New Girls’ Guide to Paris Article: Hotel des Academies et des Arts

The lobby of the Hotel des Academies et des Arts

Hello hello,

I have a new article over at Girls’ Guide to Paris if anyone wants to take a gander.

I thought I’d share the story behind the story, too. (Oh! Could that be a new feature? Let’s put it in quotes then: “the story behind the story.”)

One of Jerome Mesnager's figures having fun

So I got to visit this boutique hotel on the Left Bank – not far from the Luxembourg Gardens – called the Hotel des Academies et des Arts. A cute couple, Laurent and Charlotte Inchauspé, owns the small design hotel and gave “carte blanche” to renowned street artist Jerome Mesnager to do whatever he desired with the space. A modest group (6-7) writers were invited for a tour and to meet the artist in person.

The wellness room at the hotel

It soon became clear I was the only anglophone present. All of the other invitees were French bloggers and/or journalists. Question: could I cover a story entirely in French for the first time?

White Nights, Art in the City

Centre Pompidou, the buidling itself like an art installation

Last Saturday was the ninth edition of Nuit Blanche in Paris, an all-night arts festival where museums, galleries, churches, and just about any other public or private space that wants throws open their doors to creative exhibitions.

The open street also becomes a living playground. Light shows, sculptures, installations, performance art; you were bound to run into all of these things last Saturday, if you just set your mind to wandering.

I didn’t get to see much of Nuit Blanche, unfortunately. I was inside at a friend’s going away party. (I did, however, witness a whole different late night scene as my friend lives on Rue St. Denis, which – how to put this delicately – is where “working ladies of the night” and their clientele meet. That, however, is a whole other story.)

Nuit Blanche or not, Paris is known as an art capital year-round, with a bazillion museums and art galleries to its credit (close approximation). You may remember my gushing about the recent Yves Saint Laurent expo. Not only did I love the exhibition, but I adored being in the Petit Palais (little palace) at midnight.

That outing gave me the idea to pitch a short article about other Paris museums where you can get your late-night art fix. I picked a few major museums and coupled them with dining suggestions and voila! My latest published clip at Girls’ Guide to Paris!

Enjoy the article and bon weekend!