Thursday, September 23, 2010

Something for the Weekend (24th – 26th September)

Find below my recommendations for this weekend in Paris.

The Festival America

Vincennes, which has it’s annual Prix de l’Amerique horse race, also has a biennial America literary festival. As well as books and authors – including Bret Easton Ellis, Jay McInerney, Colum McCann and Douglas Kennedy – you will also find films, debates, concerts and exhibitions, all of which deal with America in a very wide sense (also Cuba, Canada, Mexico…).


September 23rd - 26th
Various locations around Vincennes

Full programme : http://www.festival-america.org/


Journées portes ouvertes artistes de Menilmontant

As usual for this kind of event, I recommend visiting not necessarilly for the quality of the art, but rather for the access it gives to hidden and generally unaccessible corners of the district concerned. This time the area - mostly centred on the 20th arrondissement - is a particularly interesting one.

Full programme and list of locations: http://www.ateliersdemenilmontant.org/

An Ethical Fashion Show

The Docks de Seine development in front of the Gare d'Austerlitz has run into many problems, but this weekend will finally give you an opportunity to visit the site. The fantastic looking building designed by the architects
Jacob et MacFarlane is still only a quarter full, but the Cité de la Mode et du Design are determinded to make use of the space. This weekend sees the 'ethical fashion show', an event that plans to show how fashion can respect the environment and help social insertion and cohesion!

The full programme can be found here: http://www.ethicalfashionshow.com


TechnoParade

Already in its 12th edition, the TechnoParade will very appropriately start at 12pm at
the Place Denfert-Rochereau before heading on to the Bastille, before invading bars and clubs around the city later on in the evening.

The route and times of the event can be found here: http://www.technoparade.fr/?page_id=20

Fête des Jardins
The annual fête des jardins event sees activities and happenings organised in parks across the city. Of most attraction are the 'secret gardens', generally those belonging to religious groups, who open their doors only once a year for this event. One particularly worth visiting is the
Jardin de l'Hotel de la Tremoille (the official residence of the Serbian ambassador) which I have previously described on Invisible Paris.


Click here for the full list of secret gardens.

A Pyramid of shoes

Handicap International organise each year a series of very worthwhile (and photogenic!) events, in particular one on the 25th September at Trocadero with the aim of focussing attention on the continued use of mines around the world.

More details here: http://www.pyramide-de-chaussures.fr/


Les Lundis de Lutèce
Sylvanie de Lutèce returns this Monday for her monthly historical investigation after a summer break. The theme this time around is ‘La Cour des Miracles’, the lawless and dangerous parts of Paris in the 17th and 18th centuries. The presentations are given (in French) in a joyous and friendly environment (a bar!) and are full of juicy anecdotes!

Monday 27th 8pm
Le Baron Samedi
12 Rue des Goncourt, 75011

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