PARIS — Paris could absolutely rest on her laurels. Even if the whole city ceased creating new and beautiful things to awe guests tomorrow, it would still be one of the most popular places to visit. Lord knows, producing those little Eiffel Tower figurines could keep the tourist machine churning forever.
However, Paris hasn’t given up on innovation, and thank goodness for that. Like many people, I love to go for the croissants and classic boulevards, but also to see what sort of fabulous concoctions the art intelligentsia and architects have conjured up lately.
I certainly wasn’t disappointed on my most recent visit, particularly by the new Frank Gehry-designed Fondation Louis Vuitton in the Jardin d’Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne in western Paris.
Visually, it’s a stunner. The surrounding area is flat, with a forest on one side, a busy avenue along the building, and the park opposite — and there, “a cathedral of light,” as Francois Hollande called it, the Foundation.
The Foundation was commissioned by Bernard Arnault, C.E.O. of the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. Work started on this private cultural center and contemporary art museum in 2008, and, in the end, it cost $135 million. The 2-story structure could not be higher than the former bowling alley that stood in this location, and the upper part of the building had to been done in glass.
Inside, we took in the Frank Gehry exhibition, including sketches, models, and the design work for the Foundation’s design in its entirety, from rough drafts to completion. In another gallery, there was a contemporary video installations, but to my mind the building itself was the showstopper. Off the main lobby we stopped into the well-stocked museum bookstore, full of books I would love to own.
All that beauty will make you hungry. Luckily, the café, called Le Frank, is just as terrific as the space. The wait was 30 minutes, but it was worth it. The menu was contemporary French cuisine at its best, the work of chef Jean-Louis Nomicos.
While I waited, I admired the café space, designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Large, Japanese-inspired, trout-motif lamps hang from the ceiling, giving off a warm orange glow. Gray leather banquettes, walnut chairs and the table set with black chargers, simple gray place mats and minimalist white china created an understated elegance.
For starters, one friend and I ordered a creamy soup made with pumpkin, carrots, and ginger, with creme fraiche in the middle, sprinkled with croutons and chopped chestnuts–divine. Following that was an amazing sea bream carpaccio, garnished with marinated carrots, lemon caviar, and a drizzle of basil olive oil. Another friend had an exceedingly elegant Caesar salad: tiny heads of romaine lettuce, topped with a Parmesan wafer.
We shared desserts, including a chocolate ganache cake and a slice of light lemon tart decorated with meringue drops. A glass of crisp Argentinean white wine accompanied the meal, recommended by our charming waiter. We lingered over our late lunch as the shadows lengthened out the windows on the Bois de Boulogne.
After our lunch, it’s worth walking off some of that food by meandering down to the lower levels of the building. Rushing water cascades down a series of terraced steps ending up in a grotto. This reflecting pool is surrounded by 43 prisms shaped in yellow glass columns and illuminated from the inside. Designed by Danish–Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, it’s worth seeing even if you’re not coming down off the high from that lemon tart.
Musee Picasso
Another shiny new stop in a must-see cultural tour of Paris is the newly renovated Musee Picasso. Closed for 5 years, now twice its former size, the renovation was designed by architect Jean-Francois Bodin. The Picasso museum is located in a 17th-century mansion, the Hotel Salé in the Marais district.
The collection is made up of 37 rooms filled with 400 works of art by Picasso and his private collection —- the largest collection of Picassos in the world. Much like one of his paintings, the museum can feel a bit impenetrable. It’s made up of many choppy, small rooms on four levels, which is sometimes hard to navigate. Also, the artwork is often unlabeled, and placed in an order that is hard to follow. Still, the museum is full of treasures to reward a little patience.
A majority of his artworks are from the 1920s and ’30s. An early Picasso self-portrait in deep blue is stunning, the portrait of Olga in an armchair is masterful, and Picasso’s whimsical Dadaist sculpture still delights.
As much as I love Picasso’s artwork, some of my favorites paintings aren’t actually his. Instead, they’re on the 4th floor, in small rooms filled with Picasso’s own private collection, including works by Chardin, Degas, Cezanne, Gauguin, Braque, Renoir, Miro, Matisse, and Henri Rousseau. It’s a fascinating way to provide context to the master’s work.
A short stroll away, while the Centre Pompidou is starting to show its age (30!), it still manages to put on surprising and fresh exhibits.
The Marcel Duchamp exhibit, for example, includes 100 or so works, mostly done from 1910 to 1923, still felt shocking, 100 years later. (Funnily enough, like us, many pieces from the exhibition were visiting from the states–on loan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.) Duchamp would have liked it that way. This iconoclastic “anartist” believed in a paradoxical, avant-garde approach to creativity. Once part of the futurist movement, who was also involved in surrealism, dadism, and known as the father of conceptual art, Duchamp believed that ideas take precedence over creation. The Mona Lisa with a mustache is his brainchild. The mug with this image on it was for sale in the gift shop, how could I resist?
Of course, the permant collection is worth walking through as well—it includes masterful paintings by Robert Delaunay, Balthus, and Andre Derain. I also enjoy taking the exterior escalator to the top floor to enjoy the panoramic view of Paris.
In Paris what’s old is new and what’s new is terrific. The city of light is still full of surprises.
Picasso National Museum: 5 Rue de Thorigny, Paris, France 75003, www.museepicassoparis.fr; Le Frank at The Louis Vuitton Arts Center, Paris: 8 Avenue du Mahatma Gandhi, 16th Arrondissement, Paris, Telephone: (33) 01-58-44-25-70. Metro: Les Sablons. www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr , Open Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 7p.m. Dinner by reservation only Wednesday to Saturday. Average lunch 35 Euros, Average dinner 70 Euros.
