MAC/VAL – Vitry sur Seine
19 janvier 2017 § 2 Commentaires
Musee d’Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne = MacVal, an incredible discovery! Built in 2005, it is the first contemporary art museum outside of Paris, in the banlieue (suburbs). The building stands out from the surrounding area’s architecture: clean, modern and spacious. This museum has such a peaceful and « breath-able » atmosphere. Just the day before I was at the Orangerie and my experience there was not the best due to the crowd. If you want to discover french contemporary artists without looking like a tourist, MacVal is for you. 
Among the exposed artists: Jean-Luc Verna with his intimate illustrations in a black shiny room, the claping hands by Melik Ohanian and Morgane Tschiember with « Six Soleils »: a beautiful installation with a mirror game +ropes, which was definitely my friend’s favorite as well as mine. The suspended moon shaped mirror in the middle of the exposition room gave a floating feeling to visitors. 
Each artist has played with the museum’s spacious architecture to propose a very consistent presentation. 
There is a nice garden with a little water fountain housing a duck family where you can sunbathe, if the weather allows it.
Where? Place de la Libération, 94404 Vitry-sur-Seine – To go there: RER D, then local bus. For more infos, check here.
48h in the City on Water, Venice
15 septembre 2015 § 1 commentaire
Venice has always appeared in my imagination as a city where couples gather for a romantic ride on the beautiful gondola. For sure tourists presence is pervasive, although I did not find it very different from Paris, which is as you know the most visited destination in the world. If you get away from the Rialto and the historic Piazza San Marco, an intimate view of the City on Water will appear. Narrow, short streets leading to dead ends, Venice will become more and more mysterious as you will keep on trying to shed lights on its secrets. Before your journey, I recommend you to read Death in Venice, a classic novella written by the German author Thomas Mann to help you familiarize with its history and architecture.
- Food
It was a challenge to find decent places. Literally all the restaurants have menus written in 5 different languages, and owners changing like musical chairs do not help maintain Venice as a destination for quality food. Addresses indicated in city guides are often out-of-date at the time you will visit them.
Fortunately some places have still kept their authenticity and will remind you how italian food can be delicious. You can book in advance and head to Michelin star restaurants for a unique culinary experience or choose like I did to nibble on cicchetti with « Spritz e Ombre de vin ». 
- Museums
I visited Palazzo Grassi and Peggy Guggenheim’s collection located inside Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, both presenting contemporary artists work. An article on Museeum.net can be found soon about the Palazzo Grassi café.
- Other islands: Murano and Burano
These two little gems should not be forgotten if you have time to visit these islands. They can be easily reached by Vaporetto and will require a full day visit. Murano, only 1,5km distant from Venice is reknown for glass making. If you want to bring back quality hand crafted gifts, Murano is full of shops selling various items made of glass. 
Burano, further in the north to Venice is the most colorful and liveliest island in Italy. The colors of the houses are not randomly chosen as the owners must ask for permission to the government who checks if the colors are matching with the neighbours’ houses.
And some other pictures.. :
Sugarsheet 
