The Architectural brilliance of Frank Gehry shines in Paris

I have long been a fan of the architectural brilliance of Frank Gehry, the shapes and forms of his buildings have a playfulness that makes my heart sing, so my recent visit to the new Louis Vuitton Foundation building in Le Jardin d'Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne Paris, was always going to be a homage. Gehry is the ultimate modern day architectural conjurer and this incredible building is proof beyond doubt. Visually it is absolutely stunning.

First opened by Napoléon III and Empress Eugénie in 1860, Jardin d'acclimatation, has delighted generations of children with attractions that include a zoo, water garden and puppet theatre so it is quite fitting that this exuberant building has been built in this exterior space that has entertained for well over a century.

Architecturally there is a similarity to other Gehry buildings, though I feel this is more in the overall mood of the building and manner in which one responds to it rather than the materials used or the architectural form. This time the hero material used is glass (as opposed to titanium in the Guggenheim Bilbao, or Brick in the new UTS building in Sydney) which creates a ‘lightness’ in the 12 sails as they soar towards the sky, yet simultaneously it feels grounded and solid. One can almost feel the sails billowing as if it is about to set sail. 

These sails of curved glass, steel and timber act as an exoskeleton, protecting the 11 white tile-clad galleries beneath and subsequently create a wonderful array of architectural juxtapositions of curves & angles. As an Australian one cannot help but be reminded of our own iconic architectural masterpiece, the Sydney Opera House - in all the reading I have done around this building I have not seen anyone (including Frank Gehry himself) refer to similarities but to me it seems obvious - could it be atavistic?

The interior spaces are large yet intimate, light filled and calm. They house the Louis Vuitton Foundation’s contemporary art collection as well as the delicious ‘Le Frank’ restaurant at which we were lucky enough to secure a table. The food was exceptionally good, made even better by being able to absorb the spectacular surroundings with a glass of wine.

While I admit limited time meant we didn’t view the art collection as my main focus was the architecture, this is not an issue as I will definitely return soon.

Overall the building has a modernity that is entirely appropriate for the contemporary collection it houses plus the precision and attention to detail for which its namesake is renown.  

Jules Verne would be delighted!

French novelist and playwright Jules Verne may be famous for "Twenty thousand leagues under the Sea" or going "Around the world in Eighty days" but I think he would be very happy with his namesake restaurant high in the sky! 

 

Visiting the iconic Eiffel Tower without the laborious wait in queues, is only one of the reasons to lunch at Alain Ducasse's "Jules Verne" restaurant on level 2, 125metres above the ground.

 

This gorgeous restaurant invigorates the senses in all ways - the interior design is sumptuous, mimicking Gustave Eiffel's  iron lattice structure through the use of lighting, ceiling panelling and windows, the view is spectacular, not just of distant sights of the city of lights but also of the closer workings of the tower itself, and the food by head chef Pascal Feraud is subtle with very clever taste pairings. Most of all this restaurant it is not at all pretentious, just an overall memorable experience.

 

As with many European restaurants, the fixed price lunch menu is the best value - 3 courses with choices in each, with or without wines to match, and exceptional service by a league of wait staff. With additional 'tastes' between courses and delicacies with coffee, the meal is very substantial.  

 

What a piece de resistance it would be to have Mr Verne as our lunch guest! We could quiz him on his profound influence on science fiction genre in a setting that, although he would have seen in his lifetime (he died 15years after the Eiffel Tower was erected for the world Trade fair in 1889), he probably never imagined would house a restaurant of such magnificence.

 

Paris by the Sea - a favourite place to visit!!

Paris by the sea..............Restaurants in Paris may come and go, but after 15years the seagulls are still squawking daily at one of our favourite haunts in Paris's 1st arrondissement.

 

As Australians we are spoilt when it comes to exceptional quality seafood, so I think very hard before choosing to eat seafood when abroad, however, the French grow the most fabulous oysters and as one of my favourite foods, this is definitely an exception to my rule! As a nation, the French are Europe's largest producer of oysters and the 4th largest in the world with almost all consumed domestically, so, as for many food products in France, the craft of producing, consuming and selling oysters, is taken very seriously indeed!

Like wine, oysters reflect the terroir (area) of where they are cultivated and have been part of the French diet for centuries. Since Roman times they have been farmed in the Lagune de Thau, in the Mediterranean and in the Bay of Arcachon, where they are still farmed today.

I will certainly plan a trip to these regions in the future to samples their varieties, but in the meantime,  L'Ecume St Honore oyster bar on 6 Rue du Marché Saint-Honoré, 75001 Paris, offers me samples from across the country and is a fabulous spot to punctuate my day. A plate of oysters, a glass of wine and the traditional basket of brown bread and butter - all enjoyed while the seagulls fly above your head (painted on the ceiling) and squawk continuously (a looped audio tape) - a perfect way to rest your feet from arduous task of the Paris sales and spectacular art galleries.

Oysters in France are sold by size - I think the smaller sizes often have a more intense taste but are perhaps not as 'full bodied' or 'well rounded' as the larger sizes. At L"Ecume they are always freshly shucked by men who look like they have just departed the fishing trawler, and the presentation is superb - simply delivered on a bed of fresh seaweed with fresh lemon. I am a fan of all oysters but if I had to make a French choice it would be the large creamy and intense flavour of the Blanches variety - succulent & sweet with the delicious briny aftertaste  of the juice that they are ensconced in - though I certainly intend to continue sampling all the possible varieties just in case there are better varieties I may have missed!

If Oysters are not your thing then they also sell delicious platters of smoked salmon, expertly hand sliced, and other beautifully fresh seafood product. And as for dessert..... don't expect cake or macaroons here, their treat when we were there a few days ago, was superb, finely cut raw St Jacques scallops! 

 

 

 

 

I've never met a Paris food market I didnt love!

Charles de Gaulle once stated "How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty six different kinds of cheese". Maybe when he said that in 1953 he was correct, but today, France has well over five hundred different kinds of cheese, and I think I saw them all today at Sunday's Marché Richard Lenoir food market.

This place is a foodie’s delight! Whether you are renting an apartment in Paris and need to stock the fridge, or simply want to spend a colourful and fun Sunday morning enjoying a very typical French way of life, this market has got it all! Stretching about a kilometre from the monument at Bastille down Boulevard Richard Lenoir there are three alleyways of deliciousness of French gourmet products to delight your taste buds and cause havoc to your waistline! And I can promise you we did well on the waistline!

A fabulous busker who sang and danced with small children while balancing a goldfish bowl filled with fish on his head entertained us while we ate the most delicious crepes expertly made to order by a stall holder who had clearly done it many times before. Breakfast doesn’t get much better than this – calories galore (my crepe was goats cheese, smoked salmon grated cheese and an egg), colourful entertainment, and a taste of true French life – all free of charge in a Paris winter that is pretending to be spring!

 

We bought an awesome Roquefort cheese that smells like a gym junkie’s dirty socks, endive that was picked directly from the beds in which it was still growing (I have never seen this before and food doesn’t get much fresher!) and small green beans that were so expertly stacked they looked regimental and severe but were so crisp & young that we ate them raw. For a late lunch we bought San Jacques - the largest scallops I have seen and in our apartment we simply steamed them with lemon. The texture was meaty, the taste delicate and at 12.50Euro a kilo we thought they were a bargain.

 

I LOVE a food market like this – to me it is shopping in its most perfect form, exciting the senses in all formats. This makes me want to move to Paris!!!

  

 

Porte Vanves Market Paris

Now back in Australia for a short while, I am posting a piece I wrote on the Porte Vanves market in Paris when we visited there in February this year.


Porte Vanves is very pleasant weekend market worth visiting for a stroll in the sun on a sunny day in Paris. The vendors unload truck loads of treasure (and trash, as there is definitely both) each Saturday and Sunday about 7am and pack up and leave by 1pm. There is an array of items faded from their original glory - tarnished silver, old photos, frames, but if you fossick through the various stalls you have every chance of finding something to delight you. It is worthwhile arriving early (harder to do when the temperature is below freezing like our visit in February this year) but there is no doubt the best items do go first. The area is a not particularly attractive but the market ambience is alive as tourists and locals alike hunt for a treat. I did spy some fabulous Regency style bronze wall mounted sconces, (very heavy bronze and nice fine detail) which would look fabulous somewhere, but had no real need for them so didn't try to bargain the vendor down from his (too high) price. I took a photo to remind myself of the 'one that got away' though - needless to say better on my pocket also. My husband, L did however buy some lovely wall lights for his office - he has surprisingly taken very well to this market hunting - particularly for someone who aligns shopping to a dental visit!

Dali Museum ESpace, MONTMARTRE Paris

Recently I visited the Salvador Dali museum, Espace Dali, in 11 Rue Poulbot, Montmartre Paris, and it was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon. It is a small museum and I thoroughly enjoyed the intimacy of the interaction with the works of art. Currently there is a temporary exhibition on (in conjunction with the regular exhibits) of over a hundred letters, watercolours and drawings that Dali gave to his secretary and friend Enrique Sabater, and I felt they gave a more personal account of Dali himself. His artistic curiosity and wonderfully wild imagination is quite palpable when wandering the space and listening to the audio guide. The juxtaposition of the bizarre with the everyday heightens the eccentric nature of his works shown in this museum. 

Dali with Sabater and one of his iconic Surreal clock sculptures

"Alice in Wonderland is one of Dali's favourite characters - she is the eternal girl-child who responds to the confusion of the world behind the looking glass with the naivety of childhood" Dali Espace 2012.

The museum is open 7 days per week, and the additional temporary exhibition of Enrique Sabater's personal collection of works by Dali is on until 10 May 2012, so if you find yourself in Paris in the next few months I think it is certainly worth the visit to have a close encounter with the Father of Surrealism.

Deyrolle - A Taxidermist's dream shop in Paris

There is a fabulous shop in Paris that is worth visiting because of it's bizarre and quirky nature. It is called DEYROLLE and even if you do not like taxidermy it is incredibly captivating with an amazing collection of animals, insects, shells and many other natural curiosities. It has been in existence since 1831, and feels like a museum masquerading as a shop. Situated at 46 Rue de Bac, Paris, one enters the shopfront and goes to the upper floor where the sight awaiting you looks like something from Noah's Arc. Most of the product is available for purchase and although there are not many places a life-size giraffe or polar bear would look at home, one can not help but be amazed by the depth of the collection.

These photos from www.deyrolle.com.fr

I took these photos below before I saw the signs asking that one refrains from photographing the exhibits, so they are limited. It is certainly an amazing place to spend some time, and who knows, you may even come home with a stuffed peacock to grace your living room, or perhaps a book on one instead - much easier to get through customs! 

L'Opera Restaurant Paris

In 1875, the Paris L'Opera Garnier, designed by architect Charles Garnier in Baroque Revival style, was inaugurated. In July 2011, almost 150 years later, its first restaurant, designed by French architect Odile Decq opened, and it was well worth the wait. 

Having booked several months ago from Australia, yesterday we went for lunch. The food was not my only interest - I was particularly curious to see the architecture as the entire 2 level space has been designed to have no impact upon the original building. Curved glass walls, that emulate the folds in a voluminous stage curtain, surround the perimeter and support the upper level. They define the space within its openness, surrounding and at the same time separating. In fact the 6 Million Euro space is a study in contrasts - intimate yet grand, simple yet complex and the overall result is a voluptuous magnificence.

And yes, with head chef Christophe Aribert (from 2 MIchelin star restaurant 'Les Terrasses') the food is equally as enticing. The menu is largely a modern twist on traditional French and we chose the reasonably priced fixed price menu. At 32Euro p/p for lunch it allowed several choices across 2 courses (wine was extra) and so not to miss out on either entree or desert we shared each of these in addition to our main - wonderfully intense flavours and beautiful presentation across all plates. 

Overall my lasting memory will be the intimacy created by the luxurious red and white colour palette, the womanly shape of the dining chairs and the upper curved walls which allow for private dining zones - all designed to entice you to linger over the enjoyment of sharing food, wine and conversation with those you love spending time with. A sublime dining experience.

The upper level with its curved perimeter which also becomes the banquette seating

The curved walls on the upper level create private zones for quite intimate meals

This photo shows the glass walls which curve like a voluminous theatre curtain  

FIAT CINQUECENTO - 500

I am currently in Paris for Maison & Objet - the design world trade fair which is on each January - more on this later (it has been awesome!), but a quick post about some Fiat Bambino photos I have taken recently. Many years ago, in my school days, my wonderful friend Jane used to say she would one day love to own a Fiat Bambino car, also known as a Fiat cinquecento or a Fiat 500, - at the time I didn't understand her desire - they were so small one could hardly imagine them holding any more than 1 person - (though my husband L tells me he has been in one with 5 people - this fact beguiles me!), but now, as a design addict, I realise Jane was clearly ahead of our teenage pack! The original Fiat Bambino is a design classic and when I encounter them in my travels around Europe, their  delightful shape, minute features and 'original city car' persona always make me smile! I am not sure of their safety features in comparison to today's cars (they do look particularly 'lunch box like'), but the original ones I encounter these days are usually very well preserved and always in fabulously fun colours. Today in Pairs I again photographed an original one - this time in pink, so I am posting some photos and will update when I encounter new colours down the track. So this post is for Janie, who clearly had more design kudos than the rest of us!

I saw this original Fiat 500 in Rome a few months ago - in such a happy colour!!

I photographed this Fiat 500 in Paris today - how could one have a bad day in a car like this!