If prose could flow, could be fluid and organic, with words filling up our imagination as one would fill a glass with cold water on a hot day anticipating and understanding intuitively how it will taste and quench one’s thirst, it would be called Paris.

A slim volume written by Julian Green in the early 90’s, I stumbled upon this quite by accident looking for other travelogues.  Mr. Green takes the reader on an tour of his adopted city, certainly being one of the first to understand “getting off the beaten track” as he indulges both the reader and himself in reflecting on parts of Paris that are generally left uncovered by a tourist.  His words require no work on the readers part–they merely pull us along in wonder as we twist and turn our heads, making sure to take in all parts of the visual landscape he creates.

For those of you who read French, you are in for a treat as it is a bilingual edition.  I loved seeing his words in both languages and was grateful for both as my translation was difficult at best.  I let go of the struggle the minute my eyes crossed over to the English and let all he had to say take over. The book was written from a distance, both in memory and place.  Recollections, emotions that moved him regarding a certain moment or in a particular place where his inspiration.  I read each tiny chapter, letting a few days go by before picking the book up again as I wanted to savour every bit of it.

Mr. Green had an illustrious career in France that seems to be lost on those of us from the states. Most of his works were done in French after publishing five successful books in English.  He holds the distinct honor of being the only foreign member of the Académie Française in addition to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The Observer reviewed Paris as, “The most bizarre and delicious of travel books”. Delicious yes. Bizarre?  Not for those who can never get enough of this place.

P.S.  Look closely at the book cover and the The Paris Traveler header.  Now that’s bizarre!

Additional information:

Julian Green/Wikipedia
A Nonagenarian in Paris: A Conversation with Julian Green

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Happy Bastille Day to one and all wherever you are celebrating.

Photo credit:  mfdudu@flickr

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For someone who really doesn’t love graffiti, I found this fascinating.  You might too.

Graffiti Taxonomy: Paris, 2009 from Evan Roth on Vimeo.

Additional information:

Today and Tomorrow.com
Graffiti Taxonomy: Paris

Fondation Cartier:  Evan Roth

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Catching some rays in the Tuileries.

• Top restaurants in France offering their own versions of fast food(webinfrance.com)
• As Meal Tax Shrinks, Restaurants Hope to Gain(nytimes.com)
• French paper goes global, risks ridicule with translation(yahoo.com)
• The battle for Sunday in France(timesonline.com)

Photo credit:  shiningarden@flickr

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1. Bastille
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2. Champs-Élysées
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OK….for all of you who just celebrated fireworks in the states this past weekend, here’s another opportunity for a little razzle dazzle in your life.

Tuesday, July 14th is Bastille Day here in France.  Much like our 4th, it is this country’s national holiday commemorating the storming of the Bastille, a fortress prison.  Freeing political prisoners who were considered irritants to the monarchy, this act of rebellion became symbolic in letting the king know his power was not absolute and was a precursor to the French Revolution.  220 years later the event continues to be celebrated in grand style.

For those of you unable to actually be here to join in on all the fun, the Mairie de Paris (city government) has made possible way to celebrate with the Parisians “virtually”.  Cameras will be set up at different locations throughout the city, web cams if you will, to send out video around the world as to what is going on. Tuesday evening you have the opportunity to join in on the Johnny Hallyday concert being held on the Champs Élysée, just hours after France’s military elite have paraded down the same cobblestones.  Johnny Hallyday….I just don’t get it, but the French love him.  Check it out to formulate your own opinion.

Here’s where you need to be starting at about 22h45/10:45pm or 4:45pm EST.

P.S.  For those of you here, the parade gets underway at 10:00 am, making its way down the Champs Élysée.  Fireworks, one of my most favorite things in the world get going at the foot of the Eiffel Tower at around 22h30(10:30 pm).  You’re going to want to be there a bit before that to wedge your way in among thousands of other revelers like you.

14Juillet2009

Additonal information:  Wikipedia

Photo credit:  The Intrepid Antipodean@flickr

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1. Fondation Cartier

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My first trip to Paris way back in 1985 was a real eye opener for many reasons.  The most surprising revelation was the amount of graffiti that was splashed throughout the city.  Not one to live with their head in the sand–(at this point I had lived in six of the current eleven cities I have called home),I had been introduced to this form of street art all along the way.  But this was PARIS! How or why would anyone want to deface this gemstone of a place.  Driving into the city from Roissey was absolutely painful as the walls and buildings along the expressway were covered with graphics and messages beyond my comprehension.  A return trip a few years later revealed a cleaned up, less graffiti littered Paris but it’s all back.  And it is in places that you wouldn’t expect. TIny messages on sides of beaux arts apartment buildings or ones found underfoot along the sidewalks are normal and barely make one think twice about it.

Embracing this form of art or visual pollution based on how you feel about things is being mainstreamed by Fondation Cartier here in Paris.  From July 7th through November 29, 2009 you can visit Né dans la rue (Born in the Streets), an interactive exhibition taking up the entire gallery space of this museum of contemporary art.  It is meant to bring light to this art form that was created in New York back in the 1970’s which has taken on a life of its own making it a world wide phenomena.

I suppose it is worth giving you a bit of information on what exactly the Fondation Cartier is.  Yes, it is the Cartier like the jewels.  Striving to commit to the arts as a corporate patron, they not only create exhibitions based on contemporary art that they feel is current and reflects those trends, they also commission new works.  Their goal is to integrate their ability to work as patrons, allowing for the creative process to run full circle from conception to completion in the most up to the minute environment possible.

The building is another Jean Nouvel masterpiece (along with Institut du Monde Arab and Musée du Quai Branly) where light and space become elements as important as the steel beams and walls supporting it. It is off the beaten path from where you as a tourist might find yourself but certainly not difficult to get to and well worth the trip.  On my initial visit, I wasn’t too fired up to go but like so many things that one doesn’t look forward to, it ended up being interesting.

Sort of like graffiti in Paris.

Additional information:

Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain
261, boulevard Raspail, 75014
Métro: Lines 4 or 6, Raspail or Denfert-Rochereau
Closed Mondays

Photo credit:  Fondation Cartier, paspog@flickr

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It’s been awhile since I have been to Paris with little ones.  I say that, however, I am in Paris often with my daughters only they happen to be adults now.  Their big concern is figuring out the newest shops to drop some euros at or clubs to frequent once we get there.  Keeping them busy and happily occupied is no longer a problem.  They are much easier to entertain although much more expensive.  Tons more fun too, in a very different way.  Every phase of a child’s life for a parent is interesting and I’m learning that the fun never ends.

For those of you going over with smaller kids at an equally fun but challenging age, Paris With Kids gives you pointers on how to keep everybody moving and grooving with smiles all around.  Published by Fodor’s which is many people’s choice when it comes to guidebooks, they have left few stones unturned in creative ways to see Paris from a child’s point of view.  To be sure, those are quite different eyes to view this city through.  With a little forethought and their tried and true tips, even the most curmudgeon-y museum goer might find themselves enjoying the experience.  For those of you with fussy eaters–and I am not talking just about kids necessarily–Paris with Kids even gives suggestions of where to dine in specific parts of the city you might find yourself that would please youthful palates.

I’m a believer that planning a trip is half the fun and makes the getting there much more exciting.  We would buy guidebooks and picture books to all the countries we chose to visit and let our girls help participate in the planning.  It gave them a vested interest in where we were going and they greeted all the travel with a huge dose of enthusiasm.  Just thinking about it makes me nostalgic for those days.

For those of you just starting all your European adventure travel with tiny ones,  Paris with Kids is a great resource to help get the ball rolling on creating great memories that quite honestly, don’t fade with time.

Photo credit:  barnesandnoble.com

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Oscar Wilde

Believing in my heart of hearts that I am a cutting edge kind of gal though usually falling woefully short  I am going to take us on a little adventure that requires we walk down a slippery slope leading us to that crazy drink called absinthe.  Why you ask?  Well, it’s back in fashion and producers from around the world are making, bottling and selling this demon once again.   With such a bad reputation preceding it, earned or otherwise,  I thought it might be helpful knowing and understanding a bit about it and take appropriate precautions….or not.  Just recently brought back to life (it became legal again) as of December, 2007, absinthe is enjoying a revival and reversal of its somewhat seamy past.

“It leads straight to the madhouse”, proclaimed Henri Schmidt, a French druggist in the early 1900’s as he battled to get his fellow countrymen to ban the green liquid which is indeed what happened.

Absinthe is a distilled, highly alcoholic beverage.  It is anise flavored and is derived from several herbs; tarragon, basil, mint and controversial wormwood, thought to cause madness and consumed at high levels, convulsions.  Perhaps due to its high alcohol content (55 to 72%–yikes!) the ‘buzz’ from both that much alcohol and the misconception of its drug-like qualities led to its public demise.

Nicknamed the ‘Green Fairy’ (la fee verte) in reference to its chartreuse color, this drink has been associated with some of the greatest artists and writers who in their time were thought certainly to be low brow bohemians.  People living on the fringe of what would be considered mainstream only added fuel to its already tarnished reputation.  Manet, Baudelaire, Picasso, Wilde, Van Gogh and Hemingway popularized the consumption of this drink.  Misunderstood at the time, these individuals did nothing to enhance absinthe’s reputation.  Ah, but to be so misunderstood and so brilliant!  I might have to drink a few glasses of the stuff just to test my ultimate potential.

There is a whole process involved in drinking absinthe:  the use of an elegant slotted spoon balanced over an equally beautiful glass cradling a sugar cube.  Water is slowly, painfully so, dripped over the cube allowing it to melt and fall into the absinthe, along with the water, creating a pale, milky green substance.  A ritual I suppose that only adds to the spirit’s intrigue.

At this point, I am going to send you on a journey around the web, introducing you to the product, sites that are devoted to everything absinthe; from history to posters to beautiful vintage spoons.  Also, I found and interesting video that helps dispel any lingering misconceptions you might have about this little green fairy.  Tinker Bell she is not.

A little shop in the Marais.  This video is in French but well worth a peek.

Additional information:  La Fee Verte, Wikipedia

Photo credit:  La Fee Verte, Wikipedia

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On of the things I love about Paris is the juxtaposition of old and new in everything–clothing, cultural events, food and in this case architecture.  Not necessarily my personal choice of how I would go about reworking a space  yet I think it is absolute genius.  When you are revamping historical buildings in Paris, as this project was doing, there are some stringent guidelines to be followed.

Named the Galvani House, this is a reworking of space that has an old building in the inner courtyard which was to be included in the design, left intact.  The owner and the city requested that the historical building not be obstructed from view of the street, only a street level and one additional floor were allowed in the new structure and Parisian basin rock had to be the façade.  If you have been in the lower level of the Louvre, having entered through the Tuilieries, you know what I am talking about.  It is a soft beige, somewhat fossilized stone that has a cool (to the touch) smooth surface.  Aside from that, have at it.  

The rear of the addition.

Same view at night in all its lit up beauty

Hard to top being able to curl up in that chair, next to that tree with a good book

LOVE the stairs although feel they would be a bit problematic.  Could easily do harm to myself one way or the other on those.

Photo credit:  archdaily.com

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Wherever you are this fourth of July weekend, I hope it is a glorious celebration filled with great people and great fun.  See you back here in a few days.

Photo credit:  stuck in customes@flickr

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