Welcome: THE MERRY MONTH OF MAY!

May brings springtime to full bloom all over France, making it a delightful (and delicious) month to explore. Here are a few tidbits of share-worthy information:

• May 15: Night of the Museums. In Paris and throughout France museums are free and open late into the evening
• Monte Carlo’s main casino will be closed for renovations from May 23, 2010 – January 2011.
• Cannes Film Festival (the 63rd!) is May 12 – 23
• Chaumont International Garden Festival: May through mid-October. The lovely Chateau Chaumont in the Loire Valley hosts an annual festival that celebrates some of the world’s finest contemporary garden design. This year, the theme is “Body and Soul,” and 20 designs have been selected from countries that include Italy, Japan, Germany Great Britain, and the Netherlands. The gardens are also illuminated in the evenings during the festival and temporary restaurants/cafes offer local delicacies.
• Grasse (Provence) May 13 –16 brings the fragrant Expo-Rose to town, the largest exhibition on this queen of flowers of its kind in the world.
• Strawberries! Visitors to the Dordogne in May can savor the delicious berry grown there. Three village festival celebrate the tasty fruit (aka: the world’s largest strawberry tarts!): Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne on May 9; Marmande, on May 15; and Vergt, on 16 May.

COME TO THE BORDEAUX FAIR!

May 8 – 17. The Bordeaux International Fair offers ten days of eclectic fun, food and festivities that take visitors around the globe. More than 2,500 exhibitors celebrate rural life in France and abroad. This year marks the year of friendship between France and Russia, and the fair pays homage to all things Russian, from opera to fine arts, from folk crafts to delicious foods. At the Aquitane Farm—an authentic recreation of an actual working farm—exhibits include everything from animal husbandry to winemaking, from hunting to the production and uses of bio-energy.

At the International pavilion, more than 150 exhibitors from the four corners of the world—from Peru to Indonesia, from South Africa to the French West Indies and Polynesia contribute their worldly favors and regional wares.

Hours: Daily 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
May 12th –“Nocturnal Wednesday” – open until10.30pm.
Tickets: Adults 7.7 € Children ages 6–11, 5.7 €

AVIGNON CELEBRATES WINE!

MAY 15, 2010 Each year, on the Saturday following Ascension Thursday in the Roman Catholic church, France celebrates with its Fête de la Vigne et du Vin. Many towns and villages offer special wine- and vine-related events; in Provence, Avignon marks the occasion at its splendid Papal Palace—the focal point in town for wine producers and wine lovers.

Visitors to the region can enjoy leisurely drives through the vineyards on designated routes, stopping to taste both venerable and up-and-coming vintages. And, it’s the one day when cellars open their doors to the public, and when oenophiles can chat with producers about vintages and terroir.

Tip from Chocolatine: The classic Restaurant La Mirande (in Hotel La Mirande) in Avignon offers a wonderful organic brunch every Sunday. 45 € per person. Tel: 4-90-85-93-93.

CELEBRATING CHOPIN – Cite de la Musique

Music lovers shouldn’t miss the amazing Cite de la Musique, located in the La Villette quarter, on the eastern side of Paris. A spectacular architectural structure, the museum covers five floors of exhibit halls, including a concert hall, the museum of French instruments, and the National Conservatory of Music.

For the 2010 Chopin Bicentennial, the museum presents an exhibition: Chopin in Paris, the Composer’s Workshop, which commemorates the 18 years he spent in France. Visitors can view original music manuscripts, and hear his favorite piano played at concerts held every Saturday afternoon in May.

Cite de la Musique • 221Avenue Jean-Jaures
Hours: Tues. to Sat. 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Sun. 10am to 6pm

Tip: Don’t skip the instrument museum… Put on the infrared headphones and, as you walk through the various rooms, you can hear music played on the beautiful old instruments on display.

PARIS - Tapestries from the Renaissance

The Galerie des Gobelins—wonderful to visit at any time—is exhibiting some of the most spectacular tapestries created during the Renaissance. These intricate works of fabric art, from the 15th and 16th centuries, are part of a collection from the Spanish monarchies. Their origin is Flemish, the region now comprised of northeastern France and Belgium, and the southwestern Netherlands.

The Galerie des Gobelins is part of the Mobilier National, the official French repository of furniture and decorative objects from state-owned palaces. Both permanent and temporary/traveling exhibitions offer insight both into the history of French furniture and its most contemporary designs.

Galerie des Gobelins/ Mobilier National
42 avenue des Gobelins
Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 11 to 6
Admission: 6€

The Champs Elysées – A Park in May!

May 22 has been designated the International Day for Biological Diversity and Paris is ever trying to raise “green” awareness. From May 22-24, the most famous avenue in the world, the Champs Elysées, is going back to its roots (remember, the name means Elysian Fields!). For three days, the avenue will be traffic-free and carpeted with flowers, grass, and trees in celebration of the event. Imagine walking the Avenue barefoot… or picnicking smack in the middle lane! The grass will cover the area from the Arc de Triomphe halfway down the avenue, and the greenery is to be provided by the Young Farmers and France Wood Forest. Don’t forget to pack the red-and-white checkered tablecloth!

METZ: Home to the New Pompidou Center!

This May, the first Pompidou Center outside of Paris will open in the city of Metz in eastern France. The gorgeous building is a design collaborative between architectural firms in London, Tokyo and Paris and is a sister-center, not merely an annex, to the Paris Center. Both temporary and permanent art collections from the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris will be housed in the new Center, which hosts its official public opening ceremony, May 12 – 16.

VENETIAN CARNIVAL—in Paris!

“Dream With Your Eyes Open” is the theme of this year’s annual Venetian Carnival, which takes over the Port de l’Arsenal (near the Bastille). Hundreds of brilliantly costumed and masked celebrants will take to the waterways, in small boats and gondolas. Troubadours and minstrels will sing operatic songs of love—from bridges, from boats, from the banks of the river… Nearly 20,000 people come for this wonderful event, which celebrates the ancient Venetian tradition in authentic style.
Saturday, April 10 & Sunday, April 12
Port de l’Arsenal – Bastille
The festivities take place between 2 and 6 p.m.

Tip: The best way to arrive is by Metro (lines 1, 5 and 8) as the streets near the Port will be packed with revelers. Best to get there early, buy a feathered mask and join in!