Modern Art Fair
Place de la Bastille.
28 April 2008
Place de la Bastille is one of the most famous attractions of Paris, best known for the Bastille prison which used to stand there until July 14, 1789, when it was destroyed during the French Revolution. But it is not only history that attracts tourists to the site - various events are organised here as well. One of them is the biannual Grand Marché de l'Art Contemporain - La Bastille Modern Art Fair, which takes place 29 April - 4 May 2008. The event attracts around 500 artists and 40,000 visitors, who arrive to Place de la Bastille to observe numerous artworks, including canvasses, ceramics and installations, created by the city's most talented artists. The subject for this spring is "horses." Next event will take place in October, and it will focus on Cartography.

Chateau de Versailles' fountains go green
Reconstruction will help reduce water consumption.
29 April 2008
The famous sculptural fountains at the Chateau de Versailles (in the outskirts of Paris), will undergo a major reconstruction which will help reduce water consumption.

A total of 4,500 litres of water is used by the fountains per hour in dry seasons. Just like three centuries ago, water is delivered by Machine de Marly - a system of huge waterwheels and pumps that take water from the Seine river. The project will allow channeling 1.6 million sq m of rain water from a reservoir at Sataury Plateau into the chateau's Pice d'Eau des Suisses.

Before the modern system was built, water had been collected by various means: canals, pumps, gravitational hydraulics, Pompe water tower.. Even then its amount was not enough to make all the fountains operate. The new system could improve the situation. Reconstruction will take five years.

Foire de Paris
Paris Expo - Porte de Versailles.
29 April 2008
First organised in 1904, the "Foire de Paris" is a huge annual commercial fair, held in Paris Expo (at the Porte de Versailles) and dedicated to consumption, leisure and traveling. Foire de Paris includes several shows, like the Concours Lépin, dedicated to innovations and trendy creations, and an interactive exhibition with discovery circuits, called "Passions, nos sens dans tous les sens". Visitors can wander around three spaces focused on such topics as home, leisure and world culture. The first, "House and environment", consists of house shows (installation and improvement of the home). "Well-being and Leisure" includes activities on leisure, do-it-yourself and the wellbeing. The "Cultures of the world" helps you discover the heritage of more then 70 world countries. This year the dates for the event are: 30 April to 12 May 2008.

Le Jardin Shakespeare. An Open-Air Theatre
European plays outdoors.
30 April 2008
Every spring the Jardin Shakespeare in Paris turns into an open-air theatre, welcoming visitors for classic plays both in French and English. Set within the Pré Catelan public park in the heart of the Bois de Boulogne, the Jardin Shakespeare consists of five smaller gardens, called after the Shakespeare's world-known plays: "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Macbeth", "Hamlet", "The Tempest" and "As You Like It".

Thanks to its enchanting atmosphere and the stage setting, with plants and flowerbeds, the place is perfect for an outdoor performance. This year the open-air festival starts May 1st with a show of Scottish folk dancing, and focuses on European plays. The highlights of the event are: La Locandiera by Carlo Goldoni, Twelfth Night and A Midsummer's Night Dream by Wiliam Shakespeare, and Les Plaideurs by Jean Racine.

Wax statue of Shahrukh Khan
At the Grevin Wax Museum.
30 April 2008
Visitors to the Grévin Wax Museum in Paris can now observe a new attraction - wax statue of the popular Indian actor Shahrukh Khan, who works in Bollywood films. To mark the event there was a closed ceremony organised inside the museum. The star appeared at the ceremony with his wife Gauri Khan and his friend Karan Johar, a filmmaker, and was welcomed by African and Indian dancers along with a crowd of fans eager to get autographs.

This is the second Khan's wax statue in one of the prestigious wax museums. The first was unveiled in London's Madame Tussauds' museum in 2007. This indicates the growing success and popularity of the actor and the Indian cinema in Europe.

The Grévin Wax Museum was founded in 1882 by the French journalist Arthur Meyer, who collaborated with a cartoonist, sculptor and a costume designer Alfred Grevin. Shahrukh is the second Indian, after Mahatma Gandhi, to get his statue at the museum.

Napoleon - Symbols of power under the Empire
The Musee des Arts decoratifs.
04 May 2008
Current exhibition at The Musée des Arts décoratifs is entitled "Napoléon - Symboles des pouvoirs sous l'Empire" (Napoleon - Symbols of power under the Empire) and, as the name suggests, is dedicated to decorative arts during the Napoleonic period, which started as the fourth and the final stage of the French Revolution, and ended with Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. Many objects are of course the symbols of the ruler's power. However, the exhibition also encourages us to "put aside our prejudices that are tied to Napoleonic symbols" and discover some 250 exhibits selected from the most prestigious museums of the region. Those are golden and silver pieces, plates, furniture, textile, ceramics, wallpapers etc. with eagles, butterflies, flowers, swans and other "non-Napoleonic" objects depicted on them. Visit the exhibition until October 5th.

Kylie Minogue
Palais Omnisports De Paris Bercy.
06 May 2008
The famous Australian singer, songwriter and actress, the sparkling Kylie Minogue performs at the Palais Omnisports De Paris Bercy May 6th. Kylie started her career in the Australian soap opera "Neighbours" - however, nowadays everybody knows her as an Australian Grammy award-winning pop queen, also renowned for her elaborate music videos and spectacular performances. The one is Paris promises to be of no exception.

Kylie is one of the few artists who successfully returned to stage after a period of silence, with the single "Can't Get You Out of My Head." Her tenth album, "X", was released on November 26, 2007 and became a great success. Don't miss your chance to hear her new songs live.