PARIS A LA CARTE
An Italian-language version of Charles Trenet’s “Douce France,” recorded by husky-voiced Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, she of the presidential husband, for her upcoming fourth album, has been leaked and was posted to the Web site of the newspaper Midi Libre, but is now nowhere to be found on the Internet since her agent mentioned the possibility of legal action. The album is being recorded in a Paris studio, not in Los Angeles (scandal!), as had been reported last week.
Before and after Haussmann: The free exhibition “Paris, Avant-Après” at the Académie d’Architecture (9, place des Vosges, 75004 Paris; tel.: 0l 48 87 83 10; open daily 11am-7pm; through Feb. 24) compares recent photos taken by Patrice de Moncan (for the book of the same name) with those taken by Charles Marville in the 19th century, before Baron Haussmann leveled many Parisian neighborhoods. The same task is undertaken by new blog, Paris Marville ca. 1870 and Today, with different contemporary photos.