THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED Le Bel Ordinaire is a rarity in France: a restaurant/shop funded by crowdsourcing. A goodly amount must have been raised to finance this handsome restaurant/fine grocery with a long wooden table running down the center … Read More
The glorious millennium of the Venetian Republic came to a definitive end in 1797 with Napoleon’s invasion and the forced abdication of the doge. Even in its final days during the 18th century, however, the city, flush after several decades of … Read More
The Walker Evans (1903-75) retrospective that just opened at the Centre Pompidou came as something of a revelation to me. The American photographer’s Depression-era portraits of sharecroppers in Alabama are so famous that, at least for me, they eclipsed his … Read More
THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED. Dear readers, here is another great Paris restaurant find for you. Desnoyez reminds me of Etsi, reviewed here a month or so ago. Both are off-the-beaten-track small bistros with an attractive, uncomplicated decor. And both … Read More
THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED When a French weekly magazine recently gave Orties a rating of five stars out of five rather than its usual maximum of three and called it the revelation of the season, I knew I had to get … Read More
“Today my favorite kind of atmosphere is the airport atmosphere,” wrote Andy Warhol in The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again). In the airport, the King of Pop could find “my favorite kind of food … Read More
“Montmartre is both heaven and hell,” says the narrator in Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1956 film Bob le Flambeur. Some might consider the charming Butte Montmartre, the hill itself, as heaven and the sin city of Pigalle below as hell. Or vice versa. … Read More
THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED. I rarely eat alone in restaurants, but after my experience at Nomos the other day, I think I will do it more often. Without the pleasant distraction of conversation, it’s easier to concentrate on and … Read More
I have often been struck by the luminous beauty of a painting by Impressionist Camille Pissarro (1830-1904) when I come across his work in a group show, but “Pissarro à Éragny: La Nature Retrouvée” at the Musée du Luxembourg is … Read More
Every year, the Musée des Impressionnismes puts on two interesting exhibitions that give people another reason to visit Giverny during the spring and summer – the other one being, of course, Monet’s garden. This year’s first show is “Tintamarre! Instruments … Read More
