Heidi Ellison
Centre Pompidou
Condensed History of Modern Art Giorgio De Chirico’s “Portrait Prémonitoire de Guillaume Apollinaire” (1914). Photo © Centre Pompidou, ADAGP, Paris, 2007 The Centre Pompidou’s just-opened chronological rehang of its permanent collection of modern art (1906-60) offers a certain vision of … Read More
Les Ambitieux
A Book in a Box
Les Ambitieux, directed by Catherine Corsini, stars Karin Viard in a near-perfect portrayal of a tough (but attractive, of course) book editor for a major French publisher. Judith is a man-eater who uses men for sex and dumps them as … Read More
Hôtel Duo
Madame de Pompadour Slept Here The lobby of the Hôtel Duo, decorated by designer Jean-Philippe Nuel. Until recently, Paris’s Marais neighborhood has been surprisingly short on agreeable mid-range hotels suitable for both tourists and businesspeople, but that is beginning to … Read More
The Five Hotel
Designs on the Senses The suspended bed in the romantic room 603 won’t make you seasick by swaying, since it hangs from rigid steel cables. Paris’s stock of small neighborhood hotels is slowly being taken over and transformed from musty … Read More
La Rentrée Littéraire Jan. 2007
Poli-lit, Tech-lit & Chick-lit It’s January, time for the publication of a slew of new books in France. The fiction scene is a little less crowded for this rentrée littéraire, with 353 new French novels, 67 of them first attempts, … Read More
Culture Wars
Artistic Soul for Sale? Some critics of the French government accuse it of wanting to sell off the country’s artistic heritage, even the “Mona Lisa,” shown here being put into place in the Salle de la Joconde in 2005. Photo: … Read More
The Art of French Cooking
A la Carte Cooking Classes Muriel Foucher of Marguerite’s Elegant Home Cooking supervises a student’s technique. Anyone who wants to take a cooking course in Paris has a wealth of choices, ranging from the famed Cordon Bleu and the Ritz … Read More
Hôtel du Petit Moulin
Couture Couchage Fashion rules in this room decorated with the designer’s illustrations. Updated November 25, 2006 Fashion designer Christian Lacroix has turned his attention from dressing the haut monde to dressing bedrooms for them. This discreet little hotel with only … Read More
Prête-moi ta Main
Fiancée for Hire
After a couple of French friends told me that Prête-moi ta Main was a witty French take on the great American romantic comedies of the 1930s, I decided to give it a try in spite of my low opinion of … Read More
Liza Korn
Fashion’s a Game Liza Korn is something of a rebel in the Paris fashion world. She began her career as an artist rather than a designer and doesn’t hold regular fashion shows to present her seasonal collections, but occasional “happenings” … Read More