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Events / New York City / Berlin / Paris / Shanghai / → All Tags

This Weekend in the World: Warhols and Face Painting

· Paris: It is pretty much a guarantee that at any moment, in some world city, there is a Warhol exhibition taking place. This spring however, the mother of all Warhol shows is taking place beneath the ethereal dome of the Grand Palais. "Andy's Wide World," on display through July, brings together an incredible 140 of his portraits of society figures, actors, and pop royalty like Mick Jagger, Man Ray, Marilyn Monroe (of course) and Giorgio Armani.

Why go this weekend? Simply because this is just about the mid-point of the exhibition, so here's hoping the crowds will be in a lull and you'll have some Warhol gazing space. Check out the press release to read about the drama behind the portrait of designer Yves Saint Laurent.

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Events / Tokyo / Madrid / Paris / New York City / Brooklyn / Museums / Markets / → All Tags

This Weekend in the World: Markets and Museums, Oh My!

· New York City: Can it be true? Is New York finally going to enjoy some 70-degree weather this weekend? Since this spring will find more urbanites with less cash for indulging their al fresco fantasies, we turn to the opening weekend of the outdoor Brooklyn Flea Market in Fort Greene, Brooklyn on Saturday. From 10am to 5pm on the grounds of Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, 200 or so vendors will pitch their tents and hock everything from vintage vinyl and handmade baubles to churros and organic everything. Read all about this weekend's deals and the fun for the rest of the summer at the Brooklyn Flea's website.

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Events / New York City / Prague / Orlando / Paris / London / → All Tags

Surfing, Drinking and Anarchy On Schedule for Weekend Events Around the World

· Orlando: Technically on Cocoa Beach, the 45th annual Ron Jon Easter Surf Fest is an entire weekend of hanging ten, going shoeless and using words like "cowabunga" and "radical." Kicking off tonight at 8pm with a free al fresco film screening of a surf movie, the festival even includes an Easter egg hunt at 11am tomorrow. Check out the full schedule for info on every awesome event.

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Events / New York City / Flash Mobs / Paris / London / → All Tags

What's Happening This Weekend in World Capitals

· New York City and almost everywhere else: Set your jammies aside and warm up your biceps for some serious public pillow whomping as the world celebrates International Pillow Fight Day on Saturday. We already let you in on the fact that New York City will host their massive stress-relieving event at 3pm on Wall Street, but be sure to check out the official site for details on how to get in on the fun in your city, whether that be Cardiff or Seattle.

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Fashion Travel / Paris / Shopping / Paris Travel / → All Tags

New Paris Store Sells Chanel for the Good of Madagascar

Believe it or not, the city of luxury shopping has finally birthed a store focused more on charity and less on marking items up to high heaven. Having opened yesterday in the middle of Paris' Fashion Week, Merci in the Marais is a boutique conceived by the owners of the "childrenswear couture house" Bonpoint. Seeking to turn their high-profile connections and retail know-how into a philanthropic mission, the pair will donate 100% of profits at Merci to a children's cause in Madagascar.

We know what you're thinking; they sell secondhand or overstock, right? As if! Merci is the result of three years of negotiating with brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, Alexis Mabille and Marni to manufacture pieces specifically for their store, and since the designers are not taking any profits, "the items are priced at 30 percent to 40 percent less than the clothing in their own shops." With three stories, a perfume bar and a home department, Merci has also left space for the rare vintage finds, so you will find some secondhand here. Alas, it is Chanel, Dior and Burberry, and all for the good of Madagascar as well as your closet.

The concept is about as recession-friendly as one can get, and we don't expect this to be the end of it: "Offering designer wear and home goods as well as books, perfumes, flowers and food, the [owners] say Merci is Europe's first philanthropic store, and hope to open sister-shops in London, Milan, New York and Tokyo."

Related Stories
· Fashion family decides to say 'Merci' [IHT]
· New Paris concept store to donate profits to Africa [The Age]
· Fashion Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

Architecture Travel / Paris / Versailles / Museum Travel / → All Tags

Versailles Grows a 'Modern Horn of Plenty'

For those of you making the pilgrimage to Paris for Valentine's Day and hoping to head down to Versailles to indulge your princess fantasies, don't expect the good old palace to look like it has popped out of a storybook. Instead, you'll find that Versailles seems to have developed an curious growth since the end of this last summer, an addition which will be sticking around until 2011.

Designed to help process the 15,000 visitors a day to Versailles and clamp down on security, the Versailles Pavilion, "a modern horn of plenty with a big mouth and a small tail," is actually inspired by the orange Central Park Gates of Christo. Like the Gates, this concrete and timber tunnel is only temporary, but we're sure that it will find some way to either travel around the world or overextend its welcome at Versailles. Nonetheless, we're intrigued by the juxtaposition of the classical architecture of the Chateau versus this strikingly modern snake; it's almost reminiscent of a vacuum, sucking up the eager tourists and their traveler's cheques.

Related Stories:
· Versailles Pavilion by Explorations Architecture [Dezeen]
· Architecture Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Explorations Architecture]

Celeb Travel / Victoria Beckham / Paris / → All Tags

Posh Spice Just Finished "The Da Vinci Code"

Non-spoiler alert: At the end of The Da Vinci Code, detective Robert Langdon meets the Mona Lisa who has been transformed into a fembot with very large shoulder pads. Just kidding! That's Victoria Beckham posing for a fashion shoot outside the Louvre in Paris this week, just like one of those statues who move for coins.

We hear she's doing the shoot for Gilles Bensimon, the fashion photographer, Elle creative director, and sometimes America's Next Top Model judge — we remember only because Tyra butchers the pronunciation of his name every time.

If you're more into viewing non-plastic works of art, check out the Louvre's fall exhibit inside. It's called Masterpieces of Islamic Art and the critics are raving.

Related Stories:
· Paris Hotel Reviews [HotelChatter]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Musée du Louvre [Official Site]

[Photo: The Superficial]

Paris / Travel Sex / Embedded Travel Guides / Monica Guy / Jardin du Luxembourg / → All Tags

Jaunted Embedded Travel Guide: Paris Lingerie

Just got back from a dirty weekend in the countryside. Not with that prissy English boyfriend of mine, who dumped me after I called him prissy in the last Embedded piece. With my new French Fry.

I'd like to call him my new French hotpants, like my trendy friend Viia from Fashion Magazine but unfortunately I can't. He was wearing Y-Fronts.

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Paris / Monica Guy / Embedded Travel Guides / → All Tags

Jaunted Embedded Travel Guides: Paris Etiquette

If you Google French etiquette or similar terms, you'll think you've reached the rules and regulations page of a Russian Cold War prison.

Most of the search pages are written by people who have Googled French etiquette.

I decided I owed it to you to try out the rules myself, sans Google.

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Paris / Monica Guy / Embedded Travel Guides / → All Tags

Jaunted Embedded Travel Guides: Paris Wine

I was trying to find a good quote to start this piece off, but couldn't find one that was tacky enough.

In vino veritas? Well, there's some truth in that.

"Get drunk and stay drunk forever." That's Baudelaire, the 1960s poet, and his fatherly advice to budding poets. Not so poetic, really.

So how about some philosophy? Fernand Desnoyer, the French philosopher, says "This is our night! Drink is the real pleasure! There's nothing after! Nothing except to drink again! While we wait for the dawn to rise!" Hmmmm, very philosophical.

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Paris / Embedded Travel Guides / Monica Guy / → All Tags

Jaunted Embedded Travel Guide: Smoking in Paris

In half of Europe, and many states and cities in the US, smoking in public places is illegal. In most bars and cafes in Paris, on the other hand, it is still obligatory. Refusing a proferred cigarette is like refusing a slice of birthday cake on the grounds that cake makes you fat.

Asking some hottie of the opposite sex for a light is a precursor to wild and extravagant sex in the toilets. Well, it usually works for me. And I've never visited a prostitute, but I'm told it's standard practice for the girls to offer the customer a post-shag fag in the hope of a bigger tip.

MORE ON PARIS'S DIRTY PLEASURE

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Airlines / Elysair / L'Avion / Paris / New York City / → All Tags

Airline Report: Elysair Reborn

We sure were looking forward to the Blind Melon MIDI that would inevitably wind up on Elysair's homepage, but it turns out Elysair's homepage is no more. In fact, the company itself is no more; the airline formerly known as Elysair has been re-branded as L'Avion, and its new website isn't nearly as vintage. The English version, to which you're re-directed from the old Elysair.com, isn't finished yet, but the French one is.

Do any of y'all speak French? We don't, but from what we can gather from the French-language site, special promotional prices for the launch will start at €1000 r/t. There aren't any good pictures of the seating up on the appropriate section yet, but based on a quick Google translation, we're guessing that with a 140-degree recline, seats will be more MAXjet than Eos. Also according to the Google translation, the seats' color scheme will lend itself to "sobriety and the appeasing." You can get sober and appeased between Paris and Newark starting on December 27.

Related Stories:
· Budget airline offers Paris-NY with French frills [Reuters]
· Elysair Parties Like It's 1995 [Jaunted]