Recommended Spots by the Famous (Part I)

Some people need to rely on other people's advise to live their life. It'd automatically become a must if it's recommended by the famous faces. No offense. I don't know everything and I do that sometimes.

So here goes the recommends from my fave's:

JEREMY SCOTT

COLETTE
'It’s the hub of everything going on. The energy’s always circulating here. You run into everybody. And Sarah is like a sister to me.'
213 rue St-Honoré, 1st. M° Tuileries. 01.55.35.33.90; www.colette.fr/

COMPTOIR DE L’IMAGE
'For the books, and for owner Michel’s conversation and knowledge. He’s a great, sweet, lovely character.'
44 rue de Sévigné, 3rd. M° Chemin-Vert. 01.42.72.03.92.

LE PARIS, PARIS
'Anything goes, honey.'
5 av de l’Opéra, 1st. M° Palais Royal. www.leparisparis.com/

KRUNG THEP
'Best Thai food I’ve ever had. You sit at high little tables with your legs in a hole.'
93 rue Julien Lacroix, 20th. M° Belleville. 01.43.66.83.74.

GOLDFRAPP

IRCAM
'They rarely let you in there anymore, but they often used to have concerts in Pierre Boulez’s fantasy studio underneath the Pompidou Centre.'
1 pl Igor-Stravinsky, 4th. M° Hôtel de Ville. 01.44.78.48.16/ www.ircam.fr.

GEORGES
'For the view.'
Centre Pompidou, 6th floor, rue Rambuteau, 4th. M° Rambuteau. 01.44.78.47.99.

PICASSO MUSEUM
'It’s got the best Picasso collection in the world.'
Hôtel Salé, 5 rue de Thorigny, 3rd. M° St-Sébastien Froissart. 01.42.71.25.21/ www.musee-picasso.fr.

JARDINS DE LUXEMBOURG
'We love that little park.'
pl Auguste-Comte, pl Edmond-Rostand or rue de Vaugirard, 6th. M° Odéon/ RER Luxembourg.

NOUVELLE VAGUE

RESTAURANT VAGENENDE
'A bit like ‘le Flore’, this timeless brasserie is pretty cool, with a very Parisian style.'
142 bd St-Germain, 6th. M° Mabillon or Odéon. 01.43.26.68.18.

CHERCHE-MIDI 22
'An excellent Italian restaurant in a very swish area.'
22 rue du Cherche-Midi, 6th. M° Sèvres-Babylone. 01.45.48.27.44.

Source: Gogoparis

David Lynch's The Air is on Fire

First time in Paris and the world to see the artworks of the famous film director David Lynch - the master of the nightmarish and dreamlike films like The Elephant man and Mullholland Drive.

The Air is on Fire provides the opportunity to explore the many sides to his personality in the fields of painting, photography, cinema, sculpture and sound. It presents both old sketches collected since he was young and creations produced especially for the exhibition in a scenography designed in close collaboration with the artist.

To me, the exhibition presents dark and twisted side of human psyche. Some aggressive images through the the space. You will already get struck by the first painting of a couple - the man with a knife in his hand asking the woman half naked on the sofa "do you want to know what I really think?"...or many photographs with a horrid sexual feel to the distorted images...Definitely not recommend to bring your kid along, or else better provide a good answer to any questions that may arise.

The exhibition runs at the Cartier Foundation in Paris until 27 May, 2007.

261, Boulevard Raspail,75014 Paris, France

Interesting review: David Lynch's dark arts laid bare.

Human Skin Handbag

Originality, creativity and exclusivity seem to be the keywords specially in the high competitive design and fashion industries. But how innovative can you be? The French seem to have it alright...nope I'm not talking about eating frogs. Imagine having a human skin as a material of your bags or clothes. Nah, I'm not talking about the real human flesh and skin, we can't be THAT eco-oriented just yet - helping the world by killing useless scums? I'm talking about synthetic human skin lookalike. It may sound a bit gross to some but if you enjoy this concept and like to convey your *unique* self to the eyes of the public...it's worth it. It can even be personalised like tattoo of a name...!

Check out Skinbag.net

Off the record, I think the bags look pretty cool...might just get one myself.

The "Church" of Knowledge

For a foreigner who relocates yourself here for whatever reason or a local who enjoys the English speaking world, WH Smith can be a very good source of knowledge, entertainment, escapism (from the daily chansons Français) and so on. I visit the "church" regularly and spend quite a lot on books and magazines especially during the long period I had to wait patiently on the internet installation. Right, there is no surprise about the waiting process for something to be done in this beautiful beloved country.

Anyway, provided a variety of choices in English, you can grab a book and go have a read at Jardin des Tuileries right on the opposite side of it. Very nice.

PS Sometimes I wish the angel side of me (or it should be the devil side?) would show up on my shoulder and stop me from buying too many magazines/books that I haven't yet to finish...so I could save some €€€ to get a Muse bag...Oops

Free Hugs in Paris...and other places

The Free Hugs campaign has started last year by Juan Mann, an Australian guy who now has inspired people from all the corners of the world to spread the spirit of free love and free hugs to the human fellows.

The original, the inspriation.


Pompidou, Paris 2006 (one of the first in Paris)


Paris, June 2007 (the latest one to date)


China, October 2006


Korea, October 2006


Amsterdam, October 2006