Museum Monday

 ADYA & OTTO VAN REES

 At the heart of the avant-garde 

 

Ends September 13, 2026 

 

Musée de Montmartre
12 rue Cortot 75018

 

 

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Dutch artist couple Adya van Rees-Dutilh (1876-1959) and Otto van Rees (1884-1957) have returned to Montmartre, offering a fascinating example of a true artistic partnership at the heart of 20th-century modernism. They lived and worked in Montmartre's now famous Bateau-Lavoir (Picasso, Braque, van Dongen, Mondrian, Modigliani and poet/writer Max Jacob were part of their circle) and later, Montparnasse, in the era that helped define Pointillism, Cubism, Cloisonnism (with its flat planes of color, heavy dark contours and simplified forms) and eventually, Abstraction. The current exhibition at the Musée de Montmartre - with its refreshing garden, small tea room, and sweeping views - is the perfect opportunity to discover them. - BPJ

 

 

 

 

Bonne Année

 

The evening began with an intimate champagne apèro.

- Bonne Année / Happy New Year 2024 -

 

🎉

 

 

 

 

Francophile Friday: a good life in France

  

The book that started it all.

Recommended holiday reading

Into the weekend with 4 great reads by Janine Marsh, guaranteed to make any Christmas bright 

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Besides photography enthusiasts my stats show that visitors to this blog include not only the curious but regulars, many of whom have followed me here from my USA Today writing days. Most are Francophiles, those ardent admirers of France and everything French. And while some reside in France, of those who don't some have confessed that they envision themselves pulling up stakes and settling in The Land of The Gauls.

 Well that is exactly what author Janine Marsh, creator/editor of popular online magazine The Good Life France, where I am a contributor, did, not all that long ago, now detailed in a first book, My Good Life in France: In Pursuit of the Rural Dream that shot up to #1 on Amazon shortly after its release, beating out J. K. Rowling at the time.

 It all started on a dreary day with zero expectations - except to find some cheap French wine on a trip to northern France with her husband and father. That trip turned into a true life adventure, and Janine found herself returning to England “a few hours later having put in an offer on a rundown old barn in the rural Seven Valleys area of Pas de Calais.”

Eventually leaving behind both life and livelihood in London, she leapt into unknown territory of what was to become a completely new lifestyle in the French countryside that included a plethora of animals (another revelation), local characters and many other, sometimes perplexing, discoveries.  

The writing is light and keeps the reader turning pages. If you are expecting a "how-we-fixed-up-an-old-barn-and-made-it-liveable" manual, you will be disappointed. It is a story of survival in a culture that turns out to be surprisingly different than anything she knew, often bemusing. This book is evergreen that is, it won’t grow old, especially now, post Covid, as the world has changed and such forays have become the food of fantasy.

Since then three other books, the second two, sequels of sort and equally delightful, have followed:

Toujours La France!: Living The Dream In Rural France 

My Four Seasons in France: A Year of the Good Life in France 

Her fourth and quite recent (October 31, 2023) How To Be French: Eat Drink Dress Travel Love, is a toast to French l'art de vivre and what it means to be French, filled with useful advice, insights and tips à la française. - BPJ 

 

Janine Marsh is a British writer "living in the middle of nowhere rural France, with 72 animals and a husband." - From her Amazon page

 

 

 

Chinese New Year

Paris celebrates Chinese New Year in four distinct Asian neighborhoods.

 

Ends February 5, 2023

 

Where to find them.....

 

Peachy keen

 

Peaches (and cucumbers) are back in season.

 

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Cueillir your own fruits / vegetables / flowers 

Best farms and orchards near / around Paris

Masks off!

 

 

Starting today wearing face masks outdoors won't be compulsory in France.

Still home

 

So far café/restaurant terraces and some museums are scheduled to re-open 15 May.

 

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  - En avril, ne te découvre pas d'un fil, et en mai, reste enfermé? -

Old French saying, w/a personal twist 

 Repost

 

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Reposted images continue to receive a high # of views - BPJ  

Winter of discontent

Now is the winter of our discontent. - William Shakespeare (Richard III)

Paris toujours

On this last day of 2019, "Paris Sera Toujours Paris":

Paris will always be Paris.

 

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- Bonne Année / Happy New Year 2020 -

Spirit of Paris

"Paris est une ville magique… "

  

"The occult sciences unite all that cannot be explained. They seek to make visible the invisible, in the broad sense, whether poetic or scientific.... We cannot understand 20th century Europe without knowledge of the occult sciences." - Bertrand Matot, French journalist and author, Paris Occulte

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Paris’s fascination for the occult spans centuries. Magic and sorcellerie were an accepted part of life in the Middle Ages. Nicolas Flamel, a formidable character in the Harry Potter series whose 15th century house still stands in the Marais district, was not only a philosopher but notably, an alchemist.

In the mid-nineteenth century mysticism went on an unprecedented rampage. Every night in the salons of high society and even the Palace of the Tuileries - where Napoleon III would try to get in touch with his famous uncle - séances (a French term meaning "sessions") were held to communicate with spirits of the departed. These “salons of the occult" were frequented, and helmed, by some of the most glamorous and biggest names of the day in literature, arts, and sciences, all hungry to touch and be touched by the supernatural.

Victor Hugo was a frequent guest at beautiful Madame Delphine de Girardin’s spiritisme salons, while “le spiritisme, la magie et la science du fantastique” exerted a “grande fascination” over Honoré de Balzac.

Driven by a desire for the mystical, the chic and intellectual set of the day flocked to gatherings in search of the au-delà. Years later, Gabriel Garcia Marquez' magical realism, Umberto Eco's esotericism and, in fine arts, surrealism and fantastic realism, were to become undeniable offshoots.

In recently released “Paris Occulte” Matot delves into this fascinating part of French culture and history in the form of an engaging, well-researched and wonderfully illustrated read. - BPJ

Paris Occulte
Author: Bertrand Matot
Publisher: Parigramme
(in French)

He is risen

 

photo: AFP/Agence France Press

 

He is not here.

Matthew 28:6

The magic of Easter

Joyeuses Pâques 2019

A musical fête

Photo images courtesy of Théatre Marigny

 

 

Uplifting performances. Beautiful costuming. Talented cast.

All songs in English w/French subtitles

Director / choreographer: Stephen Mear

Behind-the-scenes

April newsletter

GUYS AND DOLLS

Théâtre Marigny Paris

 

(click to enlarge)

A thousand photos

Monday will mark the publication of photograph # 1000 on this photo-a-day photo blog since it began in 2015.

Many thanks to Wilf and my fabulous team at World Photo Adventure, as well as my many appreciative and faithful visitors. - BPJ

Paris where art thou

 

City of Paris on a subway station wall with scribblings added. 

 

(click to enlarge)

 

 

Most viewed photo 2017

Head in the clouds

First published November 4, 2017

My Personal Paris:

 

In 2017 FocusOnParis.com received many more visitors than I expected, and from all over the world. Thanks to excellent stats tools we could see that most came from the U.S. and France, followed by Australia, U.K., Israel and Germany. Visitors seemed to prefer, not necessarily in this order: Paris cafés, streets, anything to do with the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, food, lifestyle (art, shopping, interiors, culture, luxury, fashion, architecture, monuments....). Many returned to the same photographs again and again, while others would linger for long periods. As “3 hours (or less) from Paris” turned out to be popular, this year I will try to include more photographs from some of our many travels, not all.

 

Nouveautés was new and also received many visitors, so I may develop that page. I’m told that my phone is due for an upgrade but so far so good and the truth is, I’d like to downgrade. Again, I thank everyone and will continue to provide glimpses into *my* Paris, and look forward to seeing even more of you in 2018! - BPJ

Merci

Look who's this month's "Featured Photographer" on World Photo Adventure....!

 

Link to Facebook

 

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- THANK YOU WPA -
 

Barbara Pasquet James

The original beignet

 

In France, beignets are small and round and not buried under mounds of powdered sugar like their US cousins.

 

Classic CHANEL

This year's spring collections, while fresh, don't stray from the classics.

Year of the monkey

 

Paris is home to three Chinatowns, and this year's Chinese New Year parade in the 13th arrondissement went off without a hitch despite on/off rain.

Marché staple

Cool mornings, early to market, whether street, roving or covered. In Paris - and all over France, even in the smallest villages - markets will always have flowers for the table.