Concierge suggestions December 22
Like every month, find the suggestions and advice of our concierges for enhance your stay!
Restaurant of the month: The revival of a Parisian institution La Fontaine Gaillon
A new "Parisian chic" decor and a generous terrace - one of the most pleasant in Paris - make up the new face of La Fontaine Gaillon, a "new" address conceived above all in the continuity of a neighborhood institution. Signed by the self-taught designer Axel Huynh - to whom we owe, among other things, the decoration of the Mona Bismarck Hotel - La Fontaine Gaillon has been embellished and given a new life. With the ambition of resurrecting the authentic atmosphere of the place that once made its charm, the interiors are built around noble materials that bring French excellence and craftsmanship up to date. The natural woodwork echoes the soft velvet of the benches, and the place is anchored around Neptune's trident, a strong symbol of the statue of the young triton that surmounts the square of La Fontaine Gaillon.
Opera of the month: The Marriage of Figaro at the Palais Garnier
It is one of the most emblematic operas in the repertoire. Brahms spoke of it as a "miracle" and the Countess' complaint still resonates today as one of the most heart-rending musical pages. Mozart and his librettist Da Ponte began their first collaboration with Beaumarchais' comedy, which caused a scandal in Parisian society. The play had been banned by Joseph II in 1785 at the Vienna Theater. Was it because it exposed the contradictions of a regime that was already wavering and ready to collapse with the French Revolution? Netia Jones preserves the essence of Beaumarchais' play by questioning human relationships with humor but not without mischief, in a production that confuses reality and fiction to the point of asking, like the Count: "Are we playing a comedy?
Play of the month: Un Chalet à Gstaad at the Théâtre des Nouveautés
Françoise (Josiane Balasko) and Jean-Jacques Lombard, very rich tax exiles whose fortune is based on the husband's inventions, are preparing to receive a couple of friends, Alicia and Grégoire Lagarde. He is an industrialist, son of a gun, Alicia is a wealthy aristocrat and an idiot to eat hay. Everything could be fine, we are between people of the world (even if it is not necessarily the same) if Alicia had not been infatuated with a spiritual coach, a guru on the edges, who accompanies them to dinner. And inevitably, the varnish is going to end up cracking, especially when the guru is going to announce them the worst: their fortune is threatened... and their "crazy money" could well go up in smoke.
Concert of the month: Barbara Pravi at L'Olympia on December 5
After having touched the heart of the public with the title "Voilà" which became the French-speaking anthem of the Eurovision 2021, Barbara Pravi unveils her first album "On n'enferme pas les oiseaux". Proof that this girl, singer-songwriter a little perched, who burglarizes for some months the attentions of the musical scene, has indeed taken off.
Exhibition of the month: Picasso in the image at the Picasso Museum
Beginning November 9, 2021, "Picasso in the Image" will present, on the second and third floors, an original thematic tour of the museum's collections based on Pablo Picasso's appearances on camera. Using art and archive films, documentaries shot during the artist's lifetime, reports and sound documents, the artist appears in motion, presenting the different facets of his life and work: family man and genius creator, Mediterranean hedonist and tireless worker, cheerful personality and faithful friend... It is the artist himself, through these films, who is thus placed at the heart of the tour, punctuated by the red thread of audiovisual extracts. Works from the collection are presented alongside these animated images, echoing each of the projections.
Unique activities of the month:
The City of History : At the gateway to Paris (Grande Arche de La Défense), go back in time and discover the most beautiful pages of the history of humanity in the City of History. Thanks to shows and technological and ultra immersive animations, young and old relive the great events of the past, meet the emblematic figures of the history of France and live new emotions...
The Parc des Princes : The Parc des Princes offers to young and old alike to discover the mythical enclosure decorated in the magical colors of Christmas, and to try curling as well as the ice rink, with the whole family! And don't forget to eat, as in any good Christmas market, in one of the many cabanons offering raclette, fondue or Mont d'Or tastings, for a winter under the sign of cheese, in all its forms
