“Philippine Pride in Paris,” reported one dispatch about the opening of the grand exhibit “Philippines: Archipel des Échanges (Philippines: Archipelago of Exchange)” last April 8 at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris.
Musee du quai Branly (Quai Branly Museum) in Paris, France will host “Philippines: Archipel des échanges” (Philippines: An Archipelago of Exchange), an exhibition featuring artwork and artifacts from the country’s pre-colonial period.
There is, as always, the dim view: “Tourism,” says American author Don Delillo, “is the march of stupidity. You’re expected to be stupid. You walk around dazed, squinting into fold-out maps. You don’t know how to talk to people, how to get anywhere, what the money means, what time it is, what to eat or how to eat it … You are an army of fools, wearing bright polyesters, riding camels, taking pictures of each other, haggard, dysenteric, thirsty. There is nothing to think about but the next shapeless event.”
The fashion crowd battled the elements in Paris Sunday as snow covered the city on the last day of the menswear shows.
Hermes has become a byword for simple, unpretentious luxury. With panache, veteran menswear designer Veronique Nichanian proved this again in a classy and masculine showing for fall-winter 2013. A more muted palette than last season was broken up with bright flashes of golden yellow.
The two Paris airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly, registered a record 88.8 million passengers last year, but growth of the number nonetheless slowed to 0.8 percent, airport operator Aeroports de Paris (ADP) said on Tuesday.
From Marc Jacobs to Alexander Wang, star alumni of New York’s Parsons design school have long made inroads in Paris. But now the faculty is going a step further, opening a full-fledged branch in the fashion capital.
What matters at Christmas time is the spirit, right? For those yet to be convinced, a tiny Japanese pavilion in Paris offers to initiate Westerners to a 700-year-old gift-giving ritual known as Origata.
Food alone does not constitute memorable meals, though it is important. Around the flavors of fine cuisine are company and conversation that enhance the dining experience. Setting can also contribute, as it did during a recent visit to Paris but the unexpected added an element of the extraordinary.
History is coming full circle: borrowed from the Aztecs four centuries ago, perfected for the palate by the Europeans, chocolate is conquering new worlds, with sales booming from Asia to Brazil.
I traveled to Europe with my mother to rediscover France and Italy. In contrast to the Philippines where there were monsoon rains, it was summer in Europe (July/August). It was the best time to travel there because airfare was cheaper and almost everything was on sale.
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