Koons Bouquet of Tulips Inaugurated in Paris
Parisians love a good debate about placing a new work of art or architecture in a public space, but honoring victims of terrorism with a Jeff Koons bouquet minus one tulip is too much like honoring victims of famine with a statue of Ronald McDonald with one French fry missing.
Citéco: New Paris Museum Examines the Economy
While a museum dedicated to the economy may sound geeky from the get-go, the hi-tech Citéco that opened in June in a faux-Renaissance palazzo near the Parc Monceau is a whole lot of fun.
Eisenhower, de Gaulle and the Wild Rabbits at the Invalides
Late on a drizzly afternoon, having learned nothing and felt little from reading about and watching videos of the 75th anniversary of D-Day commemorations in Normandy, I went to visit the wild rabbits that inhabit the lawn of the Invalides.
Judgment Day at Notre-Dame de Paris
We stood across the square from Notre-Dame. There it was, the western façade of the cathedral, the three doors, the row of kings, the rose window, the two towers, a peek at the steeple. Susan thought it beautiful. Her daughter Claire thought it ugly. I was their guide. "Gary’s going to tell us about it and you’ll see that it’s beautiful,” said Susan. "I never said it was beautiful," I said.
Still Life in Paris, Inspired by Notre-Dame
You’re at your desk 24 hours after the outset of the fire at Notre-Dame, after being up much of the previous night, first having dinner with a friend, then standing in silence on Ile Saint Louis watching the blaze peter out, then speaking and texting with family and friends six time zones away, then ...
The Paris Médusarium, the Most Psychedelic Show in Town
The Médusarium at the Aquarium de Paris, set up to educate visitors about climate change while highlighting the beauty of ocean fauna, is akin to a marine jewel box. Watching these iridescent creatures perform their graceful water ballet is a mesmerizing, nearly hypnotic experience.
Cluny Museum of the Middle Ages: Magical Unicorns and Gothic Sculpture
When it fully reopens at the end of 2020, the Cluny Museum will regain its place among Paris’s major museums. Already, its 5-year restoration project is bearing fruit in the form of two concurrent exhibitions that explore the mysteries of medieval art and culture: Magical Unicorns (until Feb. 25, 2019) and Birth of Gothic Sculpture (until Jan. 7, 2019).
A Montmartre Treasure Hunt: Been There, Not Done That
The Montmartre Museum is just 300 yards from Sacré Coeur and Place du Tertre yet it feels well off the beaten track. As it should since this is a connoisseur’s museum with a quiet garden café. An end your Montmartre treasure hunt.
Napoleon, Neanderthals and Successful Businessmen
Two temporary exhibitions in Paris are of special interest to those who sit in their office late at night trying to understand the real or imagined dominance or superiority of some men over others: Napoleon Strategist at the Army Museum and Neanderthal, the Exhibit, at the Museum of Man.