A initiative that already is happening in 10 cities in different countries of the world, including London, Mexico City, New Delhi and Cairo, has just arrived in Paris to offer women a safe and exclusive service of taxis “only for women” attractive vehicles equipped with the latest technology in safety and comfort, and which have more than one surprise.

The so-called “Woman Cab”, as  the project director in Paris, Malika Montagna explains, has been inspired more than the taxis circulating in the City or Cairo, for example, in the London project called “Pink Ladies Cab” What is the difference between them?, mainly the purpose of the service, as in Mexico City or Bogota for example, two cities where the goal of the  service,  is mostly safety for women due to the high rate of violence and kidnappings that exists in both cities. In Paris, the issue is mostly for comfort, Montagna says, as long there is a potential market of female executives, professionals living in or visiting the city every week for business and they demanded a high quality service efficient, but also offers them the comfort a woman needs in these social circles.

Some of these “special accommodations” include: LCD screen, mini bar, sockets to charge your phone, internet connection, connection to charge your laptop and even occasional surface service and extra space needed to “get ready”. There are so many comforts and is so spacious the vehicle can take up to 6 passengers, men also have been seduced by this service and there is now 15% of male users. In this regard the director says he can not reject men, but the service is aimed particularly at women.

Despite being an excellent initiative, it remains controversial, in any case, if you’re in Paris you can get on one and give us your opinion

Luz Obscura

Visiting Paris is always a pleasure, even if it is for business. Rent apartments in Paris and try the new service called “Woman Cab”, you can visit the entire city from the comfort of these beautiful cars for women.

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Translated by: Marc
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Until the 5th of February 2012, the Jeu de Paume Miuseum exhibits the first retrospective in France of the American photographer Diane Arbus, which attempts to give a new meaning to her work through the universe made up with images which represent the diversity of New York in the 50s and 60s. Among them there are some of her better known photographs and others which have never been exhibited.

Diane Arbus, née Diane Nemerov, was born in New York in 1923. Daughter of a well off Jewish family who liked art and culture, she developed special affinity with images. She fell in love early on with Allan Arbus, whom she married at 18 years old, acquiring his surname and his liking for photography. At the beginning of the 40s they both dedicated themselves to fashion magazines photography, a job which was well paid and allowed them to experiment with photography from new angles, views, the use of light and the use of speed with first class gadgets of the time. These works were for the prestigious magazines Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire and Vogue.

In the mid-50s, together with her divorce, she began photography lessons with Lisette Model, an Austrian artist who had a particular view on image work. She would be an essential influence on Arbus’ work, who despite the ending of her marriage, would preserve her husband’s surname.

The avant-garde irruption in Arbus’ photography would make a mark on many photographers. She went out to the street to capture feelings, culture and human essence. She wasn’t interested in beauty, the was interested in showing what normality defines as grotesque as being full of humanity and what is normal as monstruous. It’s her nonconformist view which she puts in her photographs in a majestic way, and there’s the singularity, because when one looks at an Arbus photograph, they’re observing the world through her feelings and nonconformism with society.

Her centre of activities was essentially New York, where everything is possible and which is the cipty where most number of cultures congregate in the whole world. There she found her base material. The streets attracted her like a magnet and children, women, men, homosexuals and all sorts of people would be captured as a human archeology project. Arbus carefully separated  the images that she wanted, how she wanted them and why she wanted them. In few words, urban life with its ups and downs.

That special sensitivity which she put into every photo and brought her to capture the human essence played a heavy trick on here, like her permanent depressive state and mood and behaviour swings which took her to ingest barbiturates and ended her life in 1971.

For more information: http://www.jeudepaume.org/index.php?page=article&idArt=1470&lieu=1

Nancy Guzman

A walk around the Seine in December isn’t bad at all. In order that it is a complete and infinite pleasure, rent apartments in Paris and then go to all the good shows and exhibitions that the city has prepared for you. Don’t forget to go to the Jeu de Paume and see the work of Diane Arbus.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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With more than 800 000 visitors annually, the museum is home to artists, who each year are leaving their mark on the invisible walls of universal culture. Built and opened in the twentieth century, the “Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris” represents the Parisian art and is dedicated, mainly to the art of that century. Located in the arrondissement number 16 in the east wing of the Palais de Tokyo, place open to new artists around the world. Each year more than 150 new creators exhibit their works and make themselves known in the cultural world thanks to the museum and its endless work, as well as, outreach programs and integration of young art.

The most famous collections of the Museum of Modern Art are those of Pablo Picasso, Georges Rouault, Jean Fautrier, Alberto Giacometti, Yves Tanguy and others. But this time, visitors will have the chance to appreciate the works of Giorgio de Chirico, a painter who was born in Greece, but Italian nationalized, both if his parents were Italian and lived in Florence. This artist is known in the world, because he created a new art movement called “scuola metafisica.”

De Chirico traveled and lived in several cities in Europe, from which he took the best, always with his metaphysics eyes and then reproduced it in his works. Thus he painted a series of works collectively called “Plaza metafísica.” He also became interested in literature and philosophy, read and studied Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche. His time in the army during World War I also marked him for life and influenced his works.

When Giorgio de Chirico created a new style, was a source of inspiration for many artists who came after him. Some of the best-known examples are those of Salvador Dali and Max Ernst. Thus his work that immortalized for all eternity, through his paintings and the other artists who performed in his honor. He also wrote a novel called “Hebdomeros the Metaphysical.”

The works that will be exhibited in Paris of De Chirico are the legacy left by his wife Elizabeth, after his death in 1990 and thanks to these works donated to the Museum of Modern Art, this became the largest container of works by this artist after the city of Rome. That is why this particular exhibition is culturally significant. The exhibition will present 30 paintings, 11 sculptures and 20 drawings, all representing metaphysics at its best.

The Museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, every day until 18 hours, although the entrance is closed at 17.15, so the last to enter, have time to visit all the facilities. Admission is free so that everyone will have the opportunity to visit this exhibition until July 2012.

For more information visit the official website of the museum and the exhibition: http://www.mam.paris.fr/fr/expositions/presentation-du-legs-isabella-pakszwer-de-chirico

d.b

When you rent one of the apartments in Paris you’ll be close to the best attractions of the city, as well as having the chance to visit its museums, monuments and spectacular restaurants and bars. Do not miss to the chance to visit the Museum of Modern Art in the City of Paris, you’ll never forget it .

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Translated by: Hans
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Mariette lived in the seventeenth century and was one of the largest collectors in Europe during that time. He was fortunate to be born into a family that had a vast knowledge in the field of engravings and printsellers in Paris, they were book publishers, and this is how from his youth, Mariette was interested in the art world.

Thanks to the business his family had, when he was just starting his enthusiasm for the pictures, he was able to contacted big renowned collectors, who provided him some of the works that they were filing for many years. So he began to gather thousands of works by known and less known artists, which were valued at that time.

Over time, his fanaticism and passion for drawing was extended and he even managed to have works by artists from almost every country of Europe, especially France, Italy, Spain and Germany. Throughout life he met many people who helped and advised him to give more relevance to his collection and cataloged every single of his pieces in a chronological order, to make exchanges of medium value pieces for better ones.

Pierre-Jean Mariette managed to collect more than 10 000 works, which show that he was a man deeply committed to his cause, a man who achieved his intended objectives with love and passion. He never abandoned his business and when his cultural relevance was renewed, he took advantage of the situation to acquire the finest (and expensive) pieces of art in market.

When he was an adult and savored the taste of art with a more mature palate, he also began collecting plates, sculptures, paintings and any object he found interesting. Although afterwards many of his works were sold and auctioned, being distributed throughout the world.

It was Pierre Rosenberg, the president of the Louvre museum, who undertook the project of rebuilding the collection that Mariette created many centuries ago. For this they had to work hard and acquired works that were on display in public and private places, as well as trying to rearrange them in their original order. Hundreds of such the recovered works will be on display for all who come to the museum.

Long after his death (1774), Mariette’s collection remains in force in the cultural and artistic spheres. Thousands of people around the world are interested in visiting this exhibition that will be exhibited in the city of Paris. The exhibition will be held at the Louvre Museum from the 10^th of November 2011 to the 6^th of February next year. Thus, all the tourists and locals will be able visit the museum and enjoy the exhibition of Mariette.

For more information on this exhibition please visit the official event website: http://www.louvre.fr

d.b

Art fans should rent apartments in Paris and pay a visit to the Louvre Museum. Louvre apart of exhibiting many works internationally renowned, will be exhibiting the unique collection by Mariette. A must go.

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Translated by: Hans
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Mario Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian writer who was born on the 28^th of March 1936. In 2010 he won the Literature Nobel Prize, and with it, even more worldwide recognition. Vargas Llosa considers Paris as a second home, he always says that during his years in Paris he became a writer, that’s why he appreciates greatly this city, where he has always coming to visit, a city that he adopted as his own.

Thus, every street in the French capital took a special significance for the writer and that is why the Instituto Cervantes, created the ” Vargas Llosa’s route” to sightseeing Paris according the writer’s main points of interest in the city. The tour visits a total of 18 sites, beginning at Notre Dame and “Les bouquinistes”. The cathedral is important for all those who had the pleasure of visit it, but when the Peruvian author, comes to Paris, he has the habit of viewing it for hours every Sunday morning. At the same time, he is a fervent client of “Les bouquinistes” which are the booksellers close to the Seine and where one can find exquisite books, never before imagined.

Then many other sites of interest are traveled, to end up at the Library Gallimard, who was responsible for the publication in France of all the author’s work at that time, he was just an unknown young foreigner.

The tour can be done entirely on foot and is highly recommended to do it so, especially if you’re a lover of literature and the hidden history in the walls of a city.

For more information about the Vargas Llosa’s route in Paris, visit the official website tour: http://paris.rutascervantes.es/ruta/vargasllosa/desglose

d.b

If you do not want to miss the magic of the art of one of the world’s most beautiful cities, rent apartments in Paris and feel close to the heart of the world. You can travel the entire city by visiting the sites that are important to your favorite author, the ones that today are monuments to society.

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Translated by: Hans
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Paris is a cosmopolitan city open to every emotions where no one is left out, even kids can find a place to enjoy and experience the magic of a city that is much more than monuments and parks, for it is  all history.

And what better way to live it majestically buy visiting  the fabulous Eiffel Tower, where children and parents can view the city from far above and learn about its controversial history and why the people of Paris refused to its construction, calling it the ugly iron hulk in the aristocratic city. Finally it was the French army that saved the project because they felt that in a flat city it was an ideal tower to install antennas for radio broadcasting.

But if the alternative is total fun, something your child obviously should not miss is  Disneyland Paris, the European version of the classical U.S. amusement park which leads the world of fantasy and dreams. The park is open from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm and New Years Eve has a special opening  time to 01:00 am.

Another beautiful activity in the city of lights that is ideal for  the smallest is the Puppet Theatre of Philippe Casidanus  a veritable institution of the child fun in Paris. His puppets made of boxwood and glass eyes are as old and beautiful as the city. This theater is located in the Park Georges Brassens, 87, rue de Brancion 75015, and opens on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays as times may change depending on the school calendar, we suggest you call by phone to verify the program or look at its page web.

If the kids like bike riding, we suggest that you consult Bike About guided tours designed to see  Paris at a pedaling rhythm. Bicycle rentals are safe and they also have multilingual guides to make it a more pleasurable tour. You can choose from any of the four routes that are planned by the banks of the Seine, along the boulevards, streets and parks full of attractions you will want to see

As for the kids to be in fashion, a walk through children’s clothing stores can be an interesting diversion. We recommend Tartine et Chocolat, where the ideal clothing for kids today can be found, in addition to perfumes, stuffed toys, furniture and objects that will delight both the kids as youself. So do not deprive yourself and accompany your children in this shopping trip specailly for them.

Your children will thank you if you take them to the Jardin d’Acclimatation, amusement park  at Bois de Baulogne. A place where you can enjoy a full day riding the little train, attending a children’s theater performance, strolling on the charming Rivera , see animals in their natural environment, are among many other fun and educational activities such painting and drawing at the studio. Moreover, at the same location there are interesting suggestions of restaurants for all tastes, such as crepes, cafes, or restaurants with terraces and tea rooms.

Nancy Guzman

Go ahead, come with your family to spend the best last days of this year and rent apartments in Paris Here you will enjoy the best programs and entertaining adventures you can live in the city of art and culture.

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Translated by: Marc
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Until February 5th, the Museum of Art and History of Judaism in Paris exhibits Walter Benjamin Archives, based on documents, objects, AND writings of the philosopher’s thought which marked the second half of the twentieth century and his thesis being to this day  one of the most studied on memory and  the oblivion of history.

The exhibition is organized by the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, the Stiftung zur Academy von Wissenschaft und Kultur Förderung and the Museum of Art and History of Judaism in Paris, who invite to learn how Benjamin built his thought and the historical reasons behind it.

Benjamin said of history “The past carries with it a temporal index by which it is remitted to redemption. There is a secret rendezvous between generations that were and ours.” This man who spoke and wrote on art, history, literature, politics and theology from philosophy was right

Walter Benjamin was born in Berlin in 1892. He used the pseudonyms Schönflies Benedix and Detlef Holz. His clear Marxist tendencies led him to study in depth the evolution of human thought and every human action to give content to his writings and essays.

It was a close associate of the prestigious Frankfurt School, an institution inspired by the theories of Karl Marx, Max Weber and Sigmund Freud that was created to conduct research and develop social theory and critical thinking, and was founded by Georg Lukacs in 1924 . Although it worked for many and varied issues, their theoretical work and contribution to the social sciences was the vision and ongoing review of historical materialism in Marxism.

In the beginning he worked as a literary scholar, doing very good Marcel Proust and Charles Baudelaire translations of their books. From those works, he wrote the essay The task of the translator, which became the most widely used theoretical text and respected by those doing the work of translation and interpretation.

The exhibition attempts to show how Benjamin’s work is  and how to organize your files and create new ways to preserve research and literary works. It is interesting to see his books, files, schedules, tickets, envelopes, directories and objects that show the systematization of his intellectual work and the designing of creative ways to save his notes in strict order. To organize the exhibition there was a division into 13 sections designed thematically.

They can be seen in a didactic way as Benjamin created techniques and thinking ways to work while making appointments, the assembly of ideas, the association and juxtaposition of theoretical and empirical knowledge, which enabled him to link senses and logical intertwining which allowed him to reconstruct thinking and organize his own theories, now an obligatory reference of critical thinking.

Benjamin died in 1940 under mysterious circumstances at the Franco-Catalan town of Portbou while trying to escape the Nazi persecution trying to flee to the the United States, where he hoped to meet with his friend Theodor Adorno.

For more information: www.mahj.org

Nancy Guzman

Benjamin always wrote about life and for life, so go and enjoy life by renting apartments in Paris and do not lose the opportunity to walk around this beautiful city before the year is over

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Translated by: Marc
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Each year comes with its wishes and hopes, and although many have launched bad omens for 2012, we assure you that the world will revolve around the sun as it has since before the Cro-Magnon stepped on solid land. So we just dismiss as befits the old year and celebrate the arrival of  2012.

An ideal place to do so and comply with all its good, bad and sinful desires is Paris, where everything is perfect and has the best views in the Seine and the Eiffel Tower as a framework for that hug to celebrate that day that has waited 365 days in 2011.

To bring alive the magic of Paris this year and end it without  a problem, we can tell where you can go or do and choose in advance to reserve the choice you prefer

One of the most interesting sights is Paris by Night, is that you can visit the old classic places that are beautifully decorated with lights such as Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Opera, Place Vendôme, Pigalle / Moulin Rouge and other places that are representative of the city in a special bus for the occasion. Then, to celebrate new year it leaves you in front of Toi, a restaurant where a first-class gourmet meal awaits you. If you prefer you can take another tour that will stop for dinner at the art deco  restaurant La Coupole, Montparnasse. The prices  ??are 249 euros per person with dinner at Toi and 208 euros with dinner at La Coupole.

If you like the glamor of the Parisian cabaret, we recommend the Cabaret La Villa D’Este along the Champs Elysées. Here a gala is offered that begins at 22:00 with a Variety show that ends when you want it to end, for its a non stop show. This place was founded in 1930 and is  perfecte to celebrate new years eve with a glass or more of  classic champagne. Dinner, show and dancing is 200 euros in advance to reserve your table and per person

The Seine is always a good setting to have a toast for 2012 and it can be sailed by any of the cruise ships that tour that New Year’s eve. From Bateau Mouche you can see the shinning lights of the Eiffel Tower, dine and dance until dawn. Among the alternatives you can try Marina d’Orsay, where cruises depart as a program with a fancy dinner and the best DJ of the Parisian scene to encourage dancing all night.

Paris dresses and you can not be left behind. So whatever you choose in the city of art, culture, fashion and style it undoubtedly will make a night of New Year like no other you have lived before.

Nancy Guzman

Go ahead and scream Bonne Année! as you raise your glass of champagne, renting apartments in Paris

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Translated by: Marc
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Until the 19th of February of 2012, Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris exhibits for the first time in France the work of the Austrian graphic artist Stefan Sagmeister. The exhibition titled ‘Another exhibit on promotion and sales material’ brings the exceptional language of the artist, who from the mix managed from the works of art and graphic arts, make them unique pieces.

The exhibition has the illustrations of jackets, discs, commercial catalogues, exhibition catalogues, installations, drawings, logos, etc. and with them he tries to create an edge through the works of the last seven years, dividing it in four sections who he himself nominated as: the sale of culture, sale of friends, sale of companies and the sale of one self, because all those works revolve around the subject of sales.

With this selection, Sagmeister tries to show that there’s no distinction between the world of graphics as an art expression and the commercial sphere which is directed to the sale of products. It’s an interesting proposal for discussion, because it opens the dialogue on the value of immaterial work, which gathers both art and advertising where they create images or they take art images to promote products, or in this case, creating graphic images to sell products.

Stefan Sagmeister was born in 1962, in Vorarlberg, Austria. He studied graphic design in the University of Applied Arts Vienna, and he received a grant to study at the Pratt Institute in New York. In 1991 he moved to Hong Kong and worked for the Leo Burnett agency with Tibor Kalman, co-founder of the ‘Colors of Benetton’ magazine, along with Olivifero Toscani. After, he got into music and he opened his own studio, being the graphic designer for Lou Reed, Rolling Stones, Talking Heads and Casa da Musica of Oporto, among others.

His success has been such that today he gives lectures in different places around the world. He eve became one of the founders of ‘True Majority’ with Ben Cohen, which gathered 500 artists, influential people, employers and opinion leaders in the USA who publicly showed their opposition to the war against Iraq, by considering it a lie to all citizens of that country, and they asked to reduce the percentage destined to weapons and to invest more in education. To promote the idea they published interesting campaigns in the New York Times and in the Wall Street Journal.

Sagmeister is known for his peculiar way of reaching with messages and the supports used for them. This has been controversial because of the radical way of using his body as a graphic support of a poster he designed in the early 90s for the conference he did at the Cranbrook Campus in the American Institute of Graphic Arts, when he asked his assistant to cut on his torso the information on the conference with a sharp object, and then he photographed it making it into a poster.

For more information: http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/francais/accueil-292/une-486/francais/publicite/expositions-96/actuellement-504/stefan-sagmeister-another-exhibit/

Nancy Guzman

December is a great time to enjoy a well earned break, so rent apartments in Paris and don’t miss this beautiful exhibition on Stefan Sagmeister, a genius of graphic arts.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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At last, the awaited show ‘Batman live’ arrives in Paris, from the 21st to the 25th of December at the Palais Omnisports.

The fans of the bat superhero are in luck. Now, as well as the comic books, the TV series, the animation short films, videogames and film saga, they’ll also be able to enjoy a theatre show full of special effects, acrobatics and spectacular recreations of the Batcave and the legendary Batmobile.

The scriptwriter, producer and writer Allan Heinberg is the creator of ‘Batman live’. And he doesn’t start from scratch, Heinberg is known worldwide for his work in TV with series such as ‘The Gilmore Girls’, ‘Sex in the city’, ‘The OC’, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Party of Five’ and ‘The Ugly Truth’.

His relation with Batman isn’t accidental, because Allan Heinberg is the creator of the Marvel comic book ‘Young Avengers’.

The show is represented on a huge stage, which is 30 metres wide and 18 metres deep. The confectioned decorations for the occasion are truly breathtaking and very loyal to the comic book style. The soundtrack, which has been composed by James Brett for such an important event, accomplishes all the expectancies of the fans and it helps to recreate the mystery and emotion which surrounds the adventures of Batman.

‘Batman live’ tells us that story of how an why a rich and respected person from the city of Gotham becomes a relentless justice seeker who protects the citizens from the ‘supervillains’ who have as their goal to dominate the world. The show also tells us the story of how a young circus acrobat becomes Robin, Batman’s loyal sidekick, also known as the Boy Wonder. Of course there’ll be the same old baddies, the Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, Two Face, etc. The fans of the Dark Knight will be able to enjoy a true show with a staging which is quite frankly spectacular. The attendants won’t have a single moment’s rest during the 85 minutes that the show lasts. Acrobatics worthy of the Cirque du Soleil, spectacular special effects on stage and a stunning scenography with more than 85 actors make ‘Batman live’ a show that you can’t miss.

The show will arrive in Paris after its successful presentation tour in different English cities. After its European tour, its destination will be the United States, the country where batman fans anxiously await the moment to see their hero live. The chosen place for such a highly awaited show is the Palais Omnisports in Paris Bercy, the place where they usually celebrate the big magnitude shows like, for example, the Masters Tennis Tournament in Paris.

The prices range from 53€ for the cheapest tickets to 97€. Fantastic prices if we take into account the uniqueness of the event that we’re referring to.

Fernando Paterna

If you’re thinking of travelling to see ‘Batman live’, we propose the chance to rent apartments in Paris It’s a very interesting option, because you’ll be able to enjoy total independence and enjoy the comfort of a house to yourself. We advise you to make the most of your stay to visit the French capital and enjoy its museums, monuments and gastronomy.

Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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