Category: Great Exhibitions

Categories
Great Exhibitions Great Touristy Things to do Helpful Information Holidays Trips and Tours

Teens will love Will.i.am at the Louvre

I’m a fan of the Black Eyed Peas so when I heard last month that Will.i.am (founding member of the Black Eyed Peas for those over 30) was re-interpreting his “Mona Lisa Smile” video in association with the Louvre, my interest was piqued.

I love the new video which was entirely set in the Louvre.  Throughout the song Will.i.am super-imposes himself on numerous of the Louvre’s most famous paintings, half of which I should know but don’t. Nicole Scherzinger plays La Joconde / Mona Lisa – but as I am over 30 I haven’t heard of her ;-(

Will.i.am at the Louvre

I think it would be a great wheeze to wander round the Louvre trying to spot the paintings used in the song !  One way to interest the teens, I think.

I might have to find them in the correct order sequence though just because I am waaayy too complicated for my own good…

Click on the photo to see the video.

How many can you name off the top of your head ?   If you need help this link shows the original painting, the video version and a bio !

Not content with this collaboration, Will.i.am has also produced a 12 minute documentary – Will.i.am at the Louvre – with the senior creator of the Department of Decorative Arts at the Louvre and the Editor of Wired UK discussing his passion for art and technology and his fascination with the Louvre, “the greatest museum in the World”.  Some contents that particularly inspired him included one of my favourite subjects, Marie-Antoinette, his view of the parallels between creativity in the 18th century and today and the piece de résistance in his mind, Claude-Simeon Passemant’s 18th Century silver and gold “Pendulum of the Creation of the World”, which not only tells the time but shows precisely how the Earth tilts on its axis.

Click here to see the documentary.

The Louvre has a lot of Visitor Trails, maps with detailed directions and explanations of what you are seeing which you follow at your leisure and they have created a 90 minute Will.i.am at the Louvre Trail based on the documentary incorporating everything he talks about including the sumptuous Napoleon III apartments, the monumental white stone Lefuel double staircase and ‘that clock’ which I also think is amazing (I recently saw a smaller version in the Kings private state rooms in Versailles Palace but it is not on public display).

If you are up to it, and your teens aren’t yet dragging their feet and demanding to be fed, there is 90 minute themed tour about the Da Vinci Code called ‘from Fiction to Fact’ and just one guided tour in English – an introduction to the ‘Masterpieces’ at 11.30am and 2pm each day.

Happy Louvring !

Categories
2016 Eating Experience Great Exhibitions Great Touristy Things to do

Carambolages : take the kids

Check out tickets for Carambolages at the Grand Palais until July 4th 2016.  Just the kind of museum exhibition the children will enjoy too.

Carambolages – I had to look it up – means a pile-up in the sense of a train crash or someone playing billiards and ‘cannoning’ one ball into another.

In this exhibition there are 185 pieces, all mixed up, the only thread  is that each piece is connected to the next by an association of ideas or forms but at no time does the museum tell you how!   It is not structured by artist, country, date or medium, nor are there any explanations typed by each piece giving you any clues.

There is a line of paintings, sculptures and videos and it is left to the viewer to figure out what the connections are and as there are no answers provided, everybody is right!   If you need a hand take a look at the video screens in each room which give you the name of each work which may help a little.   Some well-known artists are on show; Rembrandt, Man Ray, Giacometti interspersed with anonymous ones.

I don’t know any young children who could go but if you do please leave a comment on whether you or they found the connections easier.   The exhibition also has a workbook for children and a downloadable app (not sure if it is in English).

Open from 10.00 am to 8.00pm on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays et Sundays and late nights on Wednesdays from 10.00 am to 10:00 pm.  Closed on Tuesdays.

Pricing : Full : 13€   OR    Tarif ‘tribu’ (4 people incl.  2 between 16 et 25 years old) : 35 € (When did they start this !!)

For more information in English : click here

 

The perfect eaterie in walking distance is the Brasserie le Grand Palais, just hang a left past the Palais de la Découverte, also a good choice of Museum for children, and it is across the road opposite the Aston Martin showroom. There is a smart part with sunny terrace and a large café part with wicker chairs. There are at least 2 menus and the lunch food is very reasonable: bagels, sandwiches and gi-normous hotdogs in half a baguette, cheaper in most cases than drinking there!

Hope you enjoy it.

 

signature black

 

Categories
2016 Eating Experience Great Exhibitions Great Touristy Things to do

The Picasso sculptures have arrived

The ‘Musée National Picasso-Paris’ in Paris is presenting its first major international exhibition : ” Picasso Sculptures “. This follows on from the ” Picasso Sculpture ” retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and is being staged here until the 28th August 2016.

The intention is to contemplate the artist’s sculptures from a different angle through series and variations, casts, reproductions and enlargements all produced from the original sculptures. Featuring over 240 pieces, it is the largest collection of his sculpted work assembled since the Picasso Sculpteur exhibition at the Pompidou Centre in 2000.

Exceptional collections will be presented, such as the series of six ‘Verres d’absinthe’ (glasses of absinthe; 1914), which will be seen in its entirety for the first time in Europe. Others such as Pregnant woman, Heads of a Woman which were cast in cement and just to be even – handed, Head of a Man.

A video explanation in English from the curator of the sculpture department of the museum is here.

The exhibition comprises fifteen sections arranged over two floors.  Unlike his paintings for which I find the curatorship completely unfathomable, his scupltures are shown in chronological order – from the very first models he produced in the 1900s through to the enlarged versions he made from sheet metal during the sixties.

An example of his work is the ‘Monument to Apollinaire’ which is in room 5.  In 1921, Picasso was commissioned to produce a monument in tribute to Guillaume Apollinaire, who died in November 1918. In 1928, Picasso collaborated with Julio González to produce at least four models entitled ‘Figure’ echoing the Bird of Benin, the artist’s double in Apollinaire’s short story ‘Le Poète assassiné’ (The Assasinated Poet) – it has been described as a “profound statue made out of nothing, like poetry and glory.”  All the projects on display in room 5 were rejected by the Apollinaire Committee !

NB : An exhibition dedicated to Guillaume Apollinaire, ‘Apollinaire, le regard du poète’ (Apollinaire, the vision of the Poet) is being held at the Musée de l’Orangerie from 6 April to 18 July 2016.

When you start feeling peckish, pop into the renowned Breizh Café for an organic, authentic Brittany crepe. The ‘complet’ is egg, ham and cheese, there are a multitude of choices of cider and if you have a desert crepe as well the meal will still only be €15.  Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Come and stay at 52 Clichy. BOOK HERE.

signature black

Want to hear what previous guests have said about 52 Clichy ?  CLICK HERE.

 

 

Categories
2016 Great Exhibitions Great Touristy Things to do

A MUST DO before it ends – Picasso.mania

Last minute tickets available for Picasso.mania

Dont’t miss this Must Do : Picasso.mania.

Picasso’s works have had a profound impact on contemporary art. This exhibitions presents some of his most emblematic works taken from the Picasso museum, the National Museum of Modern Art and from the artist’s family collection. It sets them alongside contemporary creations, grouped by artist; Hockney, Warhol or Basquiat etc, or by theme; still life, Cubism…  

The works are presented in a way reminiscent of his own studio arrangements and include not just paintings but a variety of other media such as video, sculpture, photography and installation art.

Picasso.mania is showing at the  Grand Palais until February 29th. Tickets still available.

Come and stay at 52 Clichy. BOOK HERE.

signature black

Want to hear what previous guests have said about 52 Clichy ?  CLICK HERE.

Categories
Eating Experience Great Exhibitions Great Touristy Things to do

What to do in Winter in Paris ? Wrap up and hit the major museums

 

It is a question a lot of guests ask – what to do in Winter in Paris. It is cold in Paris in Winter. Wrap up warm and set aside a morning for just 1 of the 3 wings of the Louvre. Use the Porte des Lions entrance facing the Seine so you can dash straight up the stairs to the 1st floor, through Spain into 16th, 17th and 18th century Italy and do battle with the selfie-sticks in front of the Mona Lisa. 13th, 14th and 15th century Italy follow then downstairs for a bit more of Italy including Michelangelo’s The Dying Slave before doubling back into Etruscan, Roman then Greek Antiquities in order to gaze at Venus de Milo. Lunch, just across the road at the excellent and very reasonable Le Fumoir beckons. Don’t even consider eating anywhere in the Louvre.

If you’re interested in exploring all the museums Paris has to offer, book for before the 25th February 2016 and accept the FREE offer of a 2 day Paris Museum Pass (pre-paid entrance ticket). This Pass entitles you to jump the long, long line for practically every museum and attraction you may want see.  So no cold feet.

Check availability HERE.

signature black

Want to know what previous guests are saying ? Click HERE for my reviews.