Paris postcard: Savoring the subversively seductive splendors of the Marais

by David Downie on

French star architect Jean Nouvel once gave me a ride home from his studio in Paris’ edgy 11th arrondissement. I chuckled to discover that the guru of transparency, glass and steel lives around the corner from me in a 1600s building on the Rue des Francs Bourgeois, the spinal column of the Marais. Old is better?

I was amused but not surprised: after 40 years of blanket gentrification the Marais has reportedly become theplace to live for a mix of fashion designers, artists, architects, auctioneers and other professionals–plus droves of bobos, meaning bohemian bourgeois. It’s so desirable that it’s practically unlivable.

Luckily you don’t have to move here to enjoy the Marais: wandering its patchwork of streets from the 1500s-1800s is still a magical experience.

For one thing, super-rich celebs and bobos aren’t the only ones drawn here. Trawl the gay district around Rue Vieille du Temple, the Rue des Rosiers Jewish neighborhood, or the Place des Vosges-the Marais’ centerpiece square-and you’ll discover a global festival of hip hedonism.

What’s the attraction? The Marais’ storied streets spread on the Right Bank between Beaubourg (the Pompidou Center) and the Bastille, the Seine, and the dowdy Place de la République. They’re home to enough boutiques, museums, art galleries, trendy restaurants and cafés stuffed into landmark townhouses to defeat even those born to shop (the French call such people “window-lickers”). This is a safari park for people-watchers, a study in how to preserve and gentrify a unique historic neighborhood.

The penurious few who wound up here before the Marais became trendy do what we can to appreciate the hallowed atmosphere without sounding like party-poopers. Truth be told each time I step out I discover something new and wonderful in my backyard. But I always find myself at least once a day in the Place des Vosges.Often overrun, the Place des Vosges is breathtaking no matter how many sour-sounding, faux Dixieland bands invade its symmetrical arcades, and no matter how many gawkers show up to see where Dominique Strauss-Kahn and other celebs and politicos live like pashas. One of France’s swankest Michelin-3-star restaurants is here (l’Amboisie), not that I would recommend it. So is the HQ of Issaye Miyake. The parade of human peacocks never ends.

With its 400-year-old, slate-roofed aristocratic pavilions, compact park and power-elite feel, the square has always been a microcosm, the quintessence of what makes the Marais special-love it or loathe it.

Four centuries ago Madame de Sévigné-the queen of French epistolary literature and high-society gossip-was born here, then moved nearby to the sumptuous Hôtel Carnavalet (now Paris’ historical museum). The Duc-Maréchal de Richelieu, with a pavilion at number 24, seduced a catalogue of lovers that reportedly included every noble lady then resident on the square. Does similar debauchery continue today? Such is the gossip.

It must have been exciting to be here during the first great French Revolution of 1789, when the debauched aristocrats were expropriated and exiled or lost their heads-literally. Afterwards, in came wild men like Charles Baudelaire (The Flowers of Evil). They hung out in the Marais’ dicey dives and lived in the square’s rundown flats-and turned literature and poetry upside down.

The reluctant revolutionary Victor Hugo rented a corner pavilion: his apartment is now a house-museum, one of my favorite places in Paris. From his perch he witnessed the Revolution of 1830 and penned subversive books, trying (but failing) to stop the tyrant Louis Napoleon Bonaparte-better known as Napoleon III-from taking over.
Even when the Marais bottomed after World War Two, the gloomy arcades and crumbling courtyards of this sublime square were subversively inspirational, providing the backdrop for Georges Simenon’s crime novel, L’Ombre Chinoise-also a cult movie.

So now it’s the star architects, plutocratic politicians, bankers, movie stars and moguls who grace the Place des Vosges, while the other 99.99 percent of us watch the show. That’s okay. Nothing beats sitting on a bench in the center of the square and gazing gratis at the parade or sipping a coffee-still affordable-at a plebian café. This will be the ideal spot from which to watch the next French revolution unfold. I can’t wait.

Author and guide David Downie’s latest book is the critically acclaimed “Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light.” His websites are www.davidddownie.com, www.parisparistours.com, http://wanderingfrance.com/blog/parisand http://wanderingliguria.com, dedicated to the Italian Riviera.

Untouched Italy: Exploring Basilicata through a dream

by Jessica Festa on


While many people go to Italy to explore the wonderful cities of Rome, Florence, Venice, and Milan, there many off-the-radar areas also worth discovering. One of these regions is Basilicata, which Seattle, Washington, filmmaker Matthew Brown captures in this video. The project was part of a Digital Diary competition put on by the Italy Tourism Board, and ended up winning the Grand Prize. What’s really great about this video is that it doesn’t just take you on a tour of Italy, but instead tells a story as if the narrator has “awoke in a dream”, which you can actually feel throughout the whole video. Meet the people, see the landscape and architecture, taste the food, and get to know the culture through creative filmmaking.

The video was shot with a 7D and edited with a Sony Vegas. Music is by Reid Willis and includes the songs “Parachute” and “My sincerity”.

National Gallery in Budapest exhibits art of epic Hungarian history

by Sean McLachlan on


The Hungarian capital of Budapest is a popular destination for those who love high art and culture. Its sumptuous National Gallery is famed across Europe, and now it’s putting on a new exhibition highlighting the nation’s history.

Heroes, Kings, Saints – Pictures and Memories of Hungarian History brings together some of the masterpieces of 19th century Hungarian painting. This was a high point in Hungarian art and a time when artists looked to the past for inspiration. Several rarely seen works of art will be on display, including Conquest (The entry of the Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin) painted by Mihály Munkácsy in in 1893 for the Hungarian parliament.

Part of this epic painting is shown above, courtesy Marta Pataki. The original is 15 meters (49 feet) long.

The exhibition was opened this week by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The exhibition marks Hungary’s new constitution, which came into effect at the beginning of the year. An article in the Guardian notes that while Orbán was opening the exhibit, thousands demonstrated outside the gallery against what they say are his increasingly authoritarian tendencies and the new Constitution’s granting of more power to the executive.

With the nation so deep in crisis, Orbán’s every move, even appearing at a gallery opening, are subject to public comment.

Heroes, Kings, Saints – Pictures and Memories of Hungarian History runs until August 26.

New York Shots: photos captured in new york via disposable cameras left out in public

by Elizabeth Seward on

New York Shots. What a cool idea. The idea is this: A Tumblr user, a girl named Katie O’Beirne, recently started leaving disposable cameras out around New York City. Tied to a park bench, left at the Brooklyn Bridge. This project has been evolving for a while now, especially thanks to a Kickstarter campaign that collects funds in its honor. It’s a beautiful project. It captures people, generally their faces, from all over the world. It began with the people of the world who stumbled across O’Beirne’s cameras in New York City parks. The project has now expanded internationally with photography and people lovers in cities across the globe reaching out, volunteering to rig up disposable cameras in their own city. The photos are captivating to view. O’Beirne’s updates about the project are uplifting. These are the kinds of things I love finding out about.

Stay at a former military prison turned art hostel in Ljubljana, Slovenia

by Jessica Festa on

Recently, Gadling’s Meg Nesterov talked about 10 reasons to travel to Ljubljana in Slovenia. The country has a lot to offer to visitors, and for those looking for an affordable and historical place to stay, a unique hostel experience, as well.

Hostel Celica, currently an artsy youth hostel, was once a military prison within the military barracks of Metelkova Street, dating back to 1882. Once Slovenia gained independence and the barracks were no longer needed, the Metelkova Network planned to turn the site into a multicultural center. The vision never came to be, and when the city tried to demolish the barracks, the network and its supporters used their bodies to protect the building. They occupied the site, and when the city turned off the electricity and water, a new plan began to form in their minds.

The group decided to make the place into a welcoming space for international travelers, and with the help of architect Janko Jozic and over 80 artists, Hostel Celica opened its doors to its first guests in 2003.

While the space is now a hostel, that doesn’t mean it’s lost its essence of history and culture. There are 20 prison cells that act as rooms, and one of the former prison cells has been converted into a Point of Peace, a space where visitors can pray and meditate. There are alters for the five major world religions of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, and the highest religious representatives from each have come to bless the space. Moreover, an art gallery resides on the first floor of the hostel, and workshops, debates, concerts, and cultural events take place on a daily basis.

For more information or to book a room at Hostel Celica, click here.