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| The Independent Traveler's Newsletter PAGE TWO |
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| The Independent Traveler's Newsletter PAGE TWO |
| ICI ET LÀ |
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in France or France-related events taking place in the United States & elsewhere between now and the publication of our next issue. In France. . . o Beginning in October, magazines, publicité and web sites in France will be obligated to indicate whenever images have been retouched or airbrushed. This is in an effort to combat body image issues and eating disorders. Not complying can mean fines reaching €37,500. In an effort to discourage eating disorders such as anorexia, high-fashion design houses will no longer be using ulra-thin models. o Have you heard this news? Doggie DNA will be collected in the city of Béziers (Hérault département) at the request of the city's mayor (and a judge agreed) to identify the canines whose owners are not cleaning up after them. The dogs must be brought in to have their DNA collected. Who knows? The idea might spread to other areas of France. o The best baguette award has been given to Sami Bouattour at Boulangerie Brun in Paris. A few hundred competitors tried for the €4,000 prize in the Fête du Pain in May. Every minute detail is observed, weighed and measured by the judging panel. In addition to the euros, the winner is baking the President of France's daily tartine for an entire year! o Paris: Airbnb operators in the City of Light are limited to 120 days of rental per year, but many are flouting that law. The fine for violating this law is a steep €50,000. Since last December, authorities in Paris require all short-term apartment rentals to be registered first with City Hall. As these rentals compete with hotels, encourage property speculation, and reduce housing availability for residents, it is necessary for the city to regulate them more rigorously. Thirty-one owners were just issued fines totaling the equivalent of $723,000. The problem is so pervasive that some neighborhoods are nearly empty of permanent residents. Also, booking Airbnb is done through other European and outside agencies avoiding French taxes. France and Germany are working together to close that tax loophole. The regulations will also prevent tenants from putting their apartments on Airbnb without the permission of the owners. In the United States many cities are taking steps to limit sites like Airbnb, HomeAway, VRBO and others by only allowing the short-term rental of the owner's permanent residence to stop people from buying up apartments and other properties for short-term rental purposes only.  o
The Château de Versailles
unveils the completely renovated fountain, Bassin des Enfants Doré, in time for its Grandes Eaux Musicales
display. The fountain, which
was a feature of Louis XIV's garden since 1709 had been neglected for decades, completes the display,
and the public is invited to wander through the gardens to background
sounds of Baroque music. Until October 29th. Photo at right
and visitor details at www.chateauversailles-spectacle.fr. o In Le Havre, now through October 8: The Marmottan-Monet museum in Paris has honored Le Havre's MuMa-André Malraux modern art museum with the loan of Impression, Soleil Levant (Sunrise), Claude Monet's emblematic painting, which will thus return to its city of origin for the duration of the exhibition. It was indeed in Le Havre that the impressionist artist painted his scene of a port enshrouded in the early morning colors in 1872. With the arrival of the railway in 1847, putting the city just a few short hours from Paris, Le Havre became a choice destination for artists. More information at www.uneteauhavre2017.fr.  o The Museé d' Orsay in Paris will feature an exhibit, Portraits by Cézanne, until September 24. Paul Cézanne (1939-1906) painted almost 200 portraits during his career, including 26 of himself and 29 of his wife, Hortense Fiquet. He is widely understood to be one of the most influential artists of the 19th century. Generally categorized as a Post-Impressionist, his unique method of building form with color and his analytical approach to nature influenced the Cubists, Fauvists and successive generations of avant-garde artists. Both Matisse and Picasso called Cézanne 'the father of us all'. Work methods in the exhibit will range from his remarkable portraits of his Uncle Dominique, dating from the 1860s, through his final portraits of Vallier, who helped Cézanne in his garden and studio at Les Lauves, Aix-en-Provence, made shortly before the artist's death in 1906. Shown here the Boy in the Red Waistcoat, courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. o France's Wine
Harvest, due to a very
mild March
followed by April frosts, will be the smallest since
1945, 18% less than 2016 and 17% below the average for the last five
years, though
the heat of summer will most likely
produce top vintages. A 40% drop in output is expected from the prime
wine-growing Bordeaux region. The mild March weather encouraged
the vines to produce shoots that were ravaged by the frosty weather in
April, and Burgundy grapes were repeatedly hit by hail so some losses
are anticipated there as well. The Rhône Valley suffered
from very dry weather in the summer months that will depress
yields. However, on the bright side, when there is drought the
impact of diseases on the vines is less. In the end, the 2017
wines may suffer from quantity issues, but the quality is expected to
be exceptional. During VINEXPO in Bordeaux in June, producers
spent a lot of time discussing ways to mitigate challenges to their
livelihood posed by climate change. Global warming causes grapes
to ripen earlier changing their sugar and acid levels which leads to
lower quality wines with higher alcohol content. Stay tuned . .
. Courtesy Agence France Presse
DID YOU
KNOW? Although
there are many casts of Rodin's sculpture, The Thinker (Le Penseur), around the world,
o Paris' Musée de Marmottan Monet presents Monet Collectionneur, an exhibit of Claude Monet's collection of other artists' work ~ artists whom he admired and who inspired him. From September 14 until January 14, 2018. For further information visit www.marmottan.fr. o Les Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles annual exhibition of photography began in July. You can still see the works of 250 established and emerging artists until September 24 this year. Visit www.rencontres-arles.com. o The Dinard British Film Festival, in the charming Breton town, will take place September 27th to October 1st. Six films will be in competition, there will be a short film competition and master classes. A high profile jury will make the awards presentation. For details visit www.festivaldufilm-dinard.com. o Until September 17th, the collection of Bonnard paintings from the Musée d'Orsay in Paris will be presented at Le Musée Bonnard in Le Cannet, Côte d'Azur. It is your opportunity, if you will be in Provence at that time, to not only visit the only museum dedicated to Pierre Bonnard, but to see the Marcie-Rivière collection of paintings by Bonnard and Vuillard. Having seen both painters' work in French museums, we think it is something you won't want to miss. Information at museebonnard.fr. o The exceptional Cistercian Abbaye de Flaran in Valence-sur-Baïse in the Gers département of southwest France will host Les Portes du Ciel - La collection Salmon-Cadéac until October 15. This exhibition focuses on carpets, especially of religious design, an essential component of Eastern societies. Produced most of the time by anonymous hands within families or workshops, they seem amazingly modern today. This Summer, the purified Cistercian spaces of the church (Abbey of Flaran built in the 12th century) will exhibit about 60 pieces of different origins and made over two centuries from 1750 to 1960. Information at www.abbayedeflaran.fr. o France will vote against an EU Commission proposal to renew the license for the chemical glyphosate, due to expire in December. It is the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup, one of the world's most popular weedkillers. Opponents of glyphosate, led by Greenpeace, point to research by the World Health Organization concluding that it may be carcinogenic, and they want an outright ban. In March the EU's chemical agency said it should not be classified as a carcinogen and the WHO then said, along with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, that it was 'unlikely' to cause cancer through diet. However, France will vote against the reauthorization of the license for 10 years, and their vote could block gaining a majority of EU member states needed to renew it. Courtesy Agence France Presse o For Sale: Beautiful domaine not far from the Canal du Midi and 3 miles from Carcassonne in the Aude département. Currently a bed and breakfast with a separate gîte and owner's quarters. Lovely property of 2.5 acres of lawns and trees. Perfect as a private home or continuing the guest accommodation business. Very successful for its attractive location and not far from Mediterranean beach towns, Cathar castles and the vineyards of Languedoc. Contact us for prices and more information.
o The Minneapolis Institute of Art presents Children in Paris, a collection of paintings by Mary Cassatt, Auguste Renoir and Auguste-Louis Lepère, as well as Paul-Albert Besnard's series of paintings of his young son who also appears in John Singer Sargent's The Birthday Party. Until October 8th. Information at new.artsmia.org. o Vive l'Amérique is an exhibit of drawings and essays by school children in Montmartre from the start of World War I, expressing their feelings and concerns and welcoming American troops as the war ended, at the National World War I Museum and Memorial, 2 Memorial Drive, Kansas City, Missouri, until October 15. For details visit www.theworldwar.org. o San Francisco's Le Dîner requires that you come head to toe in your best white outfit for an elegant picnic on Saturday, October 7. You'll get an email two hours prior giving the secret location. This and the Dîner en Blanc below are inspired by the Dîner en Blanc of Parisian origin now sweeping the globe. Friends gather with their picnic basket of food and wine and table decorations. Participants must be 21 years of age and present ID at the entrance. $35 per person. For information and to register, visit Hand Made Events. o Dîner en Blanc, an outdoor party in Dallas for several thousand picnickers will take place on October 6th, the third year for this Dallas event. The exact location is still a secret and will be provided to those registered. The requirement, with no exceptions made, is to be dressed head to toe in white. Guests provide their own food, wine or Champagne (no other alcohol permitted), white folding tables, chairs, linens, cutlery and table décor ~ a silent competition for best costumes and table. Those interested should visit: https://dallas.dinerenblanc.com/register and click on "Register on the Waiting List". You must be registered to participate.
Dîner en Blanc began
in 1988, the first location being the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.
In three decades the event has grown and is now being held annually in 79 cities around the globe. New York City had its 2017 fête on August 22nd on the steps of Lincoln Center with 5,000 participants! And elsewhere . . . o The Louvre Abu Dhabi will officially open its doors to the public on November 11th. The museum, built on a 97,000 square meter site on an island off the coast of Abu Dhabi, sits with a number of other tourism and development projects, including the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi museum under construction. The new Louvre will house 23 permanent galleries covering 6400 square meters and showcase 600 works of art including 300 on loan from French museums for the inaugural year. Permanent galleries will house art and artifacts from the early Mesopotamian civilizations to the present day. Those who funded the project spent over one billion euros which included 400 million euros to carry the Louvre name.  THE BOOKSHELF: A TASTE OF PARIS ~ A History of the Parisian Love Affair with Food a book by David Downie
 Stroll the
neighborhoods of Paris, the gastronomic capital of the world, through
its history and cuisine with David Downie's new
book as your guide: A Taste of Paris
~ A History
of the Parisian Love Affair with Food. If French
cuisine is high on your list of the
food you want to eat,
cook and talk about, then this book is for you.David Downie always weaves a history lesson into his books about Paris ~ lessons that inevitably hold your attention. To quote him upon his first visit to Paris, ". . . I sensed the sublime Paris conjunction of things contemporary marinated in yesteryear. But I was only eighteen and could not understand how or why the intersection of physical, historical, and cultural ingredients had come together, placing Paris above other great food cities like Rome, Madrid, London, New York and Shanghai." Well, we believe from this book that he understands everything there is to know about French food and how it evolved through history. A Taste of Paris is an amazing achievement ~ the detailed history of Paris as seen through its cuisine ~ and the history of the cuisine itself. The author begins with antiquity when Paris was Lutetia, inhabited by the Celtic tribe Parisii and the arrival of Julius Caesar and the Roman legions. From the earliest walls built to repel the Barbarians to the péripherique road of the 1970s to keep Paris separated from the suburbs and the rest of the world, Parisians still see themselves within "walls", and that thinking extends to gastronomy. David tells us that "Louis XIV began instituting French culinary nationalism over three hundred years ago." Perhaps our favorite chapter of so many fascinating ones is that focusing on the Sun King, his obsession with food (and other things) and a very personal glimpse into his life, his foibles and, strangely his male parentage! Many chefs had requested that UNESCO list French cuisine and its preparation as one of the world's intangible treasures, and that is exactly what UNESCO did in 2010, declaring it a "World Intangible Heritage". If you thought fois gras was a French creation, think again. The author points out that it came from Egypt and the Mediterranean even before the Romans. And he has even more to tell ~ this book is a veritable encyclopedia of French food intertwined with history, kings, traditions, and his wonderful sense of humor! That last point can't be stressed enough. David's wit infuses even the most unpleasant facts making all of his books a joy to read. Find out who coined the term 'restaurant'; learn the background of cult foods such as frogs legs and snails; discover when food, wine and romance become the holy trinity of Parisian life; find out exactly where the vineyards were in Paris in Medieval times, and so much more. Where else would you learn that the very first restaurant was in Paris as were the first restaurant critics and reviewers? David writes about cheese: although Pasteur was French, 3 out of 4 quality French cheeses are still made with raw milk. He goes into great detail about the famous names in French gastronomy, what their lives were like, who they admired or disliked and where they ate ~ their own restaurants or their favorites operated by someone else. And, he brings us into the 21st century describing how French, particularly Parisian, cuisine has evolved. We learn how, when and why nouvelle cuisine came about, and he tells us step by step what to look out for in restaurants from too-long menus to warning about the coffee that doesn't come from France or Italy ~ watch out: "you're entering Auvergne territory, land of ready-mades". He divided the book into ten parts, beginning with Antiquity À La Parisienne c. 53 BC - c. AD 500 right up to present day Paris in Part Ten: Degestif: Neo-Retro-Post-Postmoden Nouvelle D'Auteur 1970s to the Present. Even the chapter titles are witty! Don't miss this book. The more of David's books you read, the better you will know, understand and enjoy the magnificent City of Light. David Downie, a native San
Franciscan, has lived in New
York, Providence, Rome and Milan before moving toe Paris in the
mid 1980s.
His travel, food and arts features have appeared in leading print and online publications including Bon Apétit, Gourmet, Saveur and others. He is the author of more than a dozen non-fiction books including two we have reviewed in this newsletter: Paris, Paris and A Passion for Paris. A Taste of Paris ~ A History of the Parisian Love Affair with Food is available on Amazon for Pre-Order with a publication date of September 26th. Guaranteed pre-order prices: $18.35 for hardcover and $12.99 for Kindle version.  Order A Taste of Paris by clicking on the Amazon banner. SPONSORING
THIS ISSUE: 12th Century Priory FOR SALE
Open your own B&B! The
Périgord is one
of the most popular travel destinations in France and for good
reason. It overflows with delightful towns and hilltop villages,
lovely
rivers, prehistoric sites, excellent cuisine and good weather. All this makes the location of this Priory all the more wonderful. It is a cozy and inviting bed and breakfast with separate owners' quarters and a rental apartment with its own entrance. At the top of a hill offering the guest rooms an amazing panoramic view, it sits across the plaza from a vast castle managed by the State, now a museum and open to the public. Nearby is the fortified bastide town of Monpazier, built in 1284, with a famous weekly market. The priory has been recently renovated to a high standard with exquisite and luxurious guest accommodations and a large, professional kitchen. It is a spacious, historic yet intimate residence that offers en suite bathrooms with each bedroom ~ some with Jacuzzi baths ~ and original fireplaces, beamed ceilings and the charm of being in a Medieval village. Its cozy garden facing southwest is a fine place to see spectacular sunsets. Contact us today, and we will provide more photos and tell you the unbelievably low price for this gem in the Dordogne. Be sure to mention Priory on the subject line.
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