WAKE UP IN A PARIS MONUMENT!

Shhhh, don’t tell anyone your client accidentally fell asleep in their favorite Paris icon. Or, wait... could it have been accidentally on purpose? The new, delightfully whimsical, yet stylishly elegant Hotel Secret de Paris welcomes guests to their Parisian monument-fantasy of choice. That’s some enchanted evening!

Situated in the 9th arrondisement, in the Trinité neighborhood, this luxurious little hotel features 29 rooms, each imaginatively designed with some fairly sophisticated lighting scenarios to make you feel as if you are “there”—as inside the Moulin Rouge (think red); the Museé d’Orsay (think big clock); the Opera House (ballet slippers?), and yes, the Eiffel Tower (that’s for you to find out...). In addition to visual ecstasy, guests can indulge in soulful spa treatments, from sauna and steam baths to massage and color therapy.

Hotel Secret de Paris
2 Rue de Parme
Reservations: hotel@hotelsecretdeparis.com
Prices: From €180 to €310

MASTERWORKS IN METZ

The grand opening of the Pompidou Centre, Metz on May 12 drew great crowds and phenomenal international press. Its first major exhibition makes quite a statement—with a question: “Chefs-d’oevre?” (“Masterpieces?”) Spread throughout four color- and motif-themed galleries, nearly 800 20th-century artworks—paintings, graphics, photographs, sculptures, films and videos—are on display to serve as a fascinating investigation of the idea of masterpiece. What makes one? What does it take to make a masterpiece? Who decides something is a masterpiece? And, does the concept still have meaning in our present-day culture? Fun, creative, and imaginative, the exhibit makes a fitting grand entrance—into France and into the world of art at large.

Open every day, except Tuesdays.

YEAR OF RUSSIA IN FRANCE

A celebration and cultural exchange takes place between France and Russia this year. Among the wonderful events and displays are two art exhibition standouts:

HOLY RUSSIA: Russian Art from the Beginnings to Peter the Great
The stunning and monumental Russian art exhibition at the Louvre is closing at the end of this coming weekend (May 24). Unfolding chronologically, the exhibit focuses on the history of Christian Russia, from the 9th to the 18th centuries with icons, bejeweled crosses, triptychs, manuscripts, and paintings.

WOODEN SAINTS
Traveling all the way to Lyon from Perm, an ancient city in Russia’s Ural Mountains, is an amazing collection of wooden saints. The Perm Art Gallery is considered one of the largest and finest in all of Russia and its permanent collection of 400 religious sculptures has a Russian scholar to thank. In the 1920s, Nikolai Serebrenikov furiously began gathering the wooden images and sculptures as the Bolsheviks were shutting down most of the country’s churches and monasteries. The Lyon Museum of Fine Arts hosts this sublime exhibit in September 2010.

LUXURIOUS PARIS

Restaurant Les Ambassadeurs, one of Paris’ top restaurants, reopened its doors in April, welcoming their new executive chef, Christopher Hache. The opulent dining room, highlighted by its spectacular views of the Place de la Concorde, has just completed renovations which were designed to bring a bit of contemporary flair to its opulent wall mirror panels and glittering chandeliers.

The restaurant is part of the classic Five-Star Hotel de Crillon, built in 1758 at the foot of the Champs Elysées. Queen Marie Antoinette took piano lessons here and the historic guest list since has included General Pershing, Franklin Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and many others. Gorgeous tapestries, polished marble, and Louis XVI furniture are part of the sumptuous décor.

Les Ambassadeurs is open for both lunch and dinner, as well as Sunday brunch (closed Mondays).
For reservations: +33 (0) 1 44 71 16 16

READY THE GLASS for BORDEAUX’S FÊTE LE VIN!

June 24 – 27 is the weekend wine lovers gather in Bordeaux in search of the holy grape. Viniculture and the perfect marriage between food and wine are the focus of this festival, which is staged like a wine route that winds its way along the Garonne River and through the beautiful medieval architecture that secured the city a place on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List. This year, Bordeaux pays homage to its twin francophone city, Quebec, with a special pavilion and daily events.

A few HOW-TO-FESTIVAL tips:
•Be sure to buy a Tasting Pass! For only 15€, visitors can roam the eight pavilions, meet the winemakers, and enjoy 12 tastes in a souvenir glass and glass holder. A Pass Duo costs 20€ and offers the same benefits for two people!
•A Vineyard Pass—priced from 50-90€—gives visitors a chance to spend an entire day touring the Bordeaux vineyards and includes coach transport to three different wine estates, tastings at each, and lunch.

AMONG THE PARTICIPANTS:
Saint Emillion- Fronsac-Pomerol • Médoc & Graves • Bordeaux & Bordeaux Supérieur • L’Or de Bordeaux (sweet white wines) • The wines of Aquitaine, Bordeaux Négociants, (various appellations) • The Côtes De Bordeaux • Cordier Mestrezat • Baron De Lestac-Malesan-Blaissac

Match Point: It’s Open Season in Paris!

Between May 23 and June 6, international tennis stars and their adoring public will gather in Paris for some of the world’s best matches. Played on clay—the nemesis of such champions as Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors —the French Open is considered the toughest of the four grand slam tournaments.

The tennis open officially started in 1891, went international in 1925, and moved to its longtime and current home, Roland Garros in 1928. (Garros was a French aviation pioneer and war hero.) Recent title-holders include Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal (this year’s favorite), Bjorn Borg back in the ’70s, and 1920s female legend, Suzanne Lenglen.

While tickets are difficult to obtain, they are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Good advice for how and where to buy tickets can be found at: http://french.open-tennis.com/tickets.php

PARIS & ALL THAT JAZZ

Paris celebrates the 10th Anniversary of Jazz in Saint-Germain-des-Près, the neighborhood that’s been listening to a jazz soundtrack since World War II. Classic venues, such as the Sorbonne and Saint-Sulpice, along with every café, bar, and street corner in this favorite left Bank district, host both young up-and-coming musicians and world-class greats…. It was here, after all, that Miles Davis and Duke Ellington brought New Orleans and Be Bop to Paris. Highlights at this year’s Festival include the accordion virtuoso, Richard Galliano, a fast-rising star singer from Nantes, Ben l’Oncle Soul, Bozan Z on piano, and Diane Tell who performs an homage to Vian.

Dates: May 16 – 30, 2010
For more information and tickets: www.festivaljazzsaintgermainparis.com/festival-jazz-saint-germain-des-pres-paris/en/
Tel: + 33 (0) 9 75 86 74 13
Concert Prices: from Free to 38 Euros

YES… We Cannes!

Between May 12 – 23 more than 200,000 filmmakers, paparazzi, and star-gazers will descend on the glitzy, but usually quieter, town of Cannes on the French Riviera during the world-renowned Cannes Film Festival. It was Brigitte Bardot who put both the Festival and the town on the map back in the 1950s when she posed for the cameras wearing almost nothing but her dazzling smile.

For visitors to Nice and surrounding Provencal towns, getting to Cannes is fairly easy. Shuttle buses leave every half hour from near the Nice International Airport; in just 30 minutes, riders are dropped off right in the thick of the festival throngs. While the festival is reserved for industry professionals and the press, the atmosphere is glamorously eclectic. An outdoor film screen—Cinéma de la Plage—on the beach, at Plage Mace shows films nightly (tickets at the Tourism Office). Boutique shops such as Cartier and Gucci stand alongside art galleries and chic cafés, perfect for people-watching. And, in beachside stalls you Cannes buy the T-shirt!

Dining tip: For delicious Provençal cuisine, head to Le Petit Lardon, on Rue du Batéguier. If you have a reservation (well in advance: 04 93 39 49 44), enjoy one of the ultimate seafood dining experiences in Cannes at Gaston Gastounette on Quai Saint-Pierrre.