About.com

Around the Corner: Tim Burton at the Cinémathèque

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 09:24:08 +0000

Next month, the Cinémathèque Française is hosting a major retrospective on iconoclastic filmmaker Tim Burton, who rose to mainstream prominence with cult classics including Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood and The Nightmare Before Christmas...

Read Full Post

In Focus: Monet's House and Gardens at Giverny

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:15:07 +0000

I didn't plan it this way, but It seems to be Claude Monet month here at About.com Paris Travel-- (check out my recent coverage of the sublime Marmottan Monet museum here). To continue in the same vein (and it is, after all, a worthwhile focus), I've put together a guide to the impressionist painter's house and gardens at Giverny. This is one of the day trips from Paris I recommend most, especially for those of you interested in the arts, gardening, horticulture, or all of the above.

Read More:

Image credit: Ell Brown/Some rights reserved under the Creative Commons license.

Review: Getting Siberian at Ice Kube Bar

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:55:13 +0000

Frigid temperatures outside couldn't keep our intrepid Contributor Colette Davidson from going to see what the hype was all about at Paris' only all-ice bar. For some, paying over �30 for a mere thirty minute allowance of sitting in igloo-like surroundings and nursing (slurping down?) vodka cocktails will sound like a pricey gimmick more than a night out, but if you place a high prime on concept spots, read on.

Read the full review of Ice Kube bar here

Related Features:

Practical Paris: Useful French Travel Vocabulary

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:07:20 +0000

I recently overhead a group of English-speaking tourists talking about how Paris has changed as globalization has taken hold. "Back when I first came here in the late '70s," one guy was saying, "people would look at you with murder in their eyes if you didn't speak any French. Now all the waiters and shopkeepers are so excited to get to show off their English skills."

I've also noticed a change from my first trip to Paris over a decade ago, when a baker haughtily chastised me for ordering a "croissant au chocolat". She clucked, shook her head and huffed, "Il s'agit d'un pain au chocolat, Madame!" Lately, even when I make small mistakes, corrections do still come (French people are generally happy to offer linguistic guidance), but these are always gentle, if occasionally a bit teasing. And even though it's obvious that I speak French fluently, Parisians often break into English with me, saying they appreciate the opportunity to practice.

So a shift has occurred even in the past ten years, from what I can tell. But in my book, this is no excuse to lazily forgo learning some basic French travel words and expressions. Even if you only have the time to learn a few niceties in French, making the effort can go a long way in improving your experience in Paris.

Related Features:

Image: 2010 Mecredi Dis/Some rights reserved under the Creative Commons License.

Day Trips from Paris: Our Picks, and Yours

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:42:56 +0000

When I was still a relative newcomer to Paris, I hopped on a regional train on a warm day sometime in June, feeling a sudden and pressing itch to get away from the city bustle. An hour or so later, I was roaming around the gardens at the Chateau de Versailles, bemusedly observing goats and sheep idle around in the pen next to the cottage where Marie Antoinette liked to dress up as a peasant and play at being a "commoner". I remember marveling at how easy of a getaway this was.

Looking ahead to an upcoming spring or summer trip to Paris? Day trips like these are a great way to avoid city burnout syndrome and see more of the greater Paris region, which tends to be underrated . I'm always looking to collect ideas for interesting excursions within close reach of Paris, so please share your ideas, tips and pictures related to Paris day trips here.

Share Your Tips and Experiences: What Paris day trips do you recommend?

Related:

In Focus: Marmottan Monet Museum

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:30:06 +0000

It's easy to presume that Paris' Musée d'Orsay holds the most impressive collection of paintings and sketches from beloved Impressionist Claude Monet-- the permanent exhibition does include some of the artist's more iconic paintings-- but the lesser-known Musée Marmottan-Monet in fact houses the world's largest holding of works by Monet.

The intimate museum, tucked away in a quiet stretch of the city's posh 16th arrondissement (district), was created when a friend of the Monet family and the artist's son, Michel, bequeathed some 130 paintings, drawings, and other artifacts-- making the collection a highly personal one. Especially If you missed last year's much-lauded Monet retrospective at the Grand Palais, take some time to explore the Marmottan Monet museum: it'll give you a less caricatural perspective on the artist whose most famous paintings have fueled a booming industry of coffee mugs, tablecloths and table coasters, and prove you probably don't know everything there is to know about his remarkable body of work.

Read More: Visitors' Guide to the Musée Marmottan Monet

Related Features:

A Napoleon-Themed Amusement Park Near Paris?

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:20:40 +0000

According to British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, French officials are in the middle of drawing up plans for a theme park dedicated to the Emperor Napoleon I. The park, ...

Read Full Post

Now On: Dance Your Life Away at the Centre Pompidou

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:41:32 +0000

by Colette Davidson, About.com Paris Travel Contributor

Stepping into the labyrinth of the "Danser sa vie" exhibit at the Centre Georges Pompidou, it becomes apparent from first glance that this is going to be three hours and 13 euros well spent. As a tropical storm crackles overhead by way of Daria Martin's video project, "In the Palace", a man writhes poetically on the floor in tortuously slow movements. But no need to panic: Tino Sehgal's performance installation is part of the exhibition, and just one of the many ways for real human interaction here.

The show, which runs through April 2nd, spans the 20th and 21st centuries and focuses on links between visual art, dance and the era's burgeoning modernity. It breaks into three themes: "dance as self-expression," "the abstraction of bodily movement," and "the dialogue between performance and dance." The exhibit's 450 works are split between video projects, live performances, paintings and other still pieces. A quote at the door by dance icon Isadora Duncan captures the spirit of the artists featured here, who lived their lives through movement: "My art is just an effort to express the truth of my being in gesture and movement. From the first, I have only danced my life."

As each of the more than dozen rooms offers a nuanced aspect of dance's history, visitors can enjoy Picasso's twisted figures, Emil Nolde's vibrantly colored strokes and Rodin's bronzed dancers in myriad elegant positions. The still art makes for a calming complement to the hefty selection of videos - Isadora Duncan whirling in a garden, Thierry de May's topless but not overtly sexual dancers spinning on a grassy patch, William Forsyth's tutorial on the geometrics of dance, Josephine Baker smiling radiantly as her body skips to electro dub, and Jan Fabre's envelope-pushing "When the Leading Man is a Woman," showing a naked woman slathered in oil and unsuccessfully dancing her way to a stand.

Perhaps the highlight of the video pieces is a near-full length showing of choreography great Pina Bausch's "The Rite of Spring" (1978). Dancers outfitted in sheer, nude dresses throw their bodies explosively for a completely physical and raw experience that leaves them covered in sweat and dirt, and to electrifying effect.

Closing out the exhibition, Andy Warhol's "Dance Diagram" (1962) teaches the Charleston, while headphones are provided in a nearby corner to practice your new steps, if you dare. Allan Kaprow's "Rearrangeable Panels" (1957-59) uses scraps of mirrors, wood, apples and paint, to break up the overwhelming dance content. And the final video piece by Jerome Bel, "The Show Must Go On" (2001) is so surprisingly silly that if it doesn't send you out the door with a smile on your face, you might want to check your pulse.

Exhibit: Danser sa vie: Dance and Visual Arts in the 20th and 21st centuries
Dates: November 23, 2011-April 2, 2012
Centre Georges Pompidou

Image: Emil Nolde, "Dancer with purple violin", 1920-1925.

Looking Ahead: Paris in February

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 03:18:34 +0000

Parisians are collectively holding their breaths for the moment when they can once again occupy cafe terraces and soak up a little sun. But until then, Paris in February brings ...

Read Full Post

Chinese New Year in Paris: Bring in the Year of the Dragon

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:31:02 +0000

Falling earlier than usual this year, and guaranteed to lend a splash of much-needed color and vigor to the still winter backdrop, Chinese New Year festivities are on their way in Paris. Parisians usher in the year of the Water Dragon on January 23rd, with traditional, ultra-colorful parades set to take the streets by storm in several parts of the city over the days that follow. Find out where to celebrate, and learn about how the Chinese community in Paris ushers in their new year.

Read More: