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Art Liberté – du Mur de Berlin au Street Art: a Free Exhibition in Paris

A new free exhibition has just started in Paris. It is called: ‘Art Liberté – du Mur de Berlin au Street Art’ and takes place in the Gare de l’Est which is the Parisian train station from which depart most of the trains towards Germany. The exhibition is focused on three different ways to discover the Berlin Wall, all three exhibited in and around the Gare de l’Est.

  • On the square in front of the station: 30 original pieces of the Berlin Wall and 3 Trabant (The mythical car of the GDR) have been painted especially for the exhibition by famous international street artists. Among those artists Thierry Noir is the first one to have painted on the ‘wall of shame’ in 1984… causing the growth of street art in Europe in the eighties.
  • Inside the station: Pictures of the works painted on the Berlin Wall during the eighties are exhibited in the Hall d’Alsace where one can also see a movie called ‘Ephemère’ telling about the history of the Wall.
  • In the rue d’Alsace, on the west side of the station: a mural painting which is 47 meters long has been made by the same street artists and will stand there for a couple of years and not only for the duration of the exhibition.

Everything is colourful, free and really worth the visit! Until 8 July 2015 in the Gare de l’Est in Paris.

Christine Bokobza – Good Morning Paris B&B – www.goodmorningparis.fr

Metro Station of the Month: Cluny La Sorbonne (line 10)

After the Metro station Arts et Métiers last month, let’s discover another gem of the Parisian underground life: Cluny La Sorbonne, on line 10, in fifth arrondissement of Paris.

This metro station had opened for the first time in 1930 but closed nine years later as there were too many stations in the same area. Nevertheless it reopened in 1988 to connect with RER B line after the creation of a new hub around Saint Michel. This station is unusual as it does not have two but three tracks : the central track is inaccessible to travellers and was built to connect with metro line 4.

But the most impressive is the ceiling of the station! It is decorated with two beautiful mosaic giant birds and with the reproduction of the autographs of famous French authors, scientists, statesmen who used to spend time in the Latin Quarter : Pascal, Rabelais, Molière, … Those mosaic signatures are really amazing and while waiting for the train one can try to guess which famous person lies behind each of them. The whole decor was made in 1988 by the French artist Jean Bazaine.

Back to earth : the Musée de Cluny near the metro way out, is one of the most fascinating museums in Paris for both its architecture and collections. Do not miss the Roman baths and the famous ‘dame à la Licorne’ tapestries!

Practical information : Website of the RATP

Christine Bokobza – Good Morning Paris B&B – www.goodmorningparis.fr

A Foretaste of Easter: le Train du Chocolat is in Paris

You are fond of chocolate? You are counting the days until Easter? If you are in Paris this week I suggest you to visit the ‘Train du Chocolat’. It is a real train made of four carriages which goes from station to station in Paris and offers a free exhibition to learn more about the history, the production and the tasting of cocoa and chocolate.

Who were the first eaters of cocoa before men? What is the xocoatl? Who brought cocoa and chocolate from Central America to Spain in 1528? When was built the first chocolate factory in Spain? How did chocolate arrive to France? Who are the top five producers of cocoa? Who are the top five consumers of chocolate? etc

You will get the answers to all those questions in the very interesting exhibition offered by Yves Thuriès in the ‘Train du Chocolat’. The train will stop at the Gare du Nord on Thursday 19 March, at the Gare de l’Est on Saturday 21, and at the Gare Saint Lazare on Sunday 22. And if you miss it, you can either wait until next year… or visit Chocostory, the Parisian Museum of Chocolate, open all year.

#trainduchocolat – Free – Open from 10am till 7pm – Until 22 March

Christine Bokobza – Good Morning Paris B&B – www.goodmorningparis.fr