Heidi Ellison
Marcel Proust: A Parisian Novel
In Search of Proust's Paris
Parisian Proustians were perplexed in 2021 by the scarcity of events celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great French writer Marcel Proust. Happily, the Musée Carnavalet’s exhibition “Marcel Proust: Un Roman Parisien (A Parisian Novel)” arrived just … Read More
Truffaut Restaurant
Dining on the Edge (of Paris)
Old meets new in Paris’s lively Batignolles quarter, where the historic neighborhood stands next to a brand-new eco-district, with the sprawling Martin Luther King Park in its center. The buildings surrounding the park, each with its own quirky contemporary architecture, … Read More
Ilya Repin: Painting the Soul of Russia
The Tolstoy of the Russian Art World
The exhibition “Ilya Repin: Painting the Soul of Russia,” at the Petit Palais in Paris, serves not only as a retrospective of the work of the great realist painter but also as a sort of overview of nearly a century … Read More
The Paris Update Restaurant Awards 2022
Last Year's Best 12 Paris Restaurants
In 2021, Paris restaurants weren’t allowed to fully reopen until June 9, but we struck it lucky, reviewing so many good restaurants in only seven months that we have chosen 12 favorites (many of which happen to have female chefs) … Read More
Matt Coco: The Respiration of a Monster Lurking in the Depths
After the Deluge
The French artist Matt Coco often takes a natural or human disaster as a starting point for her installations. She sees catastrophes not just as an endpoint but also as a potential new beginning. “I try to transpose that moment … Read More
L’Esquisse Restaurant
Artful Cooking in Montmartre
The butternut season is upon us. It’s wonderful how Parisian bistros follow the seasons, but we will soon be getting tired of this vegetable, which seems to have been only recently discovered in France. As one of the few winter … Read More
Paris Update Press Review
This Week's Good Reads about Paris and France
Outcry over Notre Dame restoration The scary word “Disneyfication” has been used to describe the proposal for the renovation of the interior of Notre Dame Cathedral, which calls for sound and light installations and multilingual explanations of Christianity. (Artnet News) … Read More
Chaïm Soutine/Willem de Kooning: Paint Made Flesh
Painters' Painters
An illuminating exhibition at the Musée de l’Orangerie, “Chaïm Soutine/Willem de Kooning: Paint Made Flesh,” takes us on a trip from the strange, twisted figures and landscapes of Chaīm Soutine to the blowsy, almost frightening figures of women by Willem … Read More
Isolé Restaurant
Gourmet Dining in the Concrete Jungle
The restaurant Isolé, meaning “isolated,” is well-named. Walking there from the Métro on a Saturday evening in winter is a spooky experience as your map app takes you on a roundabout route past housing projects and a series of darkened … Read More
Amants
Where’s the Heat?
Act 1 of Nicole Garcia’s new film, Amants: It opens, fittingly for a movie called Lovers, with a couple in bed, her naked body pasted on top of his. She is Lisa (Stacy Martin), he is Simon (Pierre Niney). A small-time … Read More