Tag Archives: Paris

The Pursuitist in Paris, Cannes and Cognac… #CANNES

Posted on by

We’re en route to the Cannes Film Fest. Waiting to board our flight, hanging at ICE at O’Hare (vodka and charcuterie — cheers!)… Follow us on Twitter for the latest updates…

First up, we’re heading to Nice and taking in the Cannes Film Fest — and can’t wait to hang with director Alexander Payne (see press release below). Dinner, celebs, movies and drinks…

After that, we’re heading to Cognac for an exclusive visit to Louis XIII’s Maison… After that, on to Paris for amazing museums, shops, drinks and dinner — and staying at Hotel Jules…

As mentioned, follow us on Twitter for the latest updates from France…

LOUIS XIII® Cognac, the world’s most esteemed spirit from the House of Rémy Martin®, official supplier of the Cannes Film Festival, created an exciting partnership last year with The Film Foundation, the leading non-profit organization dedicated to film preservation founded by Martin Scorsese.
“Much like the time, finesse and care it takes to create a rare, luxurious spirit such as LOUIS XIII, so does film preservation. Film is at the heart of the American and French Cultures and both film and cognac require a high degree of talent and craftsmanship to create excellence.” said Augustin Depardon, LOUIS XIII Global Brand Director.
Filmmakers and LOUIS XIII are known for their shared purpose of creating works of great artistry and lasting heritage. If they both strive for excellence, aware that excellence alone will stand the test of time, they also share a visionary spirit. To The Film Foundation and LOUIS XIII, preserving the past is acting for the future. The partnership between The Film Foundation and LOUIS XIII helps reaffirm the role of cinema as a bridge between different generations and different cultures. No matter what nationality a filmmaker or how personal their story, a great film will be universally understood.
On May 23rd during the 65th Cannes Film Festival, a unique one-hour conversation titled “East Meets West”, will take place at the Majestic Beach with American director and Academy Award® winner Alexander Payne, member of the Board of The Film Foundation, and one of the most acclaimed and honored Hong Kong directors, Stanley Kwan.
Coming from different horizons, these two world-renowned filmmakers will share their thoughts on cinema, discuss their journey and answer questions.
To highlight the quality in LOUIS XIII, that inspires creativity, Stanley Kwan will bring his own “touch” to the “East Meets West” conversation by revealing in avant-premiere his new directorial webisode, featuring Zhuang Yong, a Chinese freestyle gold-medal winner at the Barcelona Olympic Games.


Original Stella Cadente Boutique in Paris

Posted on by

With a gold metal finish and an original cylindrical shape, this new Stella Cadente boutique recently unveiled on Boulevard Beaumarchais in Paris, is quite an attention-grabber.

The visitors are welcomed in the shop through an ellipse-shaped window, allowing a sneak peek inside. The design of the boutique was implemented by the creative team at Atelier du Pont, who came up with a clever way to emphasize each accessory and clothing item the brand has on sale, while staying true to the image of Stella Cadente. The ladies can choose between one of the two passage-ways and start their observation tour. Subtle lighting ensures that every niche gets a proper exposure. With an overall palette defined by golden yellow, each of the items put on display stands out through a strong color contrast. The arched ceiling increases the feeling of space and adds originality to an interior that is filled with personality.


The World’s Most Expensive Club Sandwich is in Paris

Posted on by

Paris may be known as the most romantic city in the world, but it’s also the most expensive place to buy a club sandwich — making it the priciest travel destination on the globe.

That’s the conclusion of online accommodation booking site Hotels.com which surveyed 750 hotels in three to five star categories across 26 countries and price-checked a standard club sandwich — a staple on nearly every hotel menu — against one another.

Dubbed the Club Sandwich Index or CSI, a triple-decker sandwich in Paris averages $33.10, followed by Geneva and Oslo, where ordering the all-American chicken, bacon, lettuce and mayonnaise club will set you back on average $32.56 and $30.50 respectively. Like The Economist’s Big Mac Index which uses the worldwide prices of McDonald’s iconic sandwich to gauge the purchasing power parity between two currencies, Hotels.com says it created the CSI to help serve as a barometer of travel costs for globetrotters.

New Delhi sells the cheapest club sandwich at $9.57, while Berlin and Brasilia landed in the middle at $17.77.

Meanwhile, a club sandwich at a Tokyo hotel will set you back $27.65; in Hong Kong it will cost US$18.35; in London $18.71 and Toronto $16.05.

Said Hotels.com spokesperson Alison Couper in a statement: “Paris may well be the gastronomic capital of the world but at an average $33.10, per club, travellers may be better off sticking to a Croque-Monsieur.”


The best baguette in Paris

Posted on by

The title of Paris’s best baguette has, for the fifth time in six years, gone to one of the bakeries situated in the city’s 18th arrondissement. And while first-time visitors to Paris may delight in any which baguette from any which bakery, not all are created equal.

Here’s primer on how to tell a good baguette from a mediocre one, with tips collected from popular Paris food bloggers David Lebovitz, an American expat and former professional baker, Paris by Mouth and Chocolate and Zucchini.

David Lebovitz, who previously worked as a baker at Chez Panisse in California with Alice Waters, offers a slew of tips on his blog on the differences between a good and ‘crummy’ baguette. For example:

1. If you see rows of Braille-like dots on the bottom of the loaf, it’s been baked industrially – avoid at all costs

2. A good baguette should be sturdy and hold its shape when you pick it up

3. An inferior loaf will have a smooth appearance with regularly-spaced holes when sliced. It will taste ‘cottony’ and bland and will dissolve in the mouth.

4. A good baguette will have an ‘apricot-like’ aroma

5. A superior loaf will likewise have large, irregular holes inside and uneven coloration on the crust

6. The innards should be pale-ivory in color and be chewy.

7. Look for a sign that reads ‘Artisan Boulangerie’ in the bakery, indicating that the bread is baked on the premises.

8. Bakeries that have won the Grand Prix for making the best baguettes in Paris will also have signs affixed to their windows.

Clotilde Dusoulier, who writes Chocolate & Zucchini, says her favorite baguettes have a hearty crust and a developed flavor from slow fermentation.

Meanwhile, mediocre baguettes have a tougher, darker bottom crust and a softer interior texture and go stale faster.

Dusoulier makes repeated mention of her favorite neighborhood bakery, Coquelicot bakery on 24, rue des Abbesses in the 18th arrondissement, also home to this year’s winner of the best baguette in Paris, Boulangerie Mauvieux.

Meanwhile, Paris by Mouth offers a round-up of the editors’ favorite bakeries by arrondissement, as well as another post that ranks the top five baguette makers. The overall favorite? Eric Kayser, who has several outlets around the city.


‘Secret Garden – Versailles’ from The House of Dior

Posted on by

The House of Dior has unveiled ‘Secret Garden – Versailles’, the new film starring Dior in the Château de Versailles.

A film by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, starring Daria Strokus, Melissa Stasiuk and Xiao Wen Ju in ‘La Galeries Des Glaces – Château de Versailles.’ Music by Depeche Mode: ‘Enjoy the Silence’


Next Atelier Versace Show at the Ritz Paris

Posted on by

Donatella Versace announced today that she will return to the Ritz Paris on Sunday, July 1st to show the next Atelier Versace collection.

“It is with tremendous emotion that I return to the Ritz where I shared so many special moments with my brother. The closing of the Ritz Paris for two years represents the end of an era but also the beginning of a new one, so to be able to show Atelier Versace there one last time will be a memorable milestone.”


The Ritz Paris Hotel to Close for Two Years

Posted on by

French construction-to-broadcasting conglomerate Bouygues has won a contract to refurbish the Ritz Hotel in Paris for 140 million euros ($183 million).

The hotel, to close this summer and reopen in 2014, will be completely refitted, Bouygues said, and furnished with a new summer restaurant with a sliding roof, additional suites, an extension of the ballroom and new technology.

The move comes after the five-star hotel in central Paris failed earlier this year to win France’s coveted palace designation marking a top luxury destination.

Once the hotel of choice of Charlie Chaplin, Coco Chanel and Ernest Hemingway, the hotel has not had a major refit since 1979.

The statement said hotel facilities, including its 160 rooms and suites, would preserve their traditional style while “offering the latest technological innovations”.

The hotel’s 450 staff will be laid off during the works, but will receive compensation and have their jobs guaranteed after it reopens.

Founded in 1898 by Cesar Ritz and French chef Auguste Escoffier, the hotel is also home to L’Espadon restaurant, which has two Michelin stars, and the Ritz-Escoffier cooking school. Both will also close during the renovation.

“This renovation project is indispensable. It is the result of a wide reflection carried out with all of the establishment’s partners,” company president Frank Klein said.


R. Crumb Exhibit at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris

Posted on by

R. Crumb, the American cartoonist, is said to be a timid, reclusive soul who doesn’t like visitors, photographers, reporters or even fans. But here he was on Thursday, dressed in a smart black sport coat and trousers, posing for photographers and holding forth with journalists about fame, fortune, art, politics, music and death. The occasion was the impending opening, on Friday, of “Crumb, From the Underground to Genesis,” an exhibition covering nearly five decades of his work, at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and his first comprehensive museum retrospective. – read more from the New York Times