Brussels in 48 hours

The Atomium

I was doubtful at first whether two days was enough for a stay in Brussels. It is. Between indulging in some of the national foods - chips, waffles and chocolate - seriously courting heart disease and obesity at the same time; we found time to do the hop-on hop-off bus tour, visit Mini Europe and go up the Atomium. We skipped the Museum of Chocolate but did the comic strip Walk. I would have loved to have gone to the Hokusai exhibition which is currently on at the Museum of Japanese Art, but between the diverse family interests and a lack of time, I settled for the extensive street art to be found in this city. I started photographing all the chocolatiers' display windows, thinking it would make for a delicious-looking photo montage- I gave up after the fifth shop window. How many chocolatiers can one small city have? Did not mind tasting the products of these artists though.

The many photos of a shutter-happy tourist here and here.

Amazing views from the Arc de Triomphe

Spring break and the weather has actually felt like spring. My children had never been up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, after almost two years in Paris. Mainly it's been that same old reasoning; We live Paris, it'll always be there. Yesterday though we decided that a visit to the top of the Arch was long overdue; so we made like tourists and made our way to the most photographed monument in Paris.
We climbed the two hundred and seventy odd steps to the top, up a narrow spiral staircase and views from the terrace were incredible. All of Paris lay in every which direction we looked - the famous étoile giving us splendid views of the city below.
Admission for children under 17 is free and the adult fee is 8 euros. It's well worth the climb to the top.

Street Art

In high school, I used to doodle, draw and cover every surface of my school files with images and words, which whilst seemingly random or nonsensical were coded in meaning for something that was going on in my life during those adolescent years. The one recurring image was a "Kilroy was here" image, whose original source I did not know, but one which I thought was amusing enough to reproduce over and over again on files, notebook covers and every so often, school desk surfaces. Armed with a marker, I could have been an artist.

Intellectualizing Hopper

Morning sun, 1952

I went to the Edward Hopper exhibition at the Grand Palais yesterday. It was refreshing to walk through an exhibition and not feel the need to find some intellectual meaning behind the paintings. Let me take a step back. The last exhibition I went to see was the Dali at Centre Pompidou. Granted that I cannot compare Dali and Hopper directly; one was a Surrealist painter, the other an impressionist-inspired Modernist. I can at least make some comparisons about the the emotions evoked by both.

2013.

An artist and a baker

He is first an artist, then a baker. This is what Bruno, the man who plies students and passers-by alike with his pastries and tarts from his boulangerie on rue St.Jacques in the sixth arrondissement tells me. For the first month while making my way to my French class, I would quickly slip in and buy a little something from his abundant and delightful pastries. He experiments well with his fillings, a simple croissant becomes a nut and fruit, or pear-filled, or cheese and nut. His muffins are on one day olive and bacon, on another spinach and cheese; not to mention his tarts - which were also my staple until I decided it may be best to admire Bruno's work from afar.

Ice-skating at the Grand Palais

The last time I was at the Grand Palais, under its expansive nave, was for the Monumenta 2012 exhibition. Yesterday we went for the ice-skating. We went early, armed with our pre-purchased tickets, and prepped for a morning of fun. I had my children and two of their friends, with varying degrees of skating experience. We lasted two hours. It was enjoyable enough, the older children had more fun, whilst the younger ones seemed a bit intimidated by the larger rink and the number of people there - they stayed close to me on the 'young children / amateur side'.

CirkAfrica transports us home

So off to the circus we went again. This time around, it was pure acrobat-infused fun, sans les animaux. I didn't realise how obtuse I had been about the use of animals in circuses until my daughter pointed out the cruelty of it all after another circus trip (shame on me!). More recently, when I mentioned to a friend that I was taking my children to the circus the very first thing out of his mouth was: Sans les animaux bien sûr (Without animals of course).  Oui, bien sûr! I think I can safely say the past month has made me a lot more aware of animal cruelty issues.

Happy Holidays!

Better late than never Dear Readers. 

Wishing you Happy Holidays with your loved ones!

Quick dining at the Relais de l'Entrecôte

I had not really wanted to linger after our meal, but we found that the Relais de l'Entrecôte does not lend itself to that type of slow dining anyway. If you're looking for the kind of place where a midday lunch turns into a late afternoon, and a bottle of wine disappears long before the conversation ends - try some place else. The service is efficient - think conveyor belt efficiency. You wait -inside if you're early but most likely outside - in a winding long queue, to be seated so you can have a salad, their famous entrecôte and pomme allumettes - string fries. That's the sum of the menu.

Dali at the Pompidou

I took in the Salvador Dali exhibition at the Pompidou Centre on Sunday;  the first retrospective of the artist's work to be held in Paris in thirty years. As I made my way around, taking in this surrealist painter's bizarre and at times thought-provoking work, I wondered if it was the art, or his showmanship that had made him the darling of the art world at the height of his career.
Containing over 200 paintings, drawings, collages, assemblages, photos and film clips, the Pompidou Centre is paying hommage to what it calls 'the most complex and prolific figure of 20th century art'.
Dali's theatrics are also shown in short film clips around the exhibition - his eccentricity on full display.

It has begun...

It seems like it was just yesterday that I was writing about the Christmas markets in Paris. Well here we are again. Two weeks ago the Champs Elysees market stalls opened for business.
More markets will be opening up in the various arrondissements around Paris, all spreading the Christmas cheer. It's seems a bit early - hearing Christmas carols in November, but it looks quite enchanting at night. We went with the children and they were excited to see that the ice-skating rink is larger this year. There is a menagerie of animals; reindeer, bears and lions that has found its place at the market this year.

A night of surprises with Diana Krall

Last night we went to the Diana Krall concert at the Palais des Congres de Paris. I am not a complete jazz aficionado, but the only music that plays in our house on Sundays when we have family and friends over is jazz. Why jazz? No idea, I have just always associated it with relaxed Sunday afternoons, winding down the weekend. Diana Krall is one of my favourite jazz singers so I jumped at the chance to see her. Even if it was to be held at the Palais des Congres. This is a conference centre with behemoth-sized auditoriums - not exactly the perfect venue for an intimate jazz evening. I had also not expected the masses of people that turned up last night. The French love Diana Krall! That was the first surprise.

The Buddy Bears in Paris

Lesotho's Bear

The United Buddy Bears are in Paris until November 18th. I saw them a few weeks back and enthusiastically went about photographing these colourful giant two metre bear sculptures. There are 140 of them - representing the countries recognised by the UN-  standing boldly, hand in hand as a sign of tolerance and peaceful coexistence. The exhibition is meant to celebrate twin cities, Paris and Berlin, and to mark the 50th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty and Franco-German relations. They are a creative addition to Champ de Mars. I had a great deal of fun searching for, and photographing Lesotho and South Africa's bears.

More bears can be seen here.

The circus and an education in animal rights

Cirque d'Hiver was a hit with my children. It is a long show - almost two hours long, with intermission only after the first hour. Despite this, there was no fidgeting in seats as they sat enthralled. The agile trapeze artists, the bumbling clowns, the spooky-looking harlequin, every part of this entertaining act was amazing. My son loved the tiger act - although he had to be assured more than once that the tigers would indeed stay behind the bars.

Exploring the pirate city of St. Malo, Brittany

From the distance, the walled city of St.Malo seems imposing, but once within its walls and on its cobbled narrow streets its quaintness is charmingly modest. With its 18th century buildings, and equally historic shops and restaurants one gets a sense of having traveled back in time. Indeed St. Malo's castle dates dates from the 14th and 15th centuries so we did go back in time somewhat. As always I still had to come up with a story to sell to my children - more to my six year old that my pre-teen- as the history offered by the tourist guide books doesn't beguile enough to warrant sufficient enthusiasm. This weekend's story was about the pirates.

Post-rentreé funk

I have been caught up in a post-rentrée funk that I'm trying to shake myself out of. The vacances came and went in a bit of a blur. I am now trying to fall into a rhythm as the weather slowly changes from warm and balmy, to chilly and grey.

My new mantra for this year: Write. Everyday. (Even if it is just a blog post). In the meantime sorting through photos and in the process re-living a bit of the summer holidays. Here are some pictures of an evening of fireworks at Château de Versailles - I am looking for inspiration anywhere.

Hope your vacances were great, your rentrée fairly easy and that  you've found your groove...I sure am trying.

Canal cruising in Paris

It was definitely not as interesting as the Seine cruises are, but it was good to learn about the Paris canals. We boarded the boat at Parc de la Villette - mistakenly thinking the boat would return there after the cruise. Note: It is a one-way trip between Parc de la Villette and  Musee d'Orsay. It ended up being a long day after that because we'd left the car at Parc de la Villette.
There were parts of the cruise that were interesting along Canal St. Martin, like seeing the urban regeneration happening along the canal in the 19th arrondissement.

Meanders in Fontainebleau

Yesterday was le 15 août - Assumption Day, and my family's one year, two day anniversary in France. I cannot believe that it has been a year already. Last year I was told, tongue-in-cheek that the day was meant as a rest day, to prepare people for the rentrée after the summer vacances. No, it's a religious holiday.  We decided to honour our anniversary with a trip to Fontainebleau. We had lunch then went to see the legendary château de Fontainebleau. I could not entice my kids to go for a tour of the castle.

The dotty collaboration of Yayoi Kusama and LV

"The much-anticipated collaboration between Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama and Marc Jacobs by Louis Vuitton..." reads the Wall Street Journal article on what's trending between art and design. Dotty? Absolutely.
I saw the window display last night, and Kusama's polka dots have taken over the windows of LV's flagship store. I enjoyed her  exhibition at the Pompidou a while back - I hadn't realised I'd be treated to a freebie so soon. Even last night, without the winding queues that are synonymous with LV, the display still drew quite the crowd. There were murmurings of "crazy", "interesting", "weird", "bizarre", "wonderful" abound as I made my way around the crowds to snap a few shots with my iPhone . If anything, the display is eliciting reactions - is that not what art is meant to do after all? Brand watching has just become more interesting.