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Music in France: Three American rising stars

Three of the rising American stars of music in France are female. They offer three different styles all inspiring and uplifting. They are all performing in the Paris area this November.

Karina Canellakis

Born in 1981 in New York City in a family of musicians, Karina Canellakis studied at the Julliard School and made a name for herself as a violinist. While at the Berlin Philharmonic Academy, Simon Rattle noticed her interest in conducting and encouraged her to continue in this direction. She worked with the Chicago Orchestra, then won the 2016 Georg Solti Prize while an assistant with the Dallas Orchestra. She was subsequently invited to conduct many prestigious orchestras in North America, Europe and Australia. Her performances and positions are frequently "first female" accomplishments in the world of conducting dominated by men. In November she is in Paris at the Theatre des Champs-Elysées, Karina Canellakis where she will be conducting the Orchestre N…

Halloween in Paris: Origins and celebrations

Célébrer HALLOWEEN in Paris le Octobre 30 au Book Room avec un concours de déguisement et Trick or Treat. 1. Visit the Book Room (42 rue du Chemin Vert 92100 Boulogne-Billancourt, M° Porte de Saint Cloud) in your Halloween costume on 30 October 13-18h to collect your Trick or Treat goodies. 2. Email a photo of you in your costume in front of the Book Room to BRbookroom@gmail.com 3. We will post all the photos on our Instagram @bookroomparis. Be sure to like your photo on Instagram and follow our account because the photo with the most likes will win! Winners get their choice of book from the Halloween book box. Les origines d'Halloween Peu de fêtes américaines ont une origine aussi étrange, aussi paradoxale que celle de Halloween. Halloween ou "All Hallow's Eve" se situe sur le calendrier à la veille de la Toussaint. En France la Toussaint c'est d'abord une tradition hautement religieuse: on pense aux morts, à tous les saints, et l'on effectue une visite au cimetière p…

Magic at the Gallery of Compared Anatomy

Magic at the Gallery of Compared Anatomy For the writer Paul Claudel, The Gallery of Compared Anatomy was "rien de moins que [le] plus beau musée de Paris […]. À chacun de mes passages en France, je reviens visiter cette galerie sublime avec un sentiment de vénération religieuse, qui chaque fois, me donne envie d’enlever non seulement mon chapeau mais aussi mes chaussures." One of the most unusual museums you’ll see in Paris, the Gallery of Compared Anatomy and Paleontology, part of the Muséum first opened in 1898. They have an exceptional collection of skeletons (as well as organs) of all the terrestrial and marine creatures known to man, displayed as if they were marching all together towards the end of the earth. It is impressive all these bones in one place and it allows the comparison of sizes, forms and means of locomotion of these creatures. Look at a giraffe next to a horse, next to a cat and understand what they share and what makes them different. Upstairs is the p…

Hints and Tips for Running and Biking in Paris

Hints and Tips for Running and Biking in Paris (and an impassioned plea at the end)

It’s no coincidence that “endorphin,” the chemical produced by the brain during intensive, repetitive exercise like running, biking, rowing and swimming, seems to rhyme with “morphine” (an opiate pain reliever). It is morphine, its name being a contraction of “endogenous” (i.e., manufactured “within,” or by, the body [en = “in” in French, for example]) and “morphine”--or other “-ine” drugs, such as codeine, etc. Endorphins are natural pain relivers, which is why we get a “runner’s or biker’s high.” This would be the case even if we were pounding the pavement or pushing the pedals in Lost Springs, Wyoming (as of the 2010 census, population: 4). Or Charleroi, Belgium (according to the BBC, the ugliest city in the world).

BUT WE ARE RUNNING AND BIKING IN PARIS! Need we say more?

Yes, we need. In order to keep safe and happy while all that home-grown d…

Renée Fleming in Paris! Discount tickets

Have you been to The Theatre des Champs-Elysées? Despite the name, it is not on Les Champs-Elysées but not far at all, Avenue Montaigne. I must say that I did not know much about the place (despite being a Parisian!) and I was so pleasantly surprised when I visited it. It is a hidden gem with a rich history and a fantastic program. It is one of the most beautiful theaters in Paris and now they are offering FUSAC readers a chance to hear one of the most beautiful voices in the world... RENEE FLEMING.

To enjoy the unique concert on 22 October with a 15% discount book via this link with the code USAFLEM22 The theatre is back to a full house with all the usual services. You must however wear a mask and have your Passe Sanitaire. See the full upcoming program

The Theatre des Champs-Elysées opened in 1913. Ganna Walska, a rich American, financed the theatre for decades. The building is remarkable for having bee…

FUSAC in POP Culture

Over the years FUSAC has been mentioned in numerous guide books and magazines, two novels and seen in one film and one exhibition. Cinema

The film was Love Actually a 2003 romantic comedy written and directed by Richard Curtis. Mostly filmed on location in London, the screenplay follows different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories. The story that shows FUSAC is between the cuckold writer Jamie (Colin Firth) and Aurélia (Lúcia Moniz). Jamie withdraws to his French cottage, where he meets Portuguese housekeeper Aurélia, who does not speak English. Despite their inability to communicate, they are attracted to each other. When Jamie returns to England, he realises he is in love with Aurélia and begins learning Portuguese. He returns to France via the Marseille airport where he hops into a cab with a FUSAC in hand! He finds Aurélia working at a restaurant. In broken Portuguese he declares his love for her and proposes. She says ye…

New oaks for rebuilding Notre Dame de Paris

Rebuilding Notre Dame Last Fall while riding bikes through the Forest of Marly we saw some freshly cut oak tress of impressive size. We imagined them to be the new elements for rebuilding Notre Dame. We were a bit ahead in our thinking as the selection of trees has started in March 2021. Oak trees from French forests will be selected for rebuilding Notre Dame's own “Forest” and another roughly 1000 for Violet-le-Duc's wooden steeple. The Forest of the cathedral is the framing that holds up the roof and consolidates the walls. It burned dramatically in 2019. The original medieval beams came from thousands of different oak trees and because of the size of the structure it was a rare architectural work admired by professionals the world over. Beginning 2021 was the time to choose the trees that will be used to rebuild this structure so that they can be harvested by the end of March before the spring growth begins. They will come from all over France from both public and p…

My French Neighbor and the Palais Royal Cannon

From the Traveling Note-book of GEOFFREY CRAYON, GENT. My French Neighbor, The Crayon Papers by Washington Irving, 1825 My French Neighbor I often amuse myself by watching from my window (which, by the bye, is tolerably elevated) the movements of the teeming little world below me; and as I am on sociable terms with the porter and his wife, I gather from them, as they light my fire, or serve my breakfast, anecdotes of all my fellow lodgers. I have been somewhat curious in studying a little antique Frenchman, who occupies one of the jolie chambres à garçon already mentioned. He is one of those superannuated veterans who flourished before the revolution, and have weathered all the storms of Paris, in consequence, very probably, of being fortunately too insignificant to attract attention. He has a small income, which he manages with the skill of a French economist; appropriating so much for his lodgings, so much for his meals; so much for his visits to St. Cloud and Versaill…

Get Out of Town to Cergy-Pontoise and La Défense

The connection between Cergy-Pontoise and La Défense Sometimes getting out of town means just going to the suburbs. Here's two daytrips Cergy-Pontoise and La Défense, both just outside Paris to the west that are linked by monumental art, villes nouvelles construction and that you can see one from the other. L'Axe majeur at Cergy-Pontoise In the 1960s, faced with the fast development of Paris and its suburbs which lead to a housing crisis and people living in shantytowns, it was decided to control and balance the developement by creating several new cities around Paris. These were Évry, Cergy-Pontoise, Marne-la-Vallée, Sénart and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. There were some smaller projects too like our town center in Villepreux. The site chosen for Cergy-Pontoise was selected for its interesting and unusual landscape which is around and above a meander in the Oise River. The town was created in an amphitheater around the curve of water. The horseshoe shape gave it a unique …

The Saints on the map of Paris

Whether you walk across Paris or look at the metro or street map, you often see places named after a Saint. Such familiar names as St Genevieve, St Denis, St Vincent de Paul etc... Have you ever wondered who were these saints on the map of Paris and what their history was? We did! Here is a bit of history on the Saints on the map of Paris.

Sainte Geneviève

Logically the patron saint of Paris, St. Geneviève, is the one you come across most often. Her statue by Paul Landowski graces the Pont de La Tournelle in the 4th district. There is also one in Jardin du Luxembourg. She is on the front of Notre Dame as well. The Catholic church is celebrating the 1600th anniversary of Genevieve this year. A relic, her index finger, and her sarcophagus is in a chapel dedicated to her in the church of St Etienne du Mont a church in the 5th arrondissement on the Montagne Sainte Geneviève where she lived and prayed.

She was born in Nanterre in about the …

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Music in France: Three American rising stars

Halloween in Paris: Origins and celebrations

Magic at the Gallery of Compared Anatomy

Hints and Tips for Running and Biking in Paris

Renée Fleming in Paris! Discount tickets

FUSAC in POP Culture

New oaks for rebuilding Notre Dame de Paris

My French Neighbor and the Palais Royal Cannon

Get Out of Town to Cergy-Pontoise and La Défense

The Saints on the map of Paris

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