

In its third major renovation since 1889, a portion of the Eiffel Tower’s solid flooring will be transformed into a 1.5m (5 ft) wide platform of glass. An inclined glass barrier is designed to replace the present grilled fencing. The work begins February 2012 and will be available for viewing during the summer 2013.

The present buildings from the 1980s with their mirrored windows will give way to transparent, windowed buildings to give the visitor the sense of openness into the surrounding space. The lateral walls framing the glass façades will be painted in the original brown-red color of the Eiffel Tower.

This first level is the most versatile level of the tower. It houses the 58 Tour Eiffel restaurant, a simple café/restaurant, exhibitions, sometimes the skating rink (the first one was installed in 1969). In 2010 the first level’s open area was transformed into a park with simulated grass, wild flowers, wood lounge chairs and bistro chairs and tables. It receives, however, only half of the tower’s visitors.

The owner of the Eiffel Tower, the city of Paris, announced that the renovations will include a 300-seat auditorium, stores, a café and museum space. The restaurant 58 Tour Eiffel façade will receive a face lift becoming as transparent as the other buildings. The work is estimated to cost at a cost of 25 million euros. The first level  will remain open during the work and ticket prices will remain unchanged. View all of the architect’s renderings on the Mayor’s Web site.

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Your HOTEL and APARTMENT RESERVATION is a contribution to maintenance costs of my BLOG, WEBSITE and NEWSLETTER. Using GOOGLE helps, too. THANKS!

“Des Jouets et des homes” (Of Toys and Men) at the Grand Palais in Paris presents a history of toys in the Western world and spotlights their importance in children’s education right from birth” until January 23, 2012.

Influences
Boys had the neatest things to play with growing up. Coming from a family of girls, the closest we got to toys outside the realm of dolls was exploring the woods around our house, making up adventure or mystery stories and building forts. We were lucky.

The “Of Toys and Men” exhibit, shows how much toys are a defining influence in early childhood development. The exhibits are thematic, not chronological. The themes are design, animals, lifelike toys, gender bias and the media age. They also include ritualized gifts, animals, vocations, war toys and an interactive exhibition.

Plato is quoted as saying that girls imitate the comfort of the home or the convent. Boys are into war and building things to meet the challenges and discovery of the world at large and its threats.

Design
At the beginning of the exhibition, my eyes were drawn immediately to a framed of an angel. Usually you see Santa with a sack of toys either before or after he shimmies down a chimney. In this water color by Gustave Doré (“La nuit de Noël”), the angel floats above the rooftop, carefully dropping each toy down the opening. This was the last photo I took during the exhibit. Even without a flash, no photography is allowed.

In a poster, the department store, Bazaar de l’Hotel de Ville (BHV) adapts the icon of a U.S. carbonated beverage company for its Christmas campaign in the 1920s. The red coated and bearded Santa drops presents from a plane. Later in the exhibit the commercialization of Christmas takes off in the automated toys section with the actual prop. The toy is Santa is in the airplane for the 1925 Christmas window display.

Animals
Museums from England, the United States and France and private collectors contribute to this exhibit. The Victoria & Albert in London sent over the oldest rocking horse (1610) known to exist. A triptych (1450-1475) shows a child on a stick horse.

Around 1900 a French firm manufactured mechanical toys at the rate of 800,000 a year. The toys created by Fernand Martin in the exhibit are on loan from the Arts & Metier museum in Paris (for future museum visiting reference).

Be a Doll
Before you go up to the next level, take your photo. Stand or sit in front of one of the two screens for a photo. Your face will be added to a costume. You and your new persona will appear on the wall in various styles for an audience waiting for their own new persona to appear. You might be dressed in jeans, a prom dress, Barbie skirt and shoes or as a buccaneer.

Second level
Toys given to boys and the theme transportation begin the second level of the exhibition. The displays include a very impressive Aston Martin DB5 built for Prince Andrew of England to satisfy his desire for autonomy. It was the only one ever made with all the gadgetry of James Bond movies (Goldfinger) 1964 and Thunderball (1965).

Viewed subjectively, it seems the boats, cars and trains that boys grow up with prepare them for an imaginative world. A world that also prepares many of them for the strategies of war and untimely death. In some Western countries, those preparations are in a new world, uni-sex.

War and Conflict as a Toy
Two film examples of toys involved in conflicts are excerpts from “Babes in Toyland” and “La Revolte des jouets” (The Revolte of the Toys), 1947 Czechoslavakia Hermina Tirlova, 2 min 28. There is a hilarious extract from “Panique au village”, 2009 Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier, 1min 41. In this sample, the horse is more intelligent than the cowboy and the Indian.

References to the Age of Media
Toys are presented suggesting that the media age exploits childhood favorites. A childhood hero can now be used as pleasure, fantasy and a money source.  Two examples are from France and the United States.

In nineteenth century France, figures from Jean de La Fontaine fables (the lion and rat) are used on lottery cards. “Bonne Nuit les Petits” from France and Walt Disney’s characters Mickey Mouse in 1928 and Snow White in 1938 spawn spin offs and themed products.

Memories
In one of the last rooms is an exhibit called “Poupées de la Memoire”. The display explanations have not been translated. The two dolls in the display case belonged to victims in two separate, tragic deaths. Both dolls, however, live on as a memory. They are now in the collection of the New York Historical Society.

One doll is a gift from a surviving sister in the1904 fire on the General Slocum steamer. The other doll is Alice in Wonderland donated by the grandparents of a girl killed September 11, 2001.

Passage of Time
The last room is about the passage of time. Toys are given up, saved, stored away and often, still remembered. This idea is summed up in an excerpt from “Toy Story 3″. However, even as adults, we still have our toys. Walking through this exhibit, “Les Jouets et des homes”, and listening to its audio guide, the comments and impressions for this blog entry are written on today’s adult toy: an iPhone notepad.

Age range
I observed that the age range for this exhibit is babes in arms to the stopped-counting-long-ago generation.

Practical Information
As you enter each new room, the theme changes. The explanatory signs are in French, English and Spanish. I recommend picking up the well-done audio guide for five euros. The online audio guide download is only in French.

Galeries nationales of the Grand Palais (Réunion des musées nationaux)
3, avenue du Général-Eisenhower 8th arr.
Open: Every day (except Tuesday) from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., late night on Wednesday until 10 p.m.
They anticipate an early opening at 9 a.m. instead of 10 p.m. during All Saints (November 1) and Christmas school holidays.
Closing at 6 p.m. on December 24 and 31. Closed on December 25.
Admission: Full price is 11 euros. Free for children under 13
Metro: Line 1, 9, 13: Champs-Élysées-Clemenceau or Franklin Roosevelt
Bus: 28, 42, 52, 72, 73, 80, 83, 93
Audioguides: French, English, German: 5 euros
Publications: – Exhibition catalogue: 50 euros – Album: 9 euros

Getting around within the Grand Palais
Upcoming programs
History of the Grand Palais

© 2011 Colleensparis.com
Your HOTEL and APARTMENT RESERVATION is a contribution to maintenance costs of my BLOG, WEBSITE and NEWSLETTER. Using GOOGLE helps, too. THANKS!