classique frenchy photos

let's go here.

Willy Ronis à Paris

Salon d'accueil, Hôtel de Ville, 29 rue de Rivoli, 75001 (www.paris.fr). Métro Hôtel de Ville. 10am-7pm Mon-Sat. Free. Date Until May 27.

In his series of photographs devoted to Belleville and Ménilmontant taken in the 1940s and 1950s, Willy Ronis captured some eternally enduring - and endearing - images of old Paris and a now lost way of life. But this show in honour of the photographer's 95th birthday contains more than misty-eyed nostalgia. See his documentation of the political movements of the 1930s, unpublished photos of rue de la Huchette, fashion shots and an elderly Ronis making a parachute jump.

45 mins by train from Paris is Monet's house and garden in Giverny.
Probably more of a trip you do when fiftysomething, but a smashing day out i'm sure.

Read more here

Not the Louvre...

Rodin Museum
79, rue de Varenne, 00 33 1 44 18 61 10, www.musee-rodin.fr, £4.

map here

It will take hours to get into the Louvre or the D’Orsay and then you’ll be surrounded by hordes of camera-clicking gabblers. More tranquil is this temple dedicated to the sculptor of The Thinker, who you can see pondering the complexities of love, no doubt, in the cute garden. He is surrounded with other curvy examples of the great man’s works and even a red rose named after him. Above all contemplate The Kiss in the gallery itself

Rue de Lappe

"The area around Bastille is chock-a-block with restaurants. Narrow, scruffy rue de Lappe, 11e, may not look like much during the day, but it's one of the most popular streets for cafés and nightlife in Paris and attracts a young, alternative crowd."

from the all-knowing THINGSTODOINPARIS.COM

cycle tours of paris

these sound quite the ticket. biking around is a great way to get to know a place. fast enough to cover a lot of distance, meandering enough to appreciate the little details as you pass. Night or Day tours of the beautiful city, also bigger, day-trips to versailles and monet's gardens. The night tour esepically appeals...the lights...the sights...



discover more here

THIS WEEK IN PARIS...

Time Out Online have a weekly round-up of the good and the great stuff to do and see over the next 7 days. So check it out here, closer to the day we leave...

gonna be tres busy

because we're going over what will be a bank holiday weekend in england, we'll have to share Paris with more tourists than would be ideal....

from The Guardian : Warning of the week: tout le monde à Paris

Another weekend, another public holiday - at least in France, where Monday marks the end of the Second World War in Europe. If the experience of last weekend is repeated, key landmarks in the French capital are sure to be overcrowded.

If you want to visit the Eiffel Tower, get there early, ideally at 9.30am. The worst times are between 11am and 4pm, and 7-8pm.

For the Musée d'Orsay visit during the week after 4pm; last admission is 5.15pm, and you should be able to linger until 6pm. Best of all, visit on Thursdays after 6pm; the museum opens until 10pm.

Visit the Louvre at 9am, weekdays. Late-opening nights are Wednesdays and Fridays, to 10pm. Avoid weekends, school holidays - and any time after The Da Vinci Code film, which starts at the Louvre, has been released (17 May).

Pompidou?

Pompidou, or Pomidon't, the choice is yours...basically a good modern art fest.

here's what'll be on there....

Le Mouvement des Images

Centre Pompidou, piazza Beaubourg, 75004 (+33 (0)1 44 78 12 33/www.centrepompidou.fr). Métro Hôtel de Ville or RER Châtelet-Les Halles. Mon, Wed-Sun 11am-9pm. €10 . MC, V. Date Until Jan 29.

The latest re-hang of the Centre Pompidou collection is a fascinating, if debateable, re-reading of modern art from the early 20th century to today, as a cinematic art form. Drawing on the wealth of works in the Musée National d'Art Moderne, including its unrivalled collection of artists' and experimental films, it proposes that fine art has been influenced by the moving image, and its processes of work in series, editing, repetition, projection, narrative and performance, and that, in parallel, in the digital age, film has increasingly moved out of the cinema and into the exhibition hall. Amid the fractured images of a Cubist painting by Braque, a light installation by Mona Hatoum, videos by Nan Goldin and Steve McQueen, there's also a chance to discover Len Lye's incredible film of the Chrysler factory or to see Arp's sculpture in a new light.

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Morphosis

Centre Pompidou, 75004 (+33 (0)1 44 78 12 33/www.centrepompidou.fr). Métro Hôtel de Ville or RER Châtelet-Les Halles. 11am-9pm Mon, Wed-Sun. €10 (includes museum and other exhibitions). MC, V. Date Until July 17.

Running parallel to the big show, 'Los Angeles 1955-1985', this exhibition puts LA architectural practice, Morphosis, founded by Thom Mayne in 1972 under the looking-glass, literally. The scenography - a glass ramp beneath which you look down on architectural models, plans and video screens showing an interview with Mayne, and images of some of the finished projects - is somewhat vertigo-inducing, but Morphosis's prognosis of the urban context and deconstructive fragmented style makes you want to check out the real thing.

How to visit the Louvre

Check out this article on How to visit the Louvre

Bare in mind that there is no 20th century works or later and that you really do need to plan what you want to see ahead of time becuase it's mind-bogglingly huge and popular with big crowds of tourists.

Love on a budget in Paris

Read this from THE GUARDIAN - how to enjoy a romantic weekend in Paris without breaking the bank...

Highlights:

"Café Charbon, in Rue Oberkampf, is great for brunch in a belle époque setting" - this is on the same street as our hotel! Also read good things about Le Nouveau casino, a club/bar behind the CC...

"Or go for an afternoon stroll along the Promenade Plantée, an old railway viaduct now blooming with roses, lavender, cherry trees and maples, which carries a footpath through the Bastille area, 10 metres above street level."

Access along avenue Daumesnil, SE of Place de la Bastille. Or roughly south of our hotel.

Map here.

Garden of Eden

Palace of Versailles has a great garden - and it's free entrance. Ever been?

Find out more here

you scream, we all scream...

from 50 best things to do...




13. Eat ice cream at Notre-Dame

Yes, these are Paris’s very own twin towers, but the gothic masterpiece also boasts a magnificent rose window and sensational views over the city: all in all, Cathédrale Notre-Dame does indeed live up to the hype.

Once done, cross the road to Berthillon for the most celebrated ice cream in town. Its reputation has been growing since 1954 thanks to artifice-free ingredients, lashings of cream and a host of flavours, including at least five different chocolates.


Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, place du Parvais-Notre-Dame, 4th (00 33 1 42 34 56 10) Métro Cité or RER St-Michel. Open daily 7.45am-6.45pm. Towers Apr-Sept 9am-6.45pm. Adm free, towers €7.10.Berthillon, 29-31 rue Saint Louis en l’Ile, 4th (00 33 1 43 54 31 61) Métro Cité or RER St-Michel. Open Wed-Sun 10am-8pm.

General Orientation

FYI

We are staying on the right hand side very close to the word REPUBLIQUE, arriving from London via GARE DU NORD.

Boho Area Alert

This Globe and Mail article talks about CANAL ST MARTIN which is an up and coming area worth walking around. It's just a short hop north of where we are staying. Sounds like cute one-off stores and eats, a bit like Queen West.

"The first area you reach, near Pont Morland, is best for lounging with its shady trees, iron footbridges and locks. It’s a favourite spot on Sundays when the quays are traffic-free and pedestrianised. "

Here's a good photo site showcasing the surrounds - bet it looks a bit more shabby in real life...

50 TOP THINGS TO DO...

...in PARIS....again from the people at TIME OUT.

CLICK HERE to read article.

"Super Cool" bars in our area

c'est chic, c'est here , courtesy of TIME OUT

Hotel Beaumarchais

Hotel Beaumarchais

3 Rue Oberkampf, Paris 75011, France

1st time in paris in about 8 years. Really enjoyed this hotel and found it to be quite well situated. Room we had was small but well maintained and decorated in a very "french style". Found staff to be helpful. Did not go for overpriced b-fast but plenty of places nearby to eat. Hotel is near plenty of metro stops and convenient to bustling Marais and Bastille areas. Would recommend this hotel to friends. TRIPADVISOR.COM