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REJUVENATING THE CHAMPS ÉLYSÉES

The Champs Elysees. 

The Champs Élysées is surely the iconic avenue in Paris.  It conjures up images of a wide, tree-lined boulevard lined with magnificent Beaux-Art style buildings occupied by elegant designer boutiques, discreet luxury hotels, the famous Lido cabaret, and like a giant exclamation mark, the Arc de Triomphe marking the summit.  The reality though is that over the last few years the street was in danger of becoming just another retail strip full of banal chain stores and more than a few fast food outlets.  Two recent spectacular renovations have heralded a rejuvenation of the world’s most beautiful avenue.

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THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING EXCITING ON IN PARIS

One of the fabulous shoes at the Christian Louboutin show at the Palais de la Porte Doree. 

Trying to distil the huge number of exhibitions and concerts happening in any year in Paris into a list of highlights is an almost impossible task.  This year is no exception, but any year will have so many visual feasts and surprises, it’s one of the great pleasures, and dilemmas, in planning a visit.

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So, what’s good about Paris in the Winter

Galeries Lafayette always has magnificent Christmas decorations

The thing we especially look forward to at this time of year is heading to the northern hemisphere for a couple of weeks.  It’s a welcome break from heat, humidity, and right now the heartbreaking drought conditions that’s affecting so much of our wide, brown (read: burnt) land.  We love the whole, over-the-top festive razzamatazz that takes over our favourite cities such as London and of course Paris.

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New Etchings of Paris – by Rodney Moss

Notre Dame from the Seine, etching by Rodney Moss 2019. Photo, Ben Wrigley

Paris Plus Plus has great pleasure in presenting the first three etchings of sketches of Paris by well-known Australian architect-turned-artist, Rodney Moss. Rodney has generously offered to donate all profit from the sale of Notre Dame from the Seine to the Notre Dame Restoration Fund, established by the French Government.  We are delighted and honoured to participate with Rodney in this cause that is dear to our hearts.

If you would like to contribute to the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral by purchasing one of Rodney’s etchings, go to the STORE link on the top right-hand corner of this Blog page.  All profits from the sale of the Notre Dame from the Seine etching will be donated to the Cathedral’s restoration fund

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FONDATION LOUIS VUITTON – FRANK GEHRY’S MODERN MASTERPIECE FOR PARIS

A bird’s eye view of Fondation Louis Vuitton. 

“I dream of designing a magnificent vessel for Paris that symbolises France’s profound cultural vocation.”

With these words, the famous Canadian-American architect, creator of Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum (1997), gave his blessing to the opening, in October 2014, of his latest masterpiece, the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris.  We were lucky enough to be in Paris that week and joined perhaps 10,000 others for its first open weekend.

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