My kitsch Paris

[ilbonito]

I'm a bit hesitant to post about Paris because many of the people on this board know it so well .. and I don't. I spent a total of five days there on my sort-of-honeymoon (my husband was so preoccupied with work he left me after three days to go back to the office!)

Still, I loved Paris. I had been resistant to going there for years. It seemed so cliched, so overdone. But when I got there, I found that the city marvellously lived up to the hype - it was wonderful.

Perhaps because I was there on a gay honeymoon (!) and partly due to my determination to avoid the cliches, I ended up seeing a quirky Paris, one that suited my particular tastes, which I guess, run towards the kitschy ...

So for those who know Paris well, or love it with a passion, this might seem rather flaky, or unrepresentative. But what can I say? It was the Paris that I saw.

[ilbonito]

Whoever would have thought it? One of my favorite places in Paris turned out to be the hunting museum. Located in a plush, beautifully restored chateau in Le Marais it is a kind of surreal wonderland that reimagines man¡¯s interdependence with nature through unexpected modern art pieces, and quirky touches like the 17th century painting of dog with slipper, above or a fully furnished Louis IVTH sitting room, where a stuffed fox lies quietly curled up in one corner, on an armchair. There were light fittings made of deer antlers, stuffed polar bears and leopards lurching unexpectedly, weird sculptures (below) and an alcove where you look up only to find the darkened ceiling covered with the feathers and faces of disembodied owls. A triumph of the imagination.

[ilbonito]

[ilbonito]

The intriguingly named Palais de Tokyo (why>) was one of my favourite places in Paris; a 1930s concrete art deco/ fascist pillared fantasy Mussolini would have approved of, right across the river from the Eiffel Tower. And yet it is covered in graffiti and its forecourt is smeared in human excrement (Paris can have a surprising edge sometimes). Then inside it looks like this; a neon blazing hipster haven where Paneuropean fashionistas discuss modern art and flick through the funky bookstore, which stocks French and Spanish versions of the great Dutch gay magazine, "Butt" - "Slurp" or "Wank" anyone? Plus a street art shrine to Michael Jackson.

[ilbonito]

The Musee Dapper is a small, very Parisian and very chic foundation devoted to African art. It is housed in a sleek building in the embassy district around the Arc de Triomphe. The exhibition when we were there (which was small but immaculate, with great pieces beautifully displayed) was called "The Art of Being a Man", a display on masculinity in African cultures. A highlight was a short film playing on a loop on the elaborate courtship rituals of the Woodabe people in Chad. The men look quite androgynous. Primped in makeup and finery they perform an oddly drag queen-ish lip syncing, eye-rolling dance.



There was also another, great film on a Congolese fashion tribe called the sapeurs, dandyish men who pride themselves on their blinging yet strangely old fashioned dress sense, strutting in finely tailored suits through the streets of Kinshasa. I think I actually saw one later in Kentucky Fried Chicken - either that or it was Forrest Whitaker in a fawn jacket and a top hat.

[ilbonito]

[ilbonito]

One of my cruellest disappointments in Paris was the closure of the Catacombs, the fabled tunnels that lie underneath the city, their walls lined with the bones of some six million people. The eerie tunnels have long been one of the city¡¯s top tourist draws, immortalised in (among other things) the horror flick ¡°Catacomb¡± where singer Pink plays a bratty American who takes her wet-behind-the-ears sister to an illegal rave in the tunnels, until the become separated¡¦ Unfortunately the caverns had been closed since acts of vandalism the previous September, set to reopen at the end of the month. Too late for me. Downer. (This was in January 2010 though, I guess they are open again now?)




But not to be cheated of death (as opposed to cheating death!) I found a creative solution. I found another outlet for my ghoulish fascinations; the cats and dogs cemetery which slumbers in slightly kitsch obscurity in the outer suburb of Clichy, on the banks of the Seine. The oldest animal cemetery in the world is the final resting place for scores of faithful hounds (including the 1930s French dog movie star Rin Tin Tin). It is also haunted, creepily, by stray cats. Slinking through the gravestones; they run up behind you, or sit on the tombs watching you with an impassive stare. Honoring their dead, blissfully unaware, or all-knowing?



I also saw this grotesque exterminators shop near Le Marais. It advertises ¡°destruction of nuisance animals,¡± with a bounty of snared and stuffed rats hanging on hooks as proof.

[ilbonito]

[ilbonito]

I seemed to have a bit of a death fixation in Paris actually - in addition to the dogs and cats graveyard, I visited two human cemeteries to see the resting place of two great gay icons:



The tomb of the Egyptian-born beauty-queen-cum-balladeer and disco star, Dalida. In her lifetime, she sold 40 million records and was beloved across the French, Arabic (and Italian and German-) speaking worlds, although never making much impact on the AngloSaxon consciousness at all. I only heard of her a few years ago. Despite her great successes however, she was an unhappy woman, tragically taking her own life. She lived (and died) in a fairytale chateau in the nearby, and posthumously renamed, Place Dalida.



Better-known perhaps is the grave of another queer icon; Oscar Wilde lies in an angel-shaped sarcophagus in the Cimetiere Pere Lachaise. The (male) protective angel was originally anatomically correct, but an enraged cemetery undertaker smashed off the offending organ, allegedly believing that mourners would try to use it for obscene purposes. He kept it for many years as a paperweight on his desk. Today, unable to have sex with the tombstone, visitors instead decorate it famously with lipstick kisses. It Is oddly touching to see the grave of a man who died a hundred years ago still covered, tangibly, with so much love.

I also went to see a memorial for another icon; although this one still alive (just).



I saw an exhibition in honor of the original Gallic sex goddess, Brigit Bardot, advertised on the metro. It promised - with a touch of hysteria, "1000 square metres of BB!" How could I resist? The exhibition was being held in Boulogne Billancourt, a prosperous suburb best known for its art deco architecture; the city had prospered during the 1920s and 30s and had commissioned buildings by top architects of the age. There are three early Le Corbusiers there. The Bardot exhibition was actually being held, jarringly, in the city's Musee d'Art le Anees 30s. What was Brigit Bardot doing here ? But there was no arguing with the impressive crowd she drew - the place was packed. The exhibition itself was vaguely disturbing in its fanatical BB-worship; there were oil paintings of her, endless cheesecake photos, motorcycles she rode, a sculpture of her as the Statue of Liberty, an exact mockup of her teenage bedroom; and all of them, being poured over in reverent silence by the pressing, rapturous crowds.

I had expected the show to gloss over her crackpot later years when she became a hardcore animal rights activist, calling for Muslims to be deported for their halal slaughter of lambs and opposing a hydroelectric dam in the name of "the millions of animals" that would be killed. But instead I got this:



I wonder how they dealt with her relationship with the openly racist rightwing leader Jean Marie le Pen ? My French wasn't up to deciphering the text on it.

[bixaorellana]

Well, I for one am delighted to see the Paris Ilbonito saw.

Excellent pictures, as always, but how in the name of all that is sane did you find some of these places?! I mean does one just stumble upon a hunting museum. And please tell me that sculpture in #1 is not made out of #2.

Is "dapper" a deliberate play on words, or just a wonderful accident? I have seen photos of the "beautiful" men before, but the film really ups the ante on their oddness. And the women of the tribe are so normal looking! It's worthwhile opening the youtube page to get the story on that music. But however did they fixate on a style that seems copied from 1930s Hollywood movies?

Any idea on how that sarcophagus got chosen for Oscar Wilde? I've seen pictures of it before, and it seems a cruel trick to play on a famous aesthete. I didn't know about the lipstick kisses. What a touch!

I wonder if someone will capitalize on the Bardot mania and lucratively create a sort of Graceland mecca for her fans.

I would love to see the pet cemetery, although the staring cats sound creepier than those hanging rats.

[Deleted]

Wonderful overview of the some the quirkier sides of Paris, ilbonito. The hanging rat boutique actually appears in an important scene in the film Ratatouille.

The reason that the Palais de Tokyo is called that is that when it was built in the 1930's, the avenue along the Seine was called Avenue de Tokio. A few years later, there was some sort of war, and the street was renamed Avenue de New-York. However, in 1997 the city gave the name 'Place de Tokyo' to a small square next to the building.

The Brigitte Bardot painting would go well in the hunting museum.

[ilbonito]

I've got no idea what the sculpture is about!!!

The Musee Dapper is named after a Dutch guy who wrote the first encyclopedia about Africa , although apparently, he had never been.





Kerouac - I used your "ethnic walk" from thorntree as one of my resources. I printed it out, and went to Chateau Rouge and walked down Rue Myrrha, your "ugliest street in Paris" . I saw the live chicken shop and the super-cluttered African general stores, loved it !



So thank you so much for that! It was great!

[ilbonito]

More cats and dog cemetery:

[ilbonito]

More Paris exotic:



The beautiful Russian cathedral


The C.T. Loo Building, built by a wealthy antiques dealer in 1926


Tibetan temple in Bois de Vincennes

The wonderful "La Pagode" a startlingly inauthentic faux-Shinto shrine built in the 19th century in what was then imagined to be Japanese style, and now an arthouse movie cinema:





But this one REALLY surprised me - I didn't realise they still had Asian-style squat toilets in Paris!! Now THAT was exotic. It was in some random cafe in the suburbs.

[bjd]

There used to be a lot of squat toilets in France -- many cafés had them. Easier to clean, I guess.

As usual, I like your take on Paris -- as on the other cities you visit. I'm surprised to see English on some of the memorials in the pet cemetery. Not only the French who are loony about animals, obviously.

I'll have to go check out the hunting museum -- I didn't even realize it existed. If I had seen the name, I would have just skipped over it, but now that I know it's a paradise of kitcsh, I'll have to go see it.

[ilbonito]

[ilbonito]

[ilbonito]

Shop called "Oprah!":

[ilbonito]

Colette is the most fun shopping experience I have ever had. The boutique wowed Paris when it opened in 2004 on the Rue Fauburg St Honore. It is stocked with an immaculately edited collection of designer clothes, flashy sneakers, art books, magazines and CDs – fun meets chic. When we arrived the store was in the grip of a 50% off sale. Half of Japan was there to rifle through the racks of beautiful clothes – there was a whole rack of eye-popping bags, skirts and jackets by designer Jermemy Scott that had recently been worn by Korean pop stars in their videos. There were thousand-Euro jackets and 25 Euro ties, Brazilian fashion magazines and leopard skin pumas. I liked it so much I went back again.

On the other hand I also had one of my worst shopping experiences - H&M on the Rue de Rivoli in a new year sale. The crowds were unbelievable. I felt like I had been sucked into a vortex to hell.

[ilbonito]

First we stayed at an apartment in Le marais but after a few days, I decamped to Ménilmontant; a gritty and slightly out-of-the-way area that reminded me of Berlin. The streets there were a mishmash of 1970s tower blocks, bustling shopping streets, Tunisian Jewish bakeries and Chinese grocers, and a huge cemetery. Between the cemetery and the train tracks is the hotel Mama Shelter. Decorated by the playful design star Philippe Starke, it is a hip, funky “design hotel” . The moody lobby and lounge are decorated with a pastiche of scrawled writing on blackboards, busts of eagles and Michael Jackson, cartoons, 1950s style beefcake and candid images of the British royal family (Princess Di giving the paparazzi the finger, the queen pulling up her stockings). And they play great music.



My room had mood lighting, exposed concrete walls and a black carpet, a black lily in the bathroom, a huge mirror by the bed and a complimentary Batman mask hanging up next to it! And all this for only 80 Euros a night!!!!

[frenchmystiquetour]

Very enjoyable. That's a whole bunch of stuff that I mostly didn't know about and I live here. Love the Woodabe video. I've seen documentaries on them before but now I need to see the full Herzog film about them. I liked the Ave Maria soundtrack, although my wife wanted to know who was ruining a song she loved so much. Herzog and Klaus Kinski shot some movie in some jungle somewhere using real natives as cast members, some of whom were apparently cannibals. Kinski made himself so hated by the natives they nearly ate him.

[ilbonito]

[bjd]

FMT -- the movie you mean is Aguirre, La Colère de Dieu (Aguirre, the Wrath of God). I know there were a lot of problems in the filming, but I don't think there was any cannibalism. I don't believe any S American Indians are/were cannibals. I actually saw the movie -- it's true that Klaus Kinski looks crazy, but then again, he did so in other movies too.

[bjd]

Ilbonito -- your "huge cemetery" is Père Lachaise -- a place where loads of famous people are buried, including Jim Morrison of The Doors, and Oscar Wilde.

[Deleted]

Very interesting thread, ilbonito.

Oscar Wilde lies in an angel-shaped sarcophagus in the Cimetiere Pere Lachaise.

Yes, I remember seeing that when I was there.

But this one REALLY surprised me - I didn't realise they still had Asian-style squat toilets in Paris!! Now THAT was exotic. It was in some random cafe in the suburbs.

I was surprised too to see these kind of toilets, at the time they seemed to be everywhere, including the hotel!

[Deleted]

They are called "Turkish toilets" in France.

[bixaorellana]

Jul 8, 2010 4:50:07 GMT kerouac2 said:

The Brigitte Bardot painting would go well in the hunting museum.

;D ;D ;D

Jul 8, 2010 7:52:29 GMT bjd said:

I'm surprised to see English on some of the memorials in the pet cemetery. Not only the French who are loony about animals, obviously.

I always thought it was the English who were the world's biggest pet lovers.
Many of the pet lovers who buried their animal companions in that cemetery seem to have even worse taste than whoever it was who picked out Oscar Wilde's tomb.
But I loved Ilbonito's photo of the cat on the grave, its arched back perfectly mirroring the arch of the gravestone on the opposite side of the picture.

Was La Pagode undergoing renovation? Note the shrouded eaves.

The gargoyle, 1st pic in #16 is great. WHAT is the last photo in that post?? It's really a super picture.

Ilbonito, you are so much more cutting-edge than I. That hotel room would have given me the screaming mimis.

Jul 8, 2010 10:33:39 GMT ilbonito said:

On the other hand I also had one of my worst shopping experiences - H&M on the Rue de Rivoli in a new year sale. The crowds were unbelievable. I felt like I had been sucked into a vortex to hell.

Poor baby ~~ dragged to Paris and forced to shop!

[Deleted]

The Pagode is in dire straits and has netting all over it, as it has for the past many years. The owners just cannot afford the necessary renovation. It has netting inside the screening room as well. I really hope that they find the money to fix it some day.

Ilbonito, I have almost exactly the same photo of "Bita Afrique".

[gertie]

wow so much to absorb lets see...never saw the googly-eyed make dance thing, but I do recall a rather extensive bit regarding a South African tribe where the women tie big bundles of cloth over their rumps and hips to make them look better for child bearing before they go out for dances where they pair off into couples. That eye thing is quite something. So is that pink suit, amazing how he has managed to accessorize with the pink-tinted shoes.

Somewhere is an entire website dedicated to which places have turkish toilets in Paris. Why are they called "turkish" I wonder?

Great picture of La Tour Eiffel.

[fumobici]

Wonderful photo report, remarkable collection of diverse images to collect in only five days. Well scouted.

There are signs directing one to the hunting museum all around the Marais, but I never imagined it would be such a kitschgasm inside.