Designer Outlet Shops in Paris

Richard Nahem, an ex-New Yorker living in Paris, leads private insider tours showing visitors the Paris most of them never see on their own (www.eyepreferparistours.com), and also writes a popular insider's blog www.eyepreferparis.com.

Paris is known as one of the great shopping meccas. The drawback is sales only happen twice a year in January and June, and in between it's hard to find any bona fide bargains. The good news is that some of the top designer brands have outlet shops that have the previous season’s merchandise reduced 30 to 60 percent off. Here is a list of some of our top favorites.

La Piscine
This small chain has five shops selling top name French and Italian designer clothes for men, women, and children. Labels include Missoni, Martin Margiela, Valentino, Dolce and Gabanna, Plein Sud, Prada, and Jimmy Choo. Shoes, handbags, and scarves are also discounted.

13 rue des francs Bourgeois 75004
Mon 1 pm - 7 pm
Tue-Sun 11 am - 7 pm

Maje
Maje is one of the hottest labels right now for women’s casual chic dresses, jackets, tops, coats, pants, and blazers.

4 rue de Marseille, 75010
11am to 8pm Tuesday to Saturday

Zadig and Voltaire
With a cult following, Zadig and Voltaire is considered a must-buy for anyone following French fashion. Their upscale casual clothes for men and women are discounted 30 to 50 percent off store prices. Feel lucky if you score one of their most desired styles, a sweatshirt or T-shirt with a skull emblem.

22 rue Bourg Tibourg, 75004
Monday-Friday 11AM -7PM, Saturday 11AM -7:30PM, Sunday 2PM -7:30PM

Repetto
Originally made for prima ballerinas, Repetto has long been the place for ballet shoes. In 1956, it created the Cendrillon flat for Brigitte Bardot, which became a fashion sensation. Repetto makes some of the finest constructed ballet flats in dozens of colors and materials. Their outlet shop near Galeries Lafayette, has a limited selection of ballet flats, heels, and T-strap shoes discounted at 30 to 40 percent off.

24 rue de Châteaudun, 75009
Tuesday to Saturday 10:30AM to 7PM

Sandro
Conveniently located in the popular shopping district Le Marais, the Sandro Stock shop features deep discounts on its collection of fashion forward women’s separates.

26 rue de Sevigné, 75004
Tuesday to Saturday 10:30AM -7:30PM, Sunday 1PM -7PM

Chloe
One of Frances’ most beloved design houses, Chloe is the quintessential French fashion label, recently celebrating its 60th anniversary with the current collections designed by Claire Waight Keller. The outlet shop has current and past collections including their super desirable handbags.

8 rue Jean Pierre Timbaud, 75011
Tuesday, 2PM -8PM. Wednesday to Saturday 11AM -8PM, Sunday 2PM -8PM

One Person Shows in English in Paris

Richard Nahem, an ex-New Yorker living in Paris, leads private insider tours showing visitors the Paris most of them never see on their own (www.eyepreferparistours.com), and also writes a popular insider's blog www.eyepreferparis.com.

Although Paris has some top-flight theatre performances, it’s almost impossible to find any that are performed in English.
We have found three unique one-person theatre pieces in English, two hilariously funny shows about the culture and the cultural differences of Paris and another, an intimate musical tribute to France’s most beloved singer.

Caroline Nin, Hymne a Paris

French chanteuse Caroline Nin has been performing her award winning one-woman show Hymne a Paris to sold-out crowds all over the globe, including The Sydney Opera House, The Edinburgh Festival and the Royal Festival Hall in London. Strangely, she has never performed the show in her motherland but has finally brought the successful show to Paris where Piaf started her incredible but tragic career.

Every Wednesday Nin performs the show at a small intimate theater in the Marais. With her versatile voice and style, going from sexy and throaty to strong and stoic to poignant to tender, Nin gives new insight into the Piaf’s difficult life with enlightening anecdotes about her in between each song. Not only is Nin a terrific singer, she is a captivating storyteller and actress. She sings some of Piaf’s most memorable hymns including La Vie en Rose, Mon Legionnaire, Non Je ne Rien and also a few rarely performed songs.

Every Wednesday, 8PM, until June 26
Essaïon Théâtre

6 rue Pierre au lard, 75004
Book online www.essaion.com or call + 33 (0) 7 77 25 37 64
Note: Some songs are performed in French

How to be a Parisian in One Hour

After more than three years and over 150,000 spectators Olivier Giraud is still packing them in and selling out his one-man show. How to be a Parisian in One Hour is a side-splitting guide to all things Parisian. Witty, sarcastic and sometimes outrageous, Giraud pokes fun with no shame about the strange habits of the French and teaches the mostly tourist audience how to handle themselves just like a Parisian in every situation as they encounter taxis, the metro, restaurants, shops and nightclubs.

Warning: Giraud loves to pick on people in the audience to come up on stage, so if you don’t like audience participation, sit way back.

Tickets http://www.billetreduc.com/69266/evtbook.htm

A New Yorker in Paris

Living in Paris for seven years now, ex-New Yorker Sebastian Marx is still having a hard time adjusting to the French way of life. He has found a way to vent his frustration through comedy by performing a one-man show about his struggles. Influenced by his American comedy heroes Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld and Louis CK, Marx comes up with his own sardonic way of dealing with Parisian life. Still keeping in touch with his New York roots, Marx also performs with other fellow ex-pat comedians once for New York Comedy Night.

Every Friday night @ 8PM
SoGymnase
38 Blvd. Bonne Nouvelle, 75110
Tickets http://www.weezevent.com/sebastianmarx

New York Comedy Night
Every Friday 9:30PM
38 Blvd. Bonne Nouvelle, 75110
Tickets http://www.weezevent.com/the-new-york-comedy-night

Hip, New Paris Cocktail Bars

Richard Nahem, an ex-New Yorker living in Paris, leads private insider tours showing visitors the Paris most of them never see on their own (www.eyepreferparistours.com), and also writes a popular insider's blog www.eyepreferparis.com.

Up until a few years ago, the only place in Paris to get a decent cocktail was at the formal bars of five-star hotels like the Ritz and the George V. In recent years a spate of new, intimate, cocktail bars have opened with much popularity.

Sherry Butt

The name is unforgettable but the owners of Sherry Butt want you to also remember the special taste of the hand mixed, original cocktails. Eleven cocktail creations have been conjured up and the more exotic cocktails include ‘Shimbashi’ made with Japanese whisky, Fino sherry, and bitters and Belle en Bulle made with pisco, pear syrup, lemon and Champagne. The owners learned heir mixing magic powers working at a small chain of popular cocktails bars including The Experimental Cocktail Club, Curio, and Prescription, so they know their stuff and how to please cocktail craving Parisians. Tucked away on an offbeat street in the Marais, rue Beautreillis, Sherry Butt shares the dubious distinction of being located across the street from the apartment Doors band member Jim Morrison died in by overdosing in his bathtub. The bar also serves light bites and DJ spins retro tunes on the weekend.

20 rue Beautreillis
Paris 75004

Josephine

Josephine Baker, the American legendary dancer and singer who was the rage of Paris in 1930s and 1940s, has inspired many generations after her with her free spirit and love of nightlife. Her latest influence can be experienced at Josephine, a new bar with an Art Deco look and feel to it. The fully stocked bar has a large range of cocktails, whisky, and wine in a nostalgic Art Deco setting. The sophisticated cocktail list includes the Apricot Reviver – gin, Kina l’Avion d’Or, rosemary-infused apricots, lemon and of course the Joséphine – chartreuse, calvados, line, absinthe, and grapefruit zest. Serrano ham, Manchego cheese, foie gras, duck tartare, and crispy frites are just a few of the appetizing nibbles served. DJs spin retro rock and jazz on Thursday, Friday, & Saturday nights. Josephine has a smoking room in the back, a rarity for Paris these days since the city passed the no smoking law in all indoor public places five years ago.

25 rue Moret, 75011
http://cafe-josephine.tumblr.com


La Mary Celeste Bar

Ex-New Yorkers Adam Tsou and Josh Fontaine, along with Colombian Carina Soto Velasquez, attained immediate success when they opened the first genuine Mexican taqueria, Candelaria, in Paris in 2011. Riding on the coattails of their success they created Glass, a hit cocktail bar. Glass has now spawned the trio’s newest venture, La Mary Celeste Bar. The name is derived from a legend about a merchant ship from 1872 that sunk en route from New York to Genoa, with 1,701 barrels of grain alcohol onboard.
 
The cozy, homey bar is set on three levels, the first one with seating for 40+, the lower level an open kitchen with additional seating, and the third floor a work & storage space.

La Mary Celeste’s strong suit is the extensive selection of microbrewery beers with some from Brooklyn on tap. It also has an impressive wine list, and it goes without saying, custom cocktails, shaken and stirred by Carlos, the well-known mixologist who was snatched away from L’Hotel after 6 years.

Oysters, tacos, & Chinese buns are among the tasty bites to help soak up the alcohol. A relic from the past, an authentic turntable, has DJ’s spinning 80s music on vinyl.

1 rue de Commines, 75003

Vegetarian and Gluten Free Restaurants in Paris

Richard Nahem, an ex-New Yorker living in Paris, leads private insider tours showing visitors the Paris most of them never see on their own (www.eyepreferparistours.com), and also writes a popular insider's blog www.eyepreferparis.com.

Up until about 18 months ago, Paris was almost a barren wasteland when it came to vegetarian and gluten free food. The less than handful of vegetarian restaurants had unimaginative, barely edible food and the only other options were falafels in the Jewish Quarter in the Marais and goat cheese salad. Things have changed significantly and there is now a healthy selection of vegetarian options with imaginative cuisine.

Café Pinson
Located in the trendy, fashionable Northern Marais/NORMA, Café Pinson is a culinary and visual delight. The menu offers vegetarian, mostly vegan, and partially gluten free food. At lunch there is a well-priced prix fixe that includes a soup or vegetable tart, main course, and dessert for just 17 euros. On the day we visited we had a soothing butternut squash soup, risotto made with a gluten free rice, and sugarless dessert with an interesting taste combo, pears and Rooibos tea. The modern but cozy interior is as appetizing as the food. Café Pinson also serves an unusual Sunday brunch consisting of slow cooked eggs at a low temperature, savory Madeleines, a vegetable mousse, raw or cooked granola, fresh juice, and a Nutella type spread made with raw hazelnuts.

Café Pinson
6 rue de Forez, 75003
Open 9AM to 7PM, Monday to Friday
Saturday 10AM to 7PM
Sunday 10AM to 5PM
http://www.cafepinson.fr

Tuck Shop
Two sisters and their best friend from Australia move to Paris to fulfill their fantasy. They love the City of Light but miss their local canteen/coffee shop called a Tuck shop in Australia. What to do? Open their own in a hip neighborhood. Voila! The Tuck Shop has been open for a few short months and has become the hit of the Canal St. Martin area. The girls have updated the Tuck Shop model by serving all vegetarian cuisine using only organic ingredients and the lunch special is a bowl of steaming soup, a veggie sandwich, and a homemade cake for only 12 euros. A special brunch is served on Sundays and the superior coffee, a Peruvian and Brazilian mix, has been custom blended by Cotume, the best coffee house in Paris.

Tuck Shop 

13 rue Lucien Sampaix, 75010

Open 9AM to 5PM Tuesday to Sunday
11AM to 7PM Sunday

Gentle Gourmet
Gentle Gourmet bills itself as first gourmet vegan restaurant in Paris. From the outside it looks like typical contemporary French restaurant with hardwood floors, slick black furniture, and white walls with modern art.

Chef and owner Deborah Pivain had a successful bread and breakfast in Paris where she cooked a vegan dinner every night for her guests before forging ahead full time with Gentle Gourmet. The highly imaginative menu includes you-could-swear-it-was meat, veggie burgers, vegan fondue, crispy mushrooms with faux foie gras, and crepes with a salted butter caramel sauce. The minimalist presentation on elegant white china takes vegan to a much more sophisticated level.

Gentle gourmet also has a takeout department.

Gentle Gourmet Café
24 Boulevard de la Bastille, 75012
http://www.gentlegourmetcafe.com

Paris Food Markets

Richard Nahem, an ex-New Yorker living in Paris, leads private insider tours showing visitors the Paris most of them never see on their own (www.eyepreferparistours.com), and also writes a popular insider's blog www.eyepreferparis.com.

One of the great joys of Paris is the amazing outdoor food markets with everything from avocados to pantyhose with one stop shopping. Every arrondissement (zip code) has at least one outdoor market that is usually open one weekday and a weekend day, from approximately 7:30AM to 1:30PM.

Here is a list of our favorites.

Richard Lenoir/Bastille Market
Right off the historic Place de la Bastille where the French Revolution started is the Richard Lenoir market, the largest food market in Paris. Stretching five blocks with three aisles, there is a vast array of fruits, vegetables, cheeses, meats, poultry, bread, dairy products, eggs, and fish.

If you don’t want to cook, there are many stands that sell prepared French specialties such as quiches, beef Bourguignon, pates, charcuterie, savory tarts, chicken fricassee, and other delicacies. You will salivate watching the chickens roasting on the rotisserie with a shelf of baby potatoes underneath cooking in the juices dripping down from the chickens. One of the fun highlights of the market is the sea salt stand with over 20 varieties of scented salts. The crusty old man who sells them calls himself the George Clooney of salt and holds up a mask with his photo on it in front of his face.

Besides the overwhelming amount of French food stalls and products, there is a good selection of ethnic food purveyors including Moroccan, Lebanese, Caribbean, Portuguese, and Italian.

The market is also partially a flea market selling non-food items such as cashmere sweaters, scarves, clothing, shoes, furry slippers, jewelry, soap from Marseille, kitchenwares, and table linens.

Place de la Bastille, 75011
Open Thursday and Sunday 8AM to 1:30PM

Marche D’Aligre
Located in a working and middle class neighborhood, the Marche D’ Aligre is the workingman’s market. Mostly run by North African men and women, this lively market has very good prices on produce, fish, meat, cheeses, breads, and pastries.

On the surrounding streets and in the warehouse buildings behind the market is a rich selection of food stands with prepared food, nuts, olives, olive oils, cheeses, grains, rice’s, spices, and dried fruits. After you fill your food basket with all the goodies, head to the nearby Le Baron, the rustic wine bar with wooden barrels, for a cheap, hearty glass of red wine.

Rue d'Aligre and place d’Aligre 75012
Open Tuesday to Friday 7:30AM to 1:30PM
Saturday and Sunday 7:30AM to 2:30PM
Le Baron Rouge
1 Rue Théophile Roussel, 75012

Raspail Market
In the middle island of one of the most elegant boulevards in Paris, lined with impressive stone apartment buildings from the late 1800s, is the upscale Rapsail market. Residents of this exclusive neighborhood, shop at the more intimate market for top quality fresh food. On Sunday it’s an organic market and remember the word for organic in French is biologique, or bio for short. Don’t miss the stand with the freshly made potato and onion galettes (Sunday only) and the food truck with American and Mexican specialties including hamburgers and tacos. Catherine Deneuve frequently shops in the market and you may catch her pinching the melons.

Blvd. Raspail, near rue Cherche Midi, 75006
Open Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday
7:30PM to 1:30PM

Top Holiday Activities in Paris for 2012

Richard Nahem, an ex-New Yorker living in Paris, leads private insider tours showing visitors the Paris most of them never see on their own (www.eyepreferparistours.com), and also writes a popular insider's blog www.eyepreferparis.com.

Paris is one of the best cities to spend the holidays in and 2012 lives up to that reputation in spades. The city is awash in the joie de vivre of the Christmas season with sparkly lights, shop windows dressed to the nines, and festive events.

Les Grand Magasins/Big department stores have pulled out all the stops this year to promote glamour and more sophisticated windows than usual. Printemps has 74 handcrafted dolls/ poupettes dressed in retro haute couture coatdresses and suits recalling the New Look from 1947 that made Dior famous. French actress Marion Cotillard, the official spokesperson for the Dior brand, inaugurated the windows in November wearing a chic and stunning Dior black wool crepe suit with a cinched waist and black patent leather belt. Next door at Galeries Lafayette, the theme is The Ball of the Century, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the store’s iconic stained glass dome, with figures dressed in evening wear dancing the night away. Another set of windows is devoted to Louis Vuitton and has penguins, polar bears, and an Afghan dog all adorned in Louis Vuitton fashions and accessories. The rising French fashion designer Alexis Mabille has created some whimsical charm along with his fantasy ball gowns in the windows of the BHV department store.

Printemps, 64 Blvd. Haussmann, 75009

Galeries Lafayette, 40 Blvd. Haussmann, 75009
BHV, 52 rue de Rivoli, 75004

Ice skating aficionados have the luxury of cutting figure eights on France’s largest skating rink at the Grand Palais, measuring close to 20,000 square feet. To add to the fun, the rink offers night skating on Friday and Saturday nights from 8PM to 2AM with special light shows and a DJ spinning music.

December 13 to January 6
Ice Skating at Grand Palais/Grand Palais de Glaces
3 avenue du Général Eisenhower, 75008
Metro: Champs Elysees- Clemenceau

Paris is rich with concerts, dance, and theater during the holiday season. An exciting. Broadway scale production of West Side Story in English is at the Theatre Chatelet. There’s no place better to listen to classical holiday music than the magnificent Saint Chapelle church. The program includes works by Schubert, Bach, Mozart, and Verdi. If you want to have the double opportunity to see the famed interior of the magnificent Paris Opera Garnier and to enjoy a favorite fairy tale performed live, Cinderella (La Cenerentola in Italian) by Rossini is your ticket.

West Side Story
Till January 1, 2013  
Theatre du Chatelet, Place du Chatelet
http://chatelet-theatre.com/2012-2013/west-side-story-fr

Saint Chapelle Christmas Concerts
December 8, 9, 15, 15, 21–31
http://www.classictic.com/en/christmas_concerts_at_la_sainte_chapelle/18107/152096/

Cinderella/La Cenerentola
December 7,10,13,23,26, 27
Opera Garnier
http://www.classictic.com/en/la_cenerentola__paris_national_opera/18451/149249/


Two current blockbuster museum shows shouldn’t be missed. Dali at the Pompidou Centre boasts over 200 works of the master of Surrealism a long with a series of rare drawings, photos, objets, and excerpts from film and television shows. Iconic American artist Edward Hopper fell in love with Paris when he first visited in 1906 and his work is inspired by French artists such as Matisse. An extensive retrospective exhibits 128 works including paintings, watercolors, sketches, and illustrations along side 35 comparative paintings by French artists.


Dali
Centre Pompidou, Rue Beaubourg, 75004
Open 11AM till 9PM except Tuesday, Thursday till 11PM
http://www.centrepompidou.fr

Edward Hopper
Grand Palais , Ave. Winston Churchill, 75008
http://www.rmn.fr/english/les-musees-et-leurs-expositions-238/grand-palais-galeries-nationales-257/expositions-258/edward-hopper-2926

Paris Resale / Depot Vente shops

Richard Nahem, an ex-New Yorker living in Paris, leads private insider tours showing visitors the Paris most of them never see on their own (www.eyepreferparistours.com), and also writes a popular insider's blog www.eyepreferparis.com.

One of the most interesting trends on the Paris shopping scene in recent years is the proliferation of high-end resale shops (called depot-vente) that have opened. We are not talking about musty, dimly lit shops with your aunt’s ratty clothing from the attic. Today’s vintage shops have top designer label clothing and accessories in mint condition with price tags mostly above 500 euros.

Here are some of the top resale/ depot-vente shops.

L’Ibis Rouge
For over thirty years Vivianne Dendievel has developed a brilliant eye for selecting the most luxurious and tasteful vintage clothing, jewelry, and accessories to fill her Left Bank shop L’Ibis Rouge. She travels all over Europe to estate sales and auctions to find unique and divine pieces. Her specialty is costume jewelry and she carries European brands such as Dior, Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, Givenchy, Paco Rabanne, Christian Lacroix, Lanvin, Pierre Cardin and Karl Lagerfeld plus American jewelry brands Trifari, Myriam Haskell, Schreiner, Boucher, and Monet. L’Ibis Rouge also stocks a small collection of new, mostly handmade clothing and jewelry made in France and Italy.

L’Ibis Rouge
35 Blvd. Raspail, 75007
Metro: Sevres-Babylone
Open 12PM to 7PM Tuesday to Saturday
Tel. +33 (0) 01 45 48 98 21

Scarlett
In the Golden Triangle in between the George V and Plaza Athenee hotels and designer shops on Avenue Montaigne is Scarlett, a tiny shop stuffed to the rafters with vintage clothes, handbags and jewelry. Chanel, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, and Christian Loboutin are just a smattering of the luxury labels Scarlett features.

10 rue Clémont Marot, 75008 Paris
+33 (0) 156890300

Gabrielle Geppert
With the same first name as the legendary Coco Chanel, Gabrielle Geppert has also made her life about fashion. Ten years ago she opened her depot vente shop in the Palais Royal, using her impeccable taste to buy the most brilliant and sought after designer jewelry, handbags, clothing, and sunglasses. So successful was her venture, she branched out a few doors down and sells her own label G&G of chic, understated accessories.

31-34 Galerie Montpensier

Jardins du Palais Royal
 75001
Phone : +33(0)1 42 61 53 52
http://www.gabriellegeppert.com/en


Didier Ludot
In a prime spot in the shopping arcade of the Palais Royal is Didier Ludot, the foremost expert in couture and ready to wear vintage clothing. Ludot occupies two storefronts, one by appointment only for the couture clothing and the other for jewelry, shoes, belts, and jewelry. In recent years he has extended his empire to include a clever collection called The Little Black Dress, which is a line of new ready to wear black cocktail and evening dresses based on vintage designs. He’s also designed a fragrance The Little Black Dress. During fashion week Didier Ludot spruces up his windows with either new designers or the best of his couture collection.

24 Galerie de Montpensier, 75001
+33 (0)1 42 96 06 56
http://www.didierludot.fr

Hot, New Paris Restaurants

Richard Nahem, an ex-New Yorker living in Paris, leads private insider tours showing visitors the Paris most of them never see on their own (www.eyepreferparistours.com), and also writes a popular insider's blog www.eyepreferparis.com.

Hot, new restaurants are heating up the Paris culinary scene this fall with old and newly discovered chefs creating some of the most imaginative food around. Here are our newest favorites.

Semilla
Veteran Paris restaurateurs Juan Sanchez and Drew Harré, owners of the popular bistro Fish and sandwich shop Cosi, have created another winner, Semilla.

Located across the street from their other successful ventures on rue de Seine in St. Germain, Semilla offers fresh from market food at reasonable prices for high quality and inventive food. The two-course lunch menu for 23 euros is practically a steal. Award winning chef Eric Trochon makes magic but keeps no secrets in his gleaming open kitchen where he delivers honest, fresh, and unpretentious food.

Semilla
54 rue de Seine, 75006
Tel.  01 43 .54 .34 .50

Terroir Paris
Stepping down from his high perch as the celebrity chef of the three- star restaurant at the Meurice Hotel, Yannick Alleno has opened Terroir, Parisian, a much more affordable and accessible bistro. Alleno serves classic regional French dishes with a particular focus on the freshest vegetables from a coterie of small farmers he has hand selected. The modern dining room has an open display of the current vegetables available. Traditional dishes include onion soup, charcuterie and cheese platters, frisee and lardon salad, and lamb stew with carrots, peas, and potatoes.

Parisian Terroir
20 rue Saint Victor, 75005
+Tel. 01 1 44 31 54 54
Open daily

La Dame de Pic
Probably the trendiest new restaurant to open this fall is La Dame de Pic, which was the go to place during Fashion Week in October. Anne Sophie Pic, the highly regarded chef and one of the rare female chefs to achieve a three star rating for her restaurant in Valence, France, has finally spread her wings to include a Paris outpost. The dining room and kitchen at Le Dame de Pic is oh-so slick and pristine and the set menu has three courses at lunch for 49 euros and a three-tiered menu for dinner with a 79, 100, and 120 euro price point. Inventive dishes include venison with juniper berries and pink grapefruit, smoked goat cheese with forest mushrooms and tonka bean, and tarte tatin with beer and hazelnuts.

La Dame de Pic
20 rue de Louvre, 75001
Tel. 01 42 60 40 40

Abri
The 10th arrondissement near Gard du Nord and the Canal St. Martin, a formerly run down area that has turned into the next trendy spot of Paris in the last three years, has become the hotbed for new chefs opening their own restaurants.

Add Abri to the list of uber popular, hip casual bistros in the area. Japanese born chef Katsuaki Okiyama is turning out some of the smartest and cleanest food in Paris with a clever combination of French inspired dishes with a hint of Japanese ingredients. Don’t be put off by the sign in front that says City Café Sandwich and think it’s a sandwich shop, although they serve sandwiches and fresh juices on Saturday and Monday at lunchtime.
 
Abri
92, rue du Faubourg Poissonniere, 75110
Tel. 0 1 83 97 00 00

Autumn Art Exhibits and Events in Paris 2012

Richard Nahem, an ex-New Yorker living in Paris, leads private insider tours showing visitors the Paris most of them never see on their own (www.eyepreferparistours.com), and also writes a popular insider's blog www.eyepreferparis.com.

Autumn is the premiere season for art exhibitions in Paris and 2012 promises to be a prolific parade of exhibits for every taste. We selected a handful of the not to be missed shows.

Van Cleef and Arpels L’Art de la Haute Joaillerie
Legendary jeweler Van Cleef and Arpels is having a dazzling show of their most iconic gems. Over four hundred exquisite jewels starting from 1906 are shown along with documents and drawings. Many of the designs are inspired by textiles, including lace, knots, tulle, and drapery. The signature piece is the famous Zip necklace made in 1951, inspired by the Duchess of Windsor. The exhibition also introduces some of Van Cleef’s more modern collections including the new Bals de Légende, influenced by the sumptuous society balls of the early 20th century.

Till February 10
Museé Les Arts Decoratifs
107 rue de Rivoli, 75001

Paris Vu Hollywood
American filmmakers have long had a fascination for Paris since the silent age of film. Hotel de Ville captures the love affair with a new exhibit Paris vu par Hollywood. Twenty screens show clips from 70 movies and one giant screen has a series of film excerpts, photos, and posters. Directors include George Cukor, Vincente Minnelli, Billy Wilder, Stanley Donen, Howard Hawks, Woody Allen, and Robert Altman. One special highlight is the costume collection worn by Audrey Hepburn designed by Hubert de Givenchy for the romantic comedy from 1963 Charade, with Cary Grant.

Till December 15
Hotel de Ville
Salle St. Jean
5 rue Lobau, 75004

Impressionism and Fashion
Just in time for fashion week, the Impressionism and Fashion show at Museé d’Orsay explores the connection Impressionist artists had with daily life and fashion. Eighty paintings by Renoir, Monet, Manet, and Degas capture the fashion of the day between 1860 and 1880. Costumes, dresses, hats, and accessories are also on display to depict the correlation to the paintings. If you miss the show in Paris, it will be travelling to New York and Chicago in 2013.

September 25 till January 20
Museé d’Orsay
1 rue de la Légion d’Honneur, 75007

Nuit Blanche
Started in 2002, Nuit Blanche has become one of the most attended and anticipated art events in Paris. Nuit Blanche is an all night art fair on the first Saturday of October taking place at indoor and outdoor venues all over the city. For the 2012 edition, the theme is Between the Sky and the Seine and it will include paintings, installations, performances, dance, light shows, and outdoor projections. Museums such as the Louvre, Pompidou, d’Orsay, the Grand Palais and Petit Palais will be open all night and other more obscure buildings that are not usually accessible to the public will be open such as the hypostyle hall of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, the Lucien Gaudin Gymnasium, the garden level of the National Library of France, with works by Garouste and Louise Bourgeois.

October 6 & 7
http://goparis.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=goparis&cdn=travel&tm=20&f=21&su=p531.60.342.ip_&tt=11&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.paris.fr/english/english/nuit-blanche-between-the-sky-and-the-seine/rub_8118_actu_119760_port_19237

Discovering Nancy, France

All photos by the author

Richard Nahem, an ex-New Yorker living in Paris, leads private insider tours showing visitors the Paris most of them never see on their own (www.eyepreferparistours.com), and also writes a popular insider's blog www.eyepreferparis.com.

There is a vast menu of day and overnight trips from Paris easily accessible by train, and Versailles, Fontainebleau, Giverny, and Chartres, are some of the more popular destinations.

Nancy, one-hour and forty-five minutes east of Paris by the high-speed TGV train in the Alsace-Lorraine region, is an undiscovered gem of a city not known to most tourists. 

One of the big draws of Nancy is the formidable Place Stanislas, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Long considered one of the most beautiful squares in Europe, Place Stanislas, measures an impressive 410 ft. in width and 347 in length and was commissioned by Stanislas Leszczyński, the king of Poland (also the father-in-law to King Louis XV), who was named Duchy of Upper Lorraine after the War of the Polish Succession in 1737. It was designed by the court architect to the king, Emmanuel Héré de Corny, and was built between 1752 and 1755. The square is surrounded by the Hotel de Ville/City Hall, the Opera theatre, Museé des Beaux Art/Fine Arts Museum and an Arc de Triomphe, along with pleasant cafes and restaurants. The finest features of the square are the lavishly detailed iron gates with gold leaf.

Nancy is also known as the birthplace of the Art Nouveau movement in the early 1900s. Dozens of buildings across the city exemplify the beauty of Art Nouveau with their distinguishable details. Visit the L’ Ecole de Nancy Museum to get a glimpse of the extraordinary furniture, objets d'art, glasswork, ceramics and fabric from the period with pieces from the most recognized creators and designers of Art Nouveau including Emile Gallé, Victor Prouvé, Louis Marjorelle, Antonin Daum, Jacques Gruber and Eugene Vallin.

 
Last but not least for must-see things in Nancy, are the exhibitions dedicated to the architect and furniture designer Jean Prouvé, a native of Nancy. Prouvé was the foremost leader of industrial design after WWI, turning out useful and innovative furniture and homes way ahead of their time. His highly collectible furniture now commands record prices at auction and antique dealers worldwide.

At the Musée des Beaux Art/Fine Arts Museum is the permanent collection of Prouvé’s, showing the genius behind many of his finest pieces with text explaining his design theory and philosophy. Of special note is the Tropicale house, a unique pre-fab house he built in 1947, which was forgotten about for over 40 years and recently shipped back to France from the Congo in Africa to be restored and displayed in the museum.

To get a more personal view of Prouvé the man, visit the fascinating exhibit Jean Prouvé in Nancy: Building Better Days, at the Lorrain Museum, the former Ducal Palace of Nancy built in the 15th century for René II, the duke of Lorraine. The exhibit delves into Prouvé’s history and humanitarian acts, including details of his involvement in the Resistance in WWII, his appointment as Mayor of Nancy after the liberation and his deep commitment to the reconstruction of France after the war, plus designing emergency housing for displaced war refugees.

Musée de L”Ecole de Nancy
36-38 rue du Sergent-Blandan Nancy, 54000
Open Wednesday to Sunday 10AM to 6PM
http://www.ecole-de-nancy.com/web/index.php?page=presentation-men-en

Museé des Beaux Art/Fine Arts Museum
3 Place Stanislas 54000 Nancy
Open everyday 10AM to 6PM except Tuesday

Jean Prouvé in Nancy, Building Better Days
Museée Lorrain
64 Grande Rue 54000 Nancy
Open 10AM to 12:30PM, 2PM to 6PM daily except Monday
http://www.ot-nancy.fr/musees/lorrain.php/
Till October 28