About Town

Paris, out of fashion? Not so quick. This spring, a new fashion and design center, La Cité de la Mode et du Design, will be inaugurated along the Seine’s Left Bank, between the Bercy and Austerlitz bridges. The three-story building will host a fashion school, L’Institut français de la mode, an exhibition space—big enough to welcome catwalks of course—as well as music production studios, a bookstore, cafés, a restaurant. Paris-based architects Dominique Jakob and Brendan Macfarlane have enveloped the concrete construction of a dockside warehouse built in 1907 with a structure called the “plug-over,” made of steel, glass, and landscaped material. The 12,000-square meter building (129,000 square feet), also known as Docks en Seine, is the only one in Paris to extend over the Seine, with its lower part, a promising open-air terrace that can accommodate flooding.

Le Printemps des Poètes
March 3 – 16
This annual poetry festival is dedicated to giving poetry a public presence and making it accessible to all. Look out for verse in the most unexpected places, from railroad stations, to schools, hospitals, and FNACs. The Post Office will distribute 3 million poetry postcards.
See www.printempsdespoetes.com for full details.

Festival de l’Imaginaire
March 12 – April 18
The annual Festival of the Imagination hosts an eclectic selection of musicians and performers from around the globe. Always of a high pedigree, and often previously unknown in France, the artists range from the traditional to the contemporary. Festival goers can discover Japanese ritual theatre, Sicilian puppetry, and Finnish folk music among many other offerings. €11-30.

One usually doesn’t consider astronomy when thinking of Paris. A pity. A visit to l'Observatoire de Paris, located just south of the Luxembourg gardens will change that.

Founded under Louis XIV, l'Observatoire is a research centre, but one that opens up its wealth of science, history, and architecture to the general public.

Carnaval de Paris
February 3
Hardy locals brave the streets to celebrate this annual revival of a centuries-old Parisian carnival tradition. Also known as the Promenade de Boeuf Gras, or the Fat Cow Parade, the merry bovine herself leads the procession from the Porte de Bagnolet through the city, spreading a bit of mid-winter mayhem and music in its way. Assembly at Porte de Bagnolet from 1.30pm, departure from the bottom of Rue le Vau at 3pm, arrival at Hôtel de Ville 7pm. See website for details.
Rue le Vau, Paris 20. Mº Porte de Bagnolet. www.carnaval-pantruche.org

Chinese New Year
February 7

Outdoor Ice-skating
Until March 9

“O.K. Now he’s going to get his coat…” As predicted by the smiling librarian, the old man walks across the room towards the coat rack, slips into a raincoat and slowly reaches the exit, an old briefcase under his elbow. Since he has retired, Marcel Chausiaux comes to the library every day. Before, he used to give talks in nursing homes about Paris. More specifically, about anything dreadful that took place in the city. For instance, he spoke on the guillotine and the Deibler family, executioners, or “headmen,” over three generations, “1,500 heads for the grandfather, the father and the son.” (Coincidentally, he lives on the street where the deadly device operated from 1850 to 1900). Now, vaguely hoping that a bureaucrat somewhere will forget his age and grant him permission to give one more lecture, he researches the capital’s “red houses,” meaning, he explains, “houses where crimes were committed.”