This Saturday (October7) is the 5th annual Nuit Blanche, an all-night cultural festival created by Mayor Delanoë in 2002, and now copied (like Paris Plage) in cities throughout Europe. Like most festivals, it’s a bit chaotic, with huuuuuge crowds...
Insider Tips
Ever wanted to know what it was like to work for the Paris Opera? To get backstage and meet the legendary singers and artistic directors of one of the most venerable opera houses in the world? Last year a fellow American expat Justin Taylor got a gig as an...
I get my veggies direct from the growers at my local market (blvd Auguste-Blanqui, in the 13th). I particularly like the mutant carrots. I’m afraid to ask what kind of fertilizer they use!
Well, hell. I wasn’t going to say anything, but I can’t help it. The head-to-toe purple is one thing (yes, the shoes are lavender), but the cat litter?! Proof that not all Parisians are stylish…
Note: Also see Rock-en-Seine 2007 here and Rock-en-Seine 2008 here and here. Rock-en-Seine 2006 was pretty damned cool. Aside from the freak weather (ie sunny), the gorgeous setting at the St-Cloud park, and the awesome bands, I actually got to go! Usually...
Last weekend at the Rock-en-Seine festival I got to meet up with some of the players of the Parisian rock scene. I know it seems like every club in town is only interested in techno, hip-hop or jazz, but real rock music is out there for those of you willing...
La Défense, the business district to the west of Paris, is a big ol’ ugly place. It’s not that they don’t try: it’s all pedestrianised, but the huge expanses of concrete are depressing. I have to admit I do enjoy the big...
Centre Commercial Quatre Temps.
La Défense isn't exactly the kind of place that brings to mind good food.
Remember to stay quiet when visiting the churches of Paris. They may be full of tourists, but there are also people there to pray (image taken from a painting of a funeral procession displayed at the Petit Palais ).
Since the weather has been too cold and wet (!!) to go to Paris Plage, last week my friend Karen and I decided to spend the afternoon at the Petit Palais, which houses the newly renovated Municipal Fine Arts Museum. "Petit my a**!" says Karen...
I’m currenty working on the Sightseeing section of the Resource Guide, slowly entering the info for museums (I’m up to "C"…just getting the structure set up took a whole day). Monuments and neighborhoods will follow, hopefully by...
For the third summer in a row, the leaves of the city’s horse chestnut trees are covered in brown spots and turning brown. In another few weeks they’ll shrivel up, die, and fall prematurely. According to one source, this is caused by the larvae of...
