Paris:- Saturday, 19. October 1996:- Under sunshine increasingly dotted by clouds, Pablo Picasso's 'Portraits' opened yesterday for a long run at the Grand Palais, and I happened by to see if I could 'pop in.' Ah, no sir, at 13:00 it was a very long line waiting to get in.

I didn't seriously intend to crash the opening bash; I was really looking for the poster of the event to toss into this week's poster page - but decided a shot of the line would give a better idea of how popular this show is going to be. Besides, I didn't see any posters around.

Apparently, among 'ordinary' visitors yesterday, were those who had special invitations to the official opening on Thursday evening, but who didn't make it because of the strike. Well, these people have invitations so they are not being counted as 'entrees' - therefore the opening day score is deceptive. In the morning, with reservations, there were 1,200, and there were 3,800 paying visitors in the afternoon before the ticket windows were closed at 20:00.

This 'reservation' deal for expos is new to me. It is a new service, I think, and it works like this: you can reserve entry tickets for the period of 10:00 to 13:00. After 13:00, you may enter without a reservation by standing in line and paying your money.

Today's Le Parisien has a couple of other tips for successful visits to these popular shows. Go in the first two weeks if you can, before the mobs appear. The 'reservation' idea is worth a try, because there are only a limited number sold. Without a reservation, the best time is from 15:30 to 17:00, after the lunch-time rush and before offices close. Fridays, after 17:00, are supposed to be good too. Wednesday evenings, up until 22:00 are also good.

Exposition; 'Picasso et le Portrait'
At the Grand Palais, entry Georges-Clemenceau, just off the Champs-Elysées. Paris 8.
Métro: Champs-Elysées-Clemenceau.
Until 20. January 1997.
Daily from 10:00 to 20:00, until 22:00 Wednesdays.
Closed Tuesdays.
Reservations, for 10:00 to 13:00 - at the Paris Tourist Office on the Champs-Elysées, from Fnac stores at France Billet.
Tel.: 01 49 87 54 54. Also: Minitel 36 15 FNAC, or 36 15 BILLETEL.

Berlin, une Capitale en Perspectives

The clever Germans have decided to use one of Paris' newer monumental monuments as a place to run a public relations show of their own for the monumental building site that is usually known as Berlin.

I'm sure a lot of Berliners - oh-hah - that's what John Kennedy mistakenly called them in 1961 - but I do not know what they call themselves these days since they ceased being 'Insulaners' - Islanders - but they laughed back then, not minding at all to be called doughnuts, as if JFK was after all trying to pluck up their spirits.

Back to the point: I'm sure a lot of Berlinois would prefer to see their city from the cool perspective of an architectural show on top of the Grande Arche at La Défense rather than stumble through the traffic jams at the Alex' or the Potzdamerplatz - because the prize they've won since the Wall fell seven years ago, is the privilege to live in the world's largest construction site, day and night. It must be a sight that could warm Albert Speer's heart, if he was still on earth.

Federal German President Roman Herzog was in Paris on Thursday - which explains all the German and French flags along the Champs-Elysées - to inaugurate the show - with the help of Klaus Töpfer, minister for building everything big in Germany, Frau Dieckmann, mayor of Bonn - which will become a quiet town in Germany again - and Eberhard Diepgen, chief mayor - Lord-mayor, I guess - of Berlin.

Paris is the first stop for this travelling show, which is being put on with the German culture export organization, the Goethe-Institut, and the association, 'Partner for Berlin,' about which I know nothing other than it is co-organizer of this PR show.

While strolling around the Grand Palais and up the Champs-Elysées on Friday, I heard a lot of German being spoken - and at the Grande Arche itself, there were German tourists who had arrived a day too early to see the show. They climbed up all those steps for nothing.

I'm sure German TV has been busy cranking out wonderful tales of Berlin's PR feats - but I can well imagine what the habitués of Dieter's bar in Barmbek are saying, and it is not printable here, even in German.

Still, I liked my times spent in that city, its little 'frissons' - shivers - its Berlinois coolness and wicked humors - its lakes and parks in summer and its throbbing nightlife, and its winter insideness. With the Wall gone a lot has changed and the place was a lot wilder three years ago when I was there last - when a lot of the taxi drivers were ex-Stasi and couldn't find their way around the western sector without asking the way constantly, and everybody was driving like lunatics - because of its being the biggest urban construction site on the face of the planet.

New daily 360 degree views of Berlin, including that of the construction site at Potzdamerplatz, can be seen on the Cityscope Web site.

Exposition: 'Berlin, une Capitale en Perspectives'
Top of the Grande Arche - La Défense (The elevator ride down is faster than the up one.)
Access: RER, SNCF and métro.
Open 10:00 to 19:00. Evenings until 22:00, from 30. October to 18. December.
Entry: 40 francs, 30 francs.
Restaurant, and guided visits. Info.: 01 49 07 27 57