Centre Georges Pompidou
Centre Georges Pompidou (constructed 1971–1977 and known as the Pompidou Centre in English) is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the IVe arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles and the Marais.
It houses the Bibliothèque publique d'information, a vast public library, the Musée National d'Art Moderne, and IRCAM, a centre for music and acoustic research. Because of its location, the Centre is known locally as Beaubourg. It is named after Georges Pompidou, who was president of France from 1969 to 1974, and was opened on January 31, 1977. The building was
designed by the architects Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers and Sue Rogers and engineers Peter Rice and Edmund Happold, whose design was not popular at first. However, under the guidance of its first director, Pontus Hultén, it quickly became a noted attraction in Paris.
Architecture
The Centre was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, the British architect couple Richard Rogers and Sue Rogers, and the British structural engineer Edmund Happold and Irish structural engineer Peter Rice. The project was awarded to this team in a design competition, whose results were announced in 1971. Reporting on Rogers' winning the Pritzker Prize in 2007, the New York Times noted that the design of the Centre "turned the architecture world upside down" and that "Mr. Rogers earned a reputation as a high-tech iconoclast with the completion of the 1977 Pompidou Center, with its exposed skeleton of brightly colored tubes for mechanical systems. The Pompidou 'revolutionized museums,' the Pritzker jury said, 'transforming what had once been elite monuments into popular places of social and cultural exchange, woven into the heart of the city. The characteristic piping is color-coded according to the contents: yellow for electricity, red for transport (elevators), blue for water, and green for air.'"
Musée National d'Art Moderne
The Musée National d'Art Moderne is the French national modern art museum located on the fourth and fifth floors of the Centre. Organizationally, it is associated with IRCAM, the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique, which is located nearby.
The museum has a major international collection of modern art by artists such as Kandinsky, Matisse, Miró, Picasso, etc. Some of the art movements represented are Fauvism, Cubism, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. It has 50,000 works of art (including painting, sculpture, drawing, and photography), of which 1,500 to 2,000 are on public display.
Also located here is the Centre of Industrial Design. 20th century architecture and design are covered. The museum also holds temporary exhibitions.
A great Jackson Pollack
Montmartre is a hill, 130 meters high, in the north of Paris in the 18th arrondissement, a part of the Right Bank, primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit and as a nightclub district. The other, older, church on the hill is Saint Pierre de Montmartre, which claims to be the location at which the Jesuit order of priests was founded. Many artists had studios or worked around the community of Montmartre such as Salvador Dalí, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh.
Montmartre means 'mountain of the martyr'; it owes its name to the martyrdom of Saint Denis, who was decapitated on the hill around 250 AD. Saint Denis was the Bishop of Paris and is the patron saint of France.
The hill's religious symbolism is thought to be even older, as it has been suggested as a likely druidic holy place because it is the highest point in the area.
Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge (French for Red Mill or windmill) is a traditional cabaret, built in 1889 by Joseph Oller, who already owned the Paris Olympia. Situated in the red-light district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement, near Montmartre, Paris, France, it is recognized by the large red imitation windmill on its roof.
Over the past hundred years, the Moulin Rouge has remained a popular tourist destination, offering musical dance entertainment for adult visitors from around the world. Much of the romance from turn-of-the-century France is still present in the club's decor.
Notable performers at the Moulin Rouge have included La Goulue, Josephine Baker, Frank Sinatra, Yvette Guilbert, Jane Avril, Mistinguett, Le Pétomane, Édith Piaf and others. The Moulin Rouge was also the subject of paintings by post-impressionist painter Toulouse Lautrec.
Moulin Rouge was also the title of a book by Pierre La Mure, which was adapted as a 1952 film called Moulin Rouge, starring Jose Ferrer and Zsa-Zsa Gabor. Several other films have had the same title, including 2001's Moulin Rouge!, starring Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. Both the 1952 and 2001 films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Images From Around Montmartre including Sacre Coeur
The Sacré-Cœur Basilica (French: Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, "Basilica of the Sacred Heart") is a Roman Catholic basilica and popular landmark in Paris, France, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Sacré-Cœur is pronounced /sakʁe kœʁ/. The basilica is located at the summit of the butte Montmartre (Montmartre butte), the highest point in the city. Unfortunately, there was a mass happening at the time of our visit, so pictures were not allowed inside.
Jardin du Luxembourg
The Jardin du Luxembourg (familiar nickname Luco) is a 224,500 m² public park and the largest in the city, located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. Luxembourg is the garden of the French Senate, which is itself housed in the Luxembourg Palace.
The gardens include a large fenced-in playground that is very popular with local young children and their parents. Adjacent to it is an excellent puppet theatre and a merry-go-round. On occasion, pony rides are also available. In addition, free musical performances are presented in a gazebo on the grounds and there is an anonymous, inexpensive restaurant nearby, under the trees, with both indoor and outdoor seating from which you can enjoy the music over a glass of wine.
The garden is enjoyable for its calm. On the little pond children play with miniature boats. The garden contains various statues and sculptures. Surrounding the pond are a series of statues of former French queens. The École nationale supérieure des Mines de Paris and the Odéon theatre stand next to the Luxembourg Garden.
Odéon Theater
The Odéon is one of France's five "national theatres", located in the VIe arrondissement, on the Left Bank of Paris, next to the Luxembourg Garden. It was built in 1779-82 to a Neoclassical design by Charles De Wailly and Marie-Joseph Peyre in order to house the Comédie Française (which preferred to stay at the Théâtre-Français in the Palais Royal). The new theatre was inaugurated by Marie-Antoinette on April 9, 1782. It was there that The Marriage of Figaro was premiered two years later. In 1990, the theater was renamed Théâtre de l'Europe.
