If you are travelling to Paris in 2010, you may be disappointed not to see many of the Impressionist paintings in the Musée d’Orsay, while this section of the museum is being renovated. As you may know many of them are being exhibited in Canberra until April and then they go onto San Francisco, Tokyo and Madrid.

The Picasso Museum in the Marais is still closed for renovations, and will be through to 2012.

Moulin Rouge celebrates!
This year the famous cabaret celebrates its 120th anniversary. The club has survived two world wars and a serious fire which led to its closure for 7 years after 1915. You may knot know that shows at the Moulin Rouge always begin with “F” – currently the revue is “Feerie”, which was created with an 8 million dollar budget! I still think this is a fabulous way to spend an evening in Paris – dinner followed by the show is an unforgettable night – and it’s still the only club in Paris to do the Cancan!

4 Roues Sous 1 Parapluie
This is THE most fun way to do a tour in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille, Saint-Tropez or Biarritz. Chauffeur driven in a Citroen 2CV (my most favourite car ever) this company offers different itineraries that cater to your individual needs. Have a look at their fantastic website at  www.4roues-sous-1parapluie.com

Pierre Gagnaire
One of the restaurants I am most cross with myself for overlooking for my book is Pierre Gagnaire in the 8th arrondissement (note: this will go in the next edition!!). Gagnaire has restaurants all over theworld but this is the best, and is guaranteed to stay on your list of unforgettable meals. It is also an unforgettable price, having 3 coveted Michelin stars! Put it on your wish-list….

Lutetia Hotel
Not just a hotel dining room, the Brasserie of the Hotel Lutetia is one of the hot spots of the Left Bank. On any given night you might see writers, movie stars and politicians. Even model first lady Carla Sarkozy has visited. Decorated by the Left Bank’s most ubiquitous designer, Sonia Rykiel, with full respect for its Art Deco history, the brasserie is chic in black and white, chrome and mirrors. The atmosphere is informal: a meeting place for friends (there are several large round tables) or cosy dates (the brasserie is lined with cosy leather banquettes). The brasserie specialises in seafood and its stall on the corner of Boulevard Raspail and Boulevard Saint Germain is a spectacular shopfront of lobsters, crabs and oysters. I ordered three succulent oysters (speciales Claires) with shallot vinegar (€10,50) and a glass of the house champagne followed by a half-lobster with pearl barley risotto.
If you don’t feel like shellfish, meat dishes are not overlooked. There’s a good selection of traditional French bistro dishes, from steak tartare to andouillette and garlic roast chicken.
 

Live like a Queen…
We have a new source for private dinners in her lovely Paris apartment prepared in the style of the elegant court dinners of Queen Marie Antoinette. What an amazing experience to top off your stay in Paris. Contact us to find out more!
Or, how about learning about and enjoyed the ‘Art of the French Apero’? Four guests minimum in a charming Montmartre apartment. Your cocktail hour will never be the same!

Bordeaux Wine!
The 2009 vintage is slated to be the best in 60 years. The director of Bordeaux l’Institut des Sciences de la Vigne says "The conditions have been so sumptuous that it is difficult to find a parallel. You have perhaps to go back to the 1940’s to find a comparable year”. So, if we put our 2009 Bordeaux down for the minimum amount of time recommended, we can look forward to this in…..2021!!

Dinosaurs!
I love the fact that even in a heavily populated country like France there are still isolated enough regions to allow discoveries like this just recently….the largest dinosaur footprints ever found were recently discovered in Plagne, near Lyon, by some nature enthusiasts. They are 1.5 metres in diameter and belonged to a species called Sauropods, dating from about 150 million years ago! Palaeontologists now believe that on further exploration this could be one of the largest known dinosaur digs on earth.

Australia vs France - where's the best place to live?!!
I thought you might be interested in this story which I picked up on the CNN website....

Bindi Dupouy, an Australian living in Paris, and her French husband, just had their first child, a son born in the country. Dupouy, a 28-year-old lawyer, got almost five months paid maternity leave from her company for the birth. She can take another seven months off beyond that -- a year total -- unpaid, if she wants, with her job guaranteed under French law.
When her son Louis was born, healthy and by way of a normal delivery, she got to stay in her local French hospital, around the corner from where she lives, for five full days, to rest.
Welcome to France, voted the best place in the world to live for the fifth year in a row by International Living magazine, which has been analyzing data and publishing its annual Quality of Life Index for 30 years.

One of the reasons France keeps winning the ranking is its world-class health care system, which Dupouy just experienced first-hand. "They treat expecting mums like treasures here," Dupouy told CNN from her Paris apartment. "They take really good care of you. The health care system is just amazing." She said she wouldn't have gotten the same maternity leave -- or care -- back home in Australia.

At her job, Dupouy also gets seven weeks paid vacation a year, although it's her first job as an attorney since graduating with a law degree in Australia. She doesn't think twice about taking the Metro across town -- for just $1.37 a ride -- to visit a friend. Or she picks up a rental bike at one of the many computerized bike hire racks in town to get around.

France scores high marks across the board in the survey, which is done every January, from health care (100 points) to infrastructure (92 points) to safety and risk (100 points). "No surprise," said the magazine in its report. "Its (France's) tiresome bureaucracy and high taxes are outweighed by an unsurpassable quality of life, including the world's best health care."

Following France in the top ten are Australia, Switzerland, Germany, New Zealand, Luxembourg, the U.S., Belgium, Canada and Italy, in that order.

Last but not least…
The first person who can find the solution to this puzzle will receive a free copy of our new “Toujours France Traveller’s Companion” as well as a copy of “France: A Sense of Place” which is a superb coffee table book recently released by Thames & Hudson:

Test your knowledge of French Art: Where Am I?

• I was created in 1985
• I am in a salty location
• I am due a re-birth in 2012
• I was the victim of a theft in June 2009
• I house the work of my eponym among many others.

Email me with your answer! Please note, if you don’t receive a reply it means you have not won! I felt terrible last time as I received so many replies I ran out of time to answer them all!

A très bientôt,

Sue Heine