Parismarais
Newsletter "BONNES FÊTES” AND “MEILLEURS VŒUX" Bonjour Parismarais readers,
HOLIDAY RENTALS Last minute opportunities for X-mas and New Year’s week with
Parismarais
And The Marais Guesthouse, the most luxurious place you can find in Le Marais, is also on the same page. Don’t forget to check the elegant hotel Le Pavillon de la Reine **** . They still have a few rooms left for X-mas week. http://www.parismarais.com/4-star-hotels-paris-marais.htm
SHORT-TERM RENTALS: know the truth and book with French licenced agencies. What should you know about short-term rentals? The rules are strict and will be become even more strict in the next year. Many American websites suggest you invest in Paris apartments that can be rented weekly to tourists, and they promise you the moon. It was certainly a great idea 10 years ago, but not any more. The market is totally saturated and Parisians cannot even find places to live for themselves. This is not a good money-making proposition since there are far too many offers on the market. In fact, the Paris Mayor has decided to fight against illegal agencies, mostly based in USA, Russia and fiscal paradises such as Delaware or some tropical islands… read our warning on this page and trust the residents. Unless you plan to live here over 6 months per year, you will find yourself in an illegal situation and put yourself at enormous risk as a foreigner. Paris real estate has never been so expensive, nearly 12 000 euros per square meter in le Marais, + around 8% administration and tax fees to the “notaire”. So you’ll never get a return on your investment. Moreover, when you resell your property, as a foreign owner, you will be taxed at 33% on your potential profits. So unless you live here over 6 months per year, our advice is not to buy, but to rent and only with French-based agencies or private owners who respect strict the rules and are members of Paris Tourist Office. Read more on: http://www.parismarais.com/rent-a-flat.htm BRAND NEW HOTELS ON THE EDGE OF THE MARAIS ARE JOINING OUR NETWORK THE
4-STAR CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL AT PLACE REPUBLIQUE AND 3-STAR
MARAIS-BASTILLE HOTEL
ARTS & CULTURE : MONDRIAN AT THE GEORGES POMPIDOU CENTER The
mystery surrounding the work of Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) is only
deepened by “Mondrian/De Stijl,” the excellent exhibition that opens
today at the Centre Pompidou: how did Mondrian’s name become an
international synonym for abstract, geometric arrangements of black
strips and blocks of primary color and how could paintings that are
so emotionless touch so many people so deeply and lastingly?
To prepare for your trip to Paris, you can download the exclusive Parismarais map of le Marais for free! Be sure to print out both sides A and B of the map by clicking on the following links: http://www.parismarais.com/map/A.pdf You can also visit the following page where you will find more maps of Paris and le Marais as well as selected places to visit—photos and addresses will “pop up” as soon as you click on the colored dots. Fabulous, n'est-ce pas? http://www.parismarais.com/map-of-le-marais.htm Don't miss our SPECIAL OFFERS AOL blocks many major European ISPs, so we cannot guarantee that our mail to AOL addresses will arrive. Please use another email provider or "White List" our email address or add "info@parismarais.com" and to your contact list. Parismarais Newsletter, december 2010 To Subscribe or unsubscribe : To find out more about cultural events in Paris, discover Paris Update, the weekly English-language Web review of Paris cultural events edited by Heidi Ellison, an American journalist who has lived in Paris for over 20 years. Follow Parismarais on Twitter: Follow us on facebook: Special thanks to all our contributors and media partners all over the world. Should you wish to promote us and create profitable reciprocal links with us to your web site, please write to advertising@parismarais.com PARISMARAIS.Com is a Media Partner of Paris Tourism Office, France Guide / Atout France, IGLTA and correspondant of over 100 medias in the world.
Copyright 2010, parismarais.comm |
Paris might just be one of the most magical places to celebrate
Christmas, provided that you plan ahead. In France, Christmas is for
families and just about everyone stays in on Christmas Eve to feast
on oysters, foie gras, turkey and trimmings, followed by the
traditional dessert: a bûche de Noël (log-shaped Christmas cake).
The commercial world shuts down. Christmas Day is a quiet day of
relaxation with the family. ( Check the ones made by La Fougasse : 
So what can a tourist do in Paris on this stay-at-home day? That’s
where the planning comes in. To get you in the mood, Handel’s
Messiah will be performed at the Eglise de la Madeleine on December
22. Christmas Eve is a great time to window shop on the
Champs-Elysées, with its spectacular Christmas illuminations, or
check out the animated window displays at the grands magasins –
Galeries Lafayette, Le Printemps, Le Bon Marché and BHV – without
the crowds. Another free activity on Christmas Eve is the awe-inspiring
spectacle of midnight mass at Notre Dame Cathedral (arrive an hour
or two ahead of time to be sure you get a seat).
In the run-up to the holidays, Christmas markets, based on the model
of the famous markets in Nuremberg and Munich, Germany, and
Strasbourg, France, are held in the Jardins du Trocadéro (across
from the Eiffel Tower), the Place Saint Germain des Prés, Place
Saint-Sulpice, the Gare Saint-Lazare, and the Champs-Elysées between
Concorde and the Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées. 
For Grinches who hate Christmas, it’s a great time to catch up on
films you haven’t gotten around to seeing or hang out at a trendy
café like the 
The Marais House
Le Pavillon de la Reine, after it’s renovation
Works by a number of the artists involved in the movement, notably
Theo Van Doesburg, who invited Mondrian to help him launch the De
Stijl journal in 1917, show them trying to represent the inner mind
visually. Some of Mondrian’s attempts at the exercise seem gauche,
such as “Dune Landscape” (1911), while others, like the Fauvist,
nearly abstract “Red Cloud” (1907-09), are more successful.
This mega-show, which concentrates on Mondrian’s Paris years, from
1912 to ’38, offers only a handful of works from his mature period,
and it must not be forgotten that he came to his “Mondrian” style
rather late in life, when he was in his 50s. It is interesting to
note that the artist really struggled with and worked at these
paintings, which can seem so reductive and formulaic: an unfinished
canvas dating from 1934 shows how he kept changing his mind and
moving the lines and blocks of color as he worked.
Van Doesburg is as strong a presence in this show as Mondrian, and
one can’t help but wonder why Mondrian won the eternity sweepstakes
while Van Doesburg, who quarreled with Mondrian over whether
diagonal lines should be allowed in painting, fell into relative
obscurity. A talented artist himself, Van Doesburg often led the way
for Mondrian and his other followers and seemed willing to take more
risks.
LE MARAIS MAP, DOWNLOAD FOR FREE!
