Skip to main content

Paris in Autumn 2018

Remember the song, I love Paris? 
“I love Paris in the springtime
I love Paris in the fall
I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles
I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles
I love Paris every moment
Every moment of the year.”

Tour Eiffel from La Terrasse
Found myself in Paris in early November with someone who has never been to Paris. How wonderful it is to see Paris from fresh eyes. I had so much to show her but since she only had 36 hours in town, it was a short and sweet visit. She wanted to see the Tour Eiffel, first and foremost, so we went up to La Terrasse at Galeries Lafayette Haussman for her first glimpse of the tower.

Galeries Lafayette Haussmann
And lucky for us, the much awaited Christmas tree at Galeries Lafayette was up. This year the tree is right side up. Last year's tree was candy themed and was upside down. At the Lafayette Café on the sixth floor, a window seat affords views of the Tour Eiffel and the back of the Opera Garnier. This is a good spot for scanning the Parisian skyline while indulging on a piece of cake.

Belleville
Parc de Belleville
Guest gone, I took the metro to Belleville, a suburb of Paris that is getting a lot of press. Most of the articles about Belleville include the Parc de Belleville with its panoramic view of Paris, the street art scene and its selection of restaurants.

urban art, graffiti
Rue Denoyez Street Art
The park is on top of the hill and it's a bit of a climb. But it's worth the "exercise" to see Paris from this perspective. Fall foliage painted a pretty picture. Back downhill, the works of graffiti artists are the focus of some walking tours where the merits of street art are discussed as one would classical or modern art. The walls of Rue Denoyez are covered in graffiti and a good place to start the street art tour. 
Famished after walking around Belleville, I found a tiny Vietnamese restaurant on Rue de Belleville which I had to pass up earlier because it was full of diners. I ordered their shrimp pho and was happily sated by the warm broth. Having lived in the Bay Area and been treated to Vietnamese cuisine often, I have high expectations. And Chu Yi didn't disappoint. 
Belleville is the Chinatown of Paris. There are a number of Asian restaurants and ethnic grocery stores along Rue de Belleville. This is not a chic neighborhood so go with the flow. Take Metro 2 or 11 to Belleville.

Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt Exhibition at the Atelier des Lumieres
From street art to digital art, Paris never ceases to amaze. At the Atelier des Lumieres on Rue Saint Maur, I was lucky to get a ticket without waiting despite the number of people milling outside the venue. It was a weekday so it was easier to get in. The digital immersive installation is focused on the artworks of Gustav Klimt. It's mesmerizing to watch the number of images of Klimt's paintings blown up on the 26-meter high walls of the former 19th century foundry. The light show is accompanied by original sountrack. 

Hundertwasser, In the Wake of the Vienna Secession 
There is also a short program called Hundertwasser, In the Wake of the Vienna Secession, which is a fascinating journey into the works of Viennese painter and architect, Friedensreich Hundertwasser. In the studio is Colours X Colours which I missed because there was a long queue to get in. 
The Klimt exhibition has been extended to January 6, 2019. And both the Hundertwasser program and Colours X Colours also end on January 6th. For more information about the exhibitions, check this link: https://www.atelier-lumieres.com/en/home. The easiest way to get to Rue St. Maur is to take the metro line 9 to Saint Ambroise. The Church of Saint Ambroise at the metro stop is worth a visit.

Saint Ambroise
I love Paris in the fall when the crowds have thinned down and there’s space to breathe. When skies are grey and showers are in the forecast, there are still many options for discovering the City of Light.

*****
Images by TravelswithCharie


Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Carlos Botong Francisco - Progress of Medicine in the Philippines

Pre-colonial period Pag-unlad ng Panggagamot sa Pilipinas (The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines) is a group of four large-scale paintings depicting healing practices in the Philippines from pre-colonial times to the modern period. Carlos Botong Francisco was commissioned in 1953 by  Dr. Agerico Sison who was then the director of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) together with   Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing of the National Museum, Dr. Florentino Herrera, Jr. and Dr. Constantino Manahan. These oil on canvas paintings measure 2.92 meters in height and 2.76 meters in width (9.71 ft x 8.92 ft) and were displayed at the main entrance hall of PGH for over five decades. Owing to its location, the artworks were in a state of "severe deterioration" at the beginning of the 21st century from exposure to heat, humidity, dirt, dust, smoke, insect stains, grime, termites and an oxidized synthetic resin used in an earlier restoration. These canvases were restored three times, the last was

Filipino Struggles in History - Carlos Botong Francisco

In 1968, Antonio Villegas (then Mayor of Manila), commissioned Carlos "Botong" Francisco to paint the history of Manila for Manila City Hall. The series of large scale paintings was called  Kasaysayan ng Maynila  (History of Manila).  The paintings deteriorated over time and no attempt was made to preserve these historical canvases until 2013 when Mayor Amado Lim sent them to the National Museum for extensive restoration. Four years later, in 2017, Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada and the Manila City Council signed an agreement with the National Museum to leave the paintings at the museum so they may reach a larger audience in exchange for museum grade reproductions to replace the originals. Kasaysayan ng Maynila was later renamed Filipino Struggles in History and is now on display at the Senate Hall of the National Museum . Carlos "Botong" Francisco died in March 1969, a few months after completing the paintings. He is one of the first Filipino modernists and

8 Heritage Houses of Iloilo

Lizares Mansion The province of Iloilo on the island of Panay has a rich trove of heritage houses, left over from the sugar industry boom in the 19th century. Iloilo also had the largest port in the Philippines at that time which facilitated the export of sugar to foreign shores and deposited money in the hands of the sugar barons. The barons dropped their earnings into the acquisition of properties in Negros and the construction of beautiful homes in Iloilo, many of which are located in the vicinity of the Jaro Cathedral. The Lizares Mansion was built in 1937 by Don Emiliano Lizares for his wife, Concepcion Gamboa and five children. The family fled to safety when World War II broke out and the house was occupied by the Japanese military. The family returned to the house after the war but left once again after the demise of Don Emiliano. It was sold to the Dominican order in the 1960s and was converted in 1978 to a private school, Angelicum School. The mansion now houses the