Le Voyage à Nantes
Each summer the French city of Nantes unveils The Voyage to Nantes
Each summer the French city of Nantes unveils The Voyage to Nantes
This totally revamped & virtually new museum was founded in 1933, is the idea of the self taught American volcanologist and engineer Frank A. Perret who helped in the reconstruction of Saint-Pierre. This passionate man was adamant about collecting and preserving objects after the eruption
Paris, July 4th, 2019 - Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann, Région Normandie, Normandie Attractivité and Atout France have teamed
Palcy Achieved Many Historic Firsts as a Black Female Director
The Palace of Versailles and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux - Grand Palais are pleased to offer visitors to the Palace a refurbished retail outlet at the heart of the tour. The three members of A Paris chez Antoinette Poisson worked with the interior design studio Supercraft to design the layout of the Marble Courtyard boutique, under the supervision of Frédéric Didier, chief architect of Historic Monuments in charge of the Palace of Versailles.
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Design maven Saint-Etienne will hold its 11th Design Biennial, curated by American Lisa White from March 21 through April 22, 2019.
For more information, visit the Versailles Tourism Office at www.versailles-tourisme.com.
City region: Paris Ile-de-France
Population & what they are called: 85,461 inhabitants (2014 census), called Versaillais
Access from Paris:
by road: about 30 min (13 miles)
by train: about 30 min
Famous native daughters & sons:
Agnes Troublé, fashion designer, founder of Agnès B
Stéphane Audran, actress
Bruno and Denis Podalydès, brother actors
Most distinctive and/or unique fact or trait (or little known fact):
Because of the Château de Versailles, the town of Versailles was the capital of France from Louis XIV's reign until the French Revolution.
In history, Versailles is known as a place where important treaties were signed, such as the Treaty of Paris (1783), which ended the American Revolutionary War, and the Treaty of Versailles, after World War I.
Notable sites:
Palais de Versailles – the opulent ensemble that includes the Palace of Versailles, the Trianon Palaces, Marie Antoinette’s Estate, André le Nôtre gardens and the park (en.chateauversailles.fr)
Potager du Roi – the huge vegetable gardens used to fill the table of Louis XIV (potager-du-roi.fr)
Académie Equestre Nationale de Versailles – an equestrian show like no other, with horses and riders from the National Equestrian Academy (www.bartabas.fr)
Top annual events:
Le Mois Molière – a theatre and music festival promoting the renewal of popular theatre (moismoliere.com)
Versailles Jazz Festival – a music event focusing on jazz (versaillesjazzfestival.fr)
Most notable museums:
Galerie des Carrosses (Grande Écurie) – a collection of horse carriages, mostly from the 19th century, located in the Great Stables
Salle du Jeu de Paume – a museum about the French Revolution
Musée Lambinet – the museum of the city of Versailles, located in an 18th-century mansion
Culinary specialties:
Macarons Marie Antoinette at www.versailles-tourisme.com
Chocolat objects, like the shoes of Louis XIV at www.versailles-tourisme.com
delicacies inherited from the court of the kings of France: biscuits, sweets, chocolates and other sweets..at La Varenne www.versailles-tourisme.com
Local wines & spirits:
Shopping:
Marché Notre-Dame – on alternating days, good for food and household goods
Quartier des Antiquaires – aka the Quartier de la Geôle, antique shops set in a cluster of small streets around the old bailiff’s offices
Cour des Senteurs – an olfactory trail enabling visitors to discover the world of scents and perfumes
Most popular night spots:
Baradoz – pub with a good range of Beligian beers, whiskies and wines, plus excellent cheeses
Montbauron – a bar-brasserie with a good selection of drinks
O’Paris – a surprisingly charming fusion of Irish and French traditions
Local population’s favorite activities (or hangouts):
Grand Musical Fountain Shows – glorious walks through France’s most amazing gardens during which the fountains and jets are active in time with great classical music (chateauversailles-spectacles.fr/en)
parks – palace and municipal parks account about 50% of the city and are easy to reach for a run, bike ride, boat ride or moment of calm
theater – a good number of stages (Opéra Royal, Théâtre Montansier, Centre de Musique Baroque, La Royale Factory), several associated with the palace, mean there is always good theater and music being performed
Local industries:
Craftsmen – Versailles and its surroundings welcome more than one hundred craftsmen working in different disciplines: luthiers, creators cabinetmakers ...
Specialized Higher Schools – School of architecture, National School of Landscape, International Institute of Perfume and Cosmetics, school of mural art, school of Fine Arts, Regional Music Conservatory
In Pop Culture:
A Little Chaos (Les jardins du roi) – the 2015 film directed by Alan Rickman in which Kate Winslet plays a fictional landscape gardener and Rickman plays King Louis XIV
Dangerous Liaisons (Les Liaisons dangereuses) – the Oscar-winning 1988 historical drama by Stephen Frears starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich and Michelle Pfeiffer
For more information, visit the Le Havre Tourism Office at www.lehavretourisme.com.
City region: Normandy
Population & what they are called: 172,807 inhabitants (2014 census), called Havrais
Access from Paris:
by road: about 2 h 15 min (125 miles) via the A13 autoroute de Normandie
by train: about 2 h 5 min by intercity service from the Gare Saint Lazare
Famous native daughters & sons:
Jean Dubuffet, artist
Raymond Queneau, poet and novelist
govy, artist
Most distinctive and/or unique fact or trait (or little known fact):
Notable sites:
Eglise Saint-Joseph – 12,768 pieces of glass set in an octagonal tower light up this modern church to dramatic effect
Maison de l'Armateur – the 18th-century, relic-filled mansion of the architect in charge of constructing Le Havre's fortifications and fountains
Appartement Témoin – a historic show apartment to help understand how architects and designers aimed to rehouse the locals after 80% of the city was destroyed in World War II
Top annual events:
moZ’aïque – a world music festival with performers from Le Have and around the world (mozaique.lehavre.fr)
Dixie Days – a jazz festival that takes place on the beaches of Le Havre
Fête de la Mer – a popular festival of events and celebrations revolving around one theme: the sea
Most notable museums:
Musée d'Art Moderne André Malraux (MuMa) – the second largest collections of impressionist paintings in France set in a masterpiece of modern museum architecture (muma-lehavre.fr/en)
Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle – the thousands of objects on display represent only a part of the original collection, much of which was destroyed in World War II (museum-lehavre.fr)
Maison du Patrimoine Atelier Perret – the place for anyone keen about Perret’s work and the architectural principles on which his concrete masterpieces were built
Culinary specialties:
cream – a staple of Normandy cuisine, so much so that identifying a food as “Normande” usually means it has cream in it
apples – grown in abundance throughout Normandy and a primary ingredient in meals and desserts, as well as drinks
seafood – the sea’s bounty, used to great effect in Normandy cuisine, especially oysters, scallops, lobster and sole
Local wines & spirits:
cider – produced in Normandy in large quantities and very often drunk with meals as a substitute for wine or beer
Bénédictine – A famous herbal liqueur beverage produced in Fecamp, near Le Havre
Paillette beer – once enjoyed throughout France (and said to be as old as the history of bread), it had disappeared for a while but now flows again
Shopping:
Docks Vauban – Bernard Reichen’s transformation of a 19th-century warehouses into a retail and leisure complex of shops, restaurants and cinemas
Espace Coty – the major downtown shopping center
Place des Halles Centrales – the central covered market for food and local products
Most popular night spots:
Le Volcan – the city's first Maison de la Culture, designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, which is now home to one of France’s national theaters (levolcan.com)
Quartier de l'Eure – a revitalized former industrial district now known for, among other things, smart bars
Quartier des Halles – a district busy with bars like the well-known Black Café
Local population’s favorite activities (or hangouts):
beach – just steps from the center, more than one mile of beach is a local favorite for both exercise and relaxation
Jardins Suspendus – a hilltop Vauban fortress transformed into gardens full of flowers and trees from different continents
Bains des Docks – Jean Nouvel’s design of this aquatic center creates a sensation of calm and well-being enhanced by the natural light
Local industries:
port services – Le Havre is the second largest French industrial seaport in trade volume and 50th largest port in the world, as well as cruise companies’ preferred stop on Europe’s Atlantic facade, and home to the two marinas of Ocean Gateway and Port Vauban
petrochemicals – the Le Havre region has more than a third of French refining capacity and provides about 50% of the production of basic plastics and 80% of additives and oils with more than 3,500 researchers working in private and public laboratories
In Pop Culture:
Impressionism – the light and water of the port of Le Havre and the Seine estuary inspired many painters, including Claude Monet, whose 1872 painting Impression soleil levant (Impression, Sunrise) gave its name to the Impressionist movement
Le Havre – an award-winning 2011 movie, written and directed by Aki Kaurismäki, about what happens when an African boy who arrives by cargo ship is protected by an aging shoe shiner
Un chien andalou – the ground-breaking, still-discussed, surrealistic short film from 1929 by Luis