Heidi Ellison
Paris Inondé 1910
Piggyback ride on Paris’s Rue Bonaparte during the Great Flood of 1910. © World’s Graphic Press / Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris / Roger-Viollet Why does the Great Flood of 1910 loom so large in the imagination of … Read More
Joyce Hôtel
A corner of the lobby in this new Paris boutique hotel. Photo: Gilles Trillard To the regret of some nostalgic types, many of Paris’s fusty old low-star hotels in odd locations are being transformed into little havens of design in … Read More
Monumenta
Christian Boltanski’s Monumenta exhibition at the Grand Palais evokes the Holocaust and concentration camps. Photo: Didier Plowy/Monumenta/Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication It is always exciting to see how another artist will cope with what must be the … Read More
La Légende du Roi Arthur
Arthur fights the giant of Mont Saint Michel in the Miroir Historial of Vincent de Beauvais. BnF, Département des Manuscrits Only a short time remains to see the exhibition “The Legend of King Arthur” at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France-François-Mitterrand, … Read More
BLC Design Hotel
The BLC Design Hotel’s all-white decor is surprisingly comfy and restful. Since the just-opened BLC Design Hotel is located next to the Palais des Femmes, a refuge for women in distress in Paris’s 11th arrondissement, its designer, Carole Picard, chose … Read More
Le Petit Curieux
Le Petit Curieux is a neighborhood restaurant with good products to eat in or take out. A curious thing has happened each of the three times I have eaten at the restaurant Le Petit Curieux: one dish is so delightful … Read More
Isadora Duncan / Matisse & Rodin
“Soir Antique” (1908), by Alphone Osbert (1857-1939), one of many artists inspired by Isadora Duncan. © Petit-Palais/Roger-Viollet © ADAGP Having gone through an Isadora Duncan phase in my youth, during which I read all the biographies and saw Karel Reisz’s … Read More
Œuvres Construites: 1948-2009
Models of buildings constructed in Paris over the past five decades. Photo © Vincent Fillon The raging debate about Paris’s architectural future (maximum building heights, “Grand Paris,” etc.) has calmed considerably as building funds dry up during these tough … … Read More
La Révolution Française: Trésors Cachés du Musée Carnavalet
An anonymous caricature mocking the royal family’s failed attempt to flee Paris. © Musée Carnavalet / Roger-Viollet History buffs, especially those fascinated by the French Revolution, will appreciate the exhibition “The French Revolution: Hidden Treasures of the Musée Carnavalet,” which … Read More
Arts de l’Islam: Chefs-d’œuvres de la Collection Khalili
Lynx-shaped fragrance burner, Iran, 12th-13th century. © Nour Foundation “Islamic Art” is a broad category that takes in many different cultures, time periods, and types of art and objects. The current exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe, “Arts of … Read More