Au Printemps

I visited the Elliott Erwitt exhibition (personal best/personal choice) Exposition Photographique this morning at Elephant Paname.

Elliott Erwitt was born in 1928 in Paris and lived in New York and Los Angeles. His career as a photographer started in 1948, and since then, he has photographed the daily life as well as famous people like Marylin Monroe or Che Guevara. "Personal Best, Personal Choice" is, as its name indicates, a personal selection made by the artist of some of his favourite photos, with even some that have never been published before.

Elliott Erwitt puts a very offbeat and sensitive view on daily life situations, whether with people or animals, he usually incorporates some humour. Some of his photos are very well-known, especially the one with the man jumping in front of the Eiffel Tower with an umbrella during a storm. I would recommend this excellent exhibition, as it gives a great insight into his long career.

I then walked across to the Boulevard Haussmann for lunch, to the fabulous department store, Printemps. At the very heart of Parisian life, its transformations set the tone for Jules Jaluzot, a visionary with a passion for commerce, who built an essential part of the heritage of one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

"Everything will be new, fresh and lovely there, worthy of the name Au Printemps ('spring' in French)"

In 1865 Jules Jaluzot had the great idea: to build a department store that offered everything. Several months later, Printemps opens its doors. Its name refers to the spring season, symbolising renewal, freshness and the blossoming of dynamic ideas. Right at the centre of Paris, it was the first to be equipped with electricity and to offer set prices: an incredible breakthrough at a time when haggling was commonplace.

Parisians make a beeline for Printemps... In the 1930s, the sumptuous Art Nouveau pavilion of Printemps is at the heart of the World's Fair. But the store continues to innovate and move forward! In the early 20th century, the building was then extended along the Boulevard Haussmann by architect René Binet in an art nouveau style. The building burned down, and its interior was rebuilt in the 1920s.

A remarkable feature of the Haussmann store is an elaborate cupola above the main restaurant, installed during the 1923 reconstruction. In 1939, to avoid the risk that it would be destroyed in bombing attacks, the cupola was dismantled and stored at Clichy. It was restored in 1973 by the grandson of its original designer, using plans that had been kept in the archives of the family business. In 1975, the façade and cupola of the building were registered as historical monuments. I would recommend having lunch in this beautiful setting.

To celebrate the Christmas period, Printemps has joined forces with one of the most emblematic fashion houses in the world, Christian Dior. The result is an enchanting Christmas, with window displays incorporating a fantastic world of puppetry, in which your wildest dreams come true in the City of Lights.

I will be updating images for this blip, so keep watching.