Something for the Weekend (4th – 6th June)

This weekend is going to be hot and sunny, so this list is a relaxing in the park special!

If you have any other events that you think should be promoted, add them to the comments for this post or send me a mail.

Jardins Jardin @ the Tuileries
For three days, parts of the Tuileries will be transformed into a selection of mini-gardens, designed by leading professionals in the world of urban landscaping and exterior design. This being the chic heart of Paris, entrance to these areas is 11 Euros, a price that seems even more steep when you consider that several of these gardens are actually little more than promotional tools. Nevertheless, the overall display should be an interesting and dramatic one.
11€

Friday to Sunday, 10am - 8pm

Jardin des Tuileries
http://www.jardinsjardin.com/

Court Circuit @ the Parc Floral
More of a bargain is the Court Circuit event at the Parc Floral, which is also in my opinion a far more interesting garden than the Tuileries. The event is a gathering of young and talented French designers who will be selling jewellery, clothes, shoes and accessories, but of course you'll also be able to wander around the park.
Free entry (after paying 3€ to enter the park)
Friday from 3pm - 9pm, Saturday and Sunday, 10am - 9pm
Parc Floral de Paris, M°Chateau de Vincennes
http://www.saloncourtcircuit.com

Les Grandes Serres @ the Jardin des Plantes

After five years of renovations, the grandes serres (greenhouses) at the Jardin des Plantes were officially reopened last Wednesday. These beautiful 19th Century iron constructions have been fenced off from the public at the top of the park for too long, so this weekend we should all celebrate their return!

Rendez-Vous aux Jardins

The aim of this nationwide event run by the Ministry of Culture is to open up interesting and unusual gardens to the public. Highlights in Paris include the rarely opened central garden at the Bibliothèque nationale François Mitterand and, for the first time, the gardens of the Archives Nationales (Hôtel de Soubise).

http://www.rendezvousauxjardins.culture.fr/

Sonique en Plein Air @ La Villette

The last day of the Sonique festival at La Villette is a free outdoor party in the park. Expect an eclectic selection of live electro-pop bands and DJs.

Sunday 6th, 3pm

http://www.villettesonique.com/#/uk/program

Something for the Weekend (28th – 31st May)

A Belleville special this weekend. I make no excuses for that – it’s where I live and where I'll be!

If you have any other events that you think should be promoted, add them to the comments for this post or send me a mail.

Belleville artists open their studios
Over 200 artists in Belleville open up their studios to visitors the last weekend in May, probably the biggest such event in Paris. Although the art on display is of rather mixed quality, it is always interesting to wander aimlessly around the normally firmly closed buildings and courtyards. More details on the artists as well as maps can be found here: http://www.ateliers-artistes-belleville.org/

If you are looking for something a little more structured though, you could join the event being organised by Paris Par Rues Méconnues. Beginning with a picnic at 12pm in the Parc de Belleville (bring your own food!), the afternoon will continue with a three-hour guided walk around the ‘best’ of the studios, where the artists will be present to talk about their work.
Saturday 29th – walk only at 2pm (sign up here)
Sunday 30th – Picnic at 12pm, walk at 2pm (sign up here)

A Burlesque revue
Two events, described as 'music-hall parisien revisitée', will be held on Saturday at the Bellevilloise, a venue that is now becoming something of a specialist in the genre. Organised by Juliette Dragon and the Cabaret des Filles de Joie, the show will begin with striptease, French Cancan as lots of feathers and glitter, then later on become ‘la Nuit Fatale’ which will be based around ‘punk ‘n roll’ live music, James Bond Grrrls and irresistible secret agents!
La Bellevilloise, 19 Rue Boyer, 75020
Saturday 29th, 8pm

Women and the Commune
Girl power continues on Monday night when Sylvanie de Lutèce, friend of Juliette Dragon and the ‘Filles de joie’ troupe, will be holding her regular monthly Paris history lesson and discussion. This time around the subject is “Les Femmes de la Commune de Paris en 1871”.
Le Baron Samedi, 12 Rue des Goncourt, 75011
Monday 31st, 8pm

Still in Motion @ La Cartonnerie
Once again, an event that I recommended more for the environment in which it is being held (a partially converted paper factory), but if you are a fan of photography you should find plenty to keep you occupied. Somewhat bizarrely, the event this weekend is actually the pre-opening of a festival that will actually be held in London a week afterwards. Based around the theme of ‘the changing city’, the event will feature an exhibition of international photographers and focus on the pinhole camera. As well as enjoying the photos on display, visitors will also be able to try out some pinhole cameras themselves during workshops, and even enter a competition if their photos are particularly successful!
La Cartonnerie, 12, rue Deguerry (M° Parmentier/Goncourt)
Saturday 29th - Sunday 30th, 11am –7pm

Au Bon Coin

Natural time is cyclical, but time in the city is counted in layers. In London for example it is said that the Roman settlement of Londinium was situated around twenty feet beneath the levels of today's city. As we walk around a place we don't walk in our forefathers' footsteps but above them.

The Earth's crust is a book filled with the pages of time, but the archeology of the city is not so well documented. New roads are built over ancient pathways and tall buildings grow from the walls of long abandoned dwellings, but sometimes these layers of the past pop back up to the surface through happy accident.

In the Rue de l'Orillon, renovations to a building have slowly revealed the wooden shopfront of an ancient wine trader; "Au Bon Coin: Commerce de Vins". In these Belleville backstreets, once known as the Basse Courtille, such establishments were once very common. Paris historian Jacques Hillairet wrote the following about the street in his Dictionnaire historique des rues de Paris:

“Emplacement du cabaret de Jean Ramponeaux, à l’enseigne du Tambour-Royal. Jean Ramponeaux vendait son vin un sou moins cher la pinte que ses confrères de la barrière, ce qui lui attira une telle affluence qu’il y avait autant de clients dehors que dedans".

(Position of Jean Ramponeaux's caberet called the Tambour-Royal. Jean Ramponeaux sold his wine one sou cheaper than his rivals at the city gateway which attracted such a crowd that there were as many people inside as outside).

As more recent layers of materials are scraped away, a previous aspect of the city reappears. Another fresh layer will probably soon be placed on top and new stories will be written, but let's hope that this physical trace of the past does not disappear forever .

Something for the Weekend (21st - 23rd May)

Sport, food and a walk through some champs on the Champs for this weekend which is predicted to be warm and sunny!

Street Golf
Golf in France is generally a sport for the elite, but an organisation known as Le 19ème Trou aims to change this conception. This group of young sports fans have invented a concept known as Street Golf, and organise events and tournaments, including this Saturday the Paris Pro Tour Master Classic '10.

Teeing off from the Place de la Concorde at 12.30, the competition will involve 100 players from all over Europe in teams of five who will play a round of nine holes on a course which will only be revealed at the last minute.

At 8.30pm the evening, a party has been organised at the Point Ephémère in the 19th arrondissement where the trophies will be awarded, and the night will continue with sounds from DJs from around Europe.


Paris Pro Tour Master Classic'10 from Le 19ème Trou.

Free Food!
In an interesting nod to history, the ‘Fédérations des boucheries d'Ile-de-France’ are organising a giant BBQ on the Place de Hôtel de Ville this Sunday at midday. As they say themselves, ‘trois boeufs, un veau et dix agneaux Label rouge seront rôtis à la broche’ with all food being handed out free to visitors.

And what is the nod to history? Well, in the middle ages, this site is where executions took place in the city, with the victims often being burnt at the stake!

Tennis at the Piscine Molitor
The Roland Garros French Open tennis tournament begins this weekend, and to celebrate the event a well-known sports brand (the name of whom I don’t really want to publicise!) has transformed a disused swimming pool into a temporary tennis court. Until June 6th, the Piscine Molitor, alongside the Roland Garros complex, will be open for free tennis lessons or pricey drinks in the temporary bar. The event is of course simply a clever marketing exercise, but it is also a great excuse to see a wonderful piece of normally closed to the public Art Deco architecture (which is also currently plastered in tags and graffiti!).
The Club, Piscine Molitor, 2, avenue de la Porte Molitor 75016, M° Michel-Ange Auteuil.
Monday - Friday 2pm – 7pm. Weekends 11am – 8pm

The Champs Elysées becomes a champs again
For two days on Sunday and Monday, the Champs Elysées will be closed to traffic and covered with grass, flowers and trees. Over the one kilometre distance between the Arc de Triomphe and the Rond Point you will be able to wander through a landscape featuring over 11,000 trees and 150,000 plants. Perhaps its claim to be the 'plus beau avenue du monde' will finally become a reality.


Teaser Nature Capitale from Nature Capitale.

Something for the Weekend (14th – 16th May)

Although I have little time to update this blog in May, I will continue to publish my suggestions for the weekend, partly because they will help me to plan too! With a public holiday on Thursday, the weekend begins early in France this week, but there are also several very interesting events to plan for…

La Nuit des Musées
Most museums across Paris will be offering free entrance and will open until midnight this Saturday as part of the Nuit des Musées event, and whilst the majority will simply be giving access to temporary and permanent collections, there will be a number of special events organised. Two in particular have caught my eye:

• An evening with the Wild Club. Over the last year, the Wild Club website has hosted monthly competitions for architects who can remain anonymous and who have only 24 hours to produce their designs. The competiton begins with a simple photograph, and those taking part are invited to send in dreamlike visions of how the spot could be transformed in the future or how it might look in a parallel world. Without actual construction projects to bid for, the architects are given free expression which sometimes throws up very surprising results! (Pavillion de l’Arsenal, 21 Boulevard Morland, 75004)


• Soup tasting at the Musée de l’Assistance Publique. Has hospital food always been bad? Between 9.30 and 11.30pm on Saturday night there will be a ‘dégustation de bouillon’ with the recipe coming from the depths of the Paris hospital archives. The weather this weekend may well be chilly, so this will surely warm everyone up, but let’s hope it doesn't put visitors in one of the city's institutions! (Musée de l’Assistance Publique, 47 Quai de la Tournelle, 75005)

Click here for the full programme of events in Paris.

A Day at the Races
Discover the excitement of thoroughbred racing in France with an insider's tour of Longchamp racecourse this Sunday (16th) guided by Gina Rarick, currently the only American professional racehorse trainer in France and the first American woman granted a license here. Starting with a BYO picnic lunch at this historic racecourse, Gina will explain how racing works in France. After lunch there will be a tour of the track, the weighing room where the jockeys prepare for the races, the stabling/saddling enclosures and, if possible, a trip down to the starting gates to watch the horses jump out for a race. Dress smartly (at least a jacket and preferably a tie for men - rules are strict at Longchamp!) but also for changeable weather!

Tickets for this event cost 12 Euros, and if you are interested, please try to confirm early as those organising the event need to give Longchamp advance notice. To sign up please contact Mark Tronco at tronco@gallopfrance.com.