Another ‘what I did today’ post from The Morris here (I’ve got some controversial shit coming your way soon, fear not oh cravers of the extraordinary…)
But it’s only because what I did today was fucking cool. I’ve popped back over to Paris for the weekend (for any new readers I lived and studied – and nearly lost my marbles – here for a year) to see my infamous French grandparents. In true Ninette style, my nan essentially planned the weekend around food and art, and so both my stomach and mind are now truly content.
Lunch was at Giulio Rebellato, one of the finest Italian restaurants the 16th arrondissement has to offer. It’s frequented by celebs a plenty, but not in the way Fumo plays host to the local player of the match… Think more presidential. In any case I looooove it because they can barely speak French there – the menu is all in Italian and if you ask for some recommendations… Well you’ll be left even more perplexed than before you asked. But the food is to die for, of course. Advice from the front of house for you all: eat ice cream with a fork. It tastes better.
Next up was the Fondation Louis Vuitton, which does not contain racks on racks on racks of monogram (although there is some vintage luggage scattered around the walls in the foyer). It’s a sort of exhibition centre, full of galleries where artists will be able to display their collections and put on performances (it’s not long opened so it’s pretty much a blank canvas at the moment). But the actual building itself is breathtaking; designed by Frank Gehry and commissioned by Bernard Arnault, it set LVMH back some $143m. But it is so worth it. It’s set on four floors, slotted together in the most ridiculous fashion, meaning that you can barely tell where one starts and another ends; full of juxtaposed staircases that send you dizzy and just such an OPEN space that you can practically feel your mind expanding. The roof and sides are all made of glass and all the walls are white, so after a while you do start to feel like you’re in some sort of Inception-type situation. But they’ve incorporated so much greenery and water features, you do also feel ‘close to nature’ – exaggerated by the fact that it’s situated in the Bois de Boulogne (a woodland part of Paris just on the outskirts).
Perhaps the most logic-defying part of the whole thing, however, is the work that has gone into ensuring the perspectives of Paris from the edifice. Because there aren’t viewing galleries as there are up on the Tour Eiffel or Montparnasse – you’ll just be able to catch a glimpse of the business district, or the Eiffel Tower, or the forest but you KNOW the whole shebang has been engineered so that you do catch that glimpse. It’s just gorgeous.
Whilst I could go on describing for hours the best way is probably just with some images! But if you do happen to be travelling to Paris any time soon this is a must-visit. Especially since the Mona Lisa is actually shit. If you go, try and time it so as to be able to get the last of the daylight because the way the light plays on the structure is breathtaking. And book in advance because queuing is for peasants.
“If you want to take more interesting pictures, stand in front of more interesting things”.
TTFN,
CM