On Top: the 'Trésors des Arts Asiatiques'

Any Paris street - take Montorgueil for example...

Warning: Marathons Are Back

Paris:- Saturday, 5. February 2000:- As I usually try to do, I am watching the TV-news tonight and it is showing me the Dragon dance, because today is the beginning of the 'Year of the Dragon.'

When I see this I smack myself in the head. Did I not put in the date for this, somewhere in this magazine, early in January? Yes I did, and then I forgot all about it. Ouch!

The odd thing about tonight's TV-report, is that it doesn't mention Chinatown. There are 'dragon dances' in several areas of Paris, but not, apparently, in the south of the 13th arrondissement where Chinatown in Paris is located. One resident there wondered out loud a couple of years ago - why anybody Chinese lived near Belleville.

In any case, something that I would have liked to have 'covered' is only given 90 seconds of TV-treatment. This leaves me hoping all these non-Chinese areas are having pre-New Years' fêtes and I still have time to catch-up.

This turns out not to be the case and I really regret it. After the other New Years at Etoile, I am about ready for another one already.

Expired Dates - as much as possible I've gone back to previous versions of 'Scene' to verify 'until dates.' Many theatre presentations have none - hoping for long runs - and other popular exhibitions get prolongations occasionally. If in doubt, please call the 'Info. Tel' numbers to make sure the event is still playing.

Navigation Note:-For some issues of Metropole, there will be two 'Scene' pages. This regular one will be for current events in Paris, and the occasional other one will be for special 'Paris 2000' events; which will include '2000 In France' items.

If you pop back and forth within a week's two 'Scene' pages, your browser's 'back' or 'return' button may not return you to the issue's 'contents' page. Use 'This Issue' in Metropole's navigation line at the top and bottom of these pages.

• New This Week
• Coming Events, Exhibitions, Salons
• Major Events, Exhibitions, Salons
• Other Events, Exhibitions, Salons
• Art Works
• Photo Works
• Dance, Music, Opera, Theatre
• Culture, History, Science
• Cinéma and Multimedia
• Sports, Bikes, Rollers
• Unclassifieds

The items below are not necessarily 'new;' but they are new to this column.

Trésors des Arts Asiatiques - is from the collection of Mr and Mrs John D. Rockerfeller III, which is now managed by the Asia Society. This show features 81 major pieces from the entire collection, and comes to Paris after being shown in Melbourne, Sydney and Shanghai. This show starts next Friday, 11. February and continues until Sunday, 14. May. It can be seen daily except Mondays, from 10:00 to 17:40, at the Musée Cernuschi, 7. Avenue Vélasquez, Paris 8. Métro: Monceau or Villiers. Info. Tel.: 01 45 63 50 75.

8th Semi-Marathon de Paris - is shorter than the full marathon in April, but seems to have just as many rules. Maximum number of runners: 14,000. Lonely you will not be. Deadline for sign-up is Friday, 25. February. A medical certificate is required. Starting place: Stade Charléty, 17. Avenue Pierre-de-Coubertin, Paris 13. Métro: RER 'B' - Cité Universitaire. Starting time: 10:00. To be run on Sunday, 12. March. Info. Tel.: 01 41 33 15 68, Fax.: 01 41 33 15 69. Check the Web site for additional details.

24th Marathon de Paris - suggests you get off to a 'good start' by registering. Last year - or the year before - Metropole had a reader in this race, who trained for it in northern India where there are some high hills. He did not win because he was looking forward to the free pasta party, held, I assume, after the race. This year the marathoners will run out to the Bois de Vincennes, then back to the Bois de Boulogne before heading to the finish line in the Avenue Foch. On the métro this would be quite a long aller-retour.

Deadline for sign-up is Sunday, 19. March. A FFA license or a medical certificate is required. Starting place: Champs-Elysées. To be run on Sunday, 9. April. Info. Tel.: 01 41 33 15 68, Fax.: 01 41 33 15 69. Check the Web site for additional details.

The Centre Georges Pompidou - aka 'Beaubourg,' is again open to the public and the public, deprived of its cultural factory is turning up in droves - just like it used to do. There is an important exhibition on at the moment according to a TV-report, but I can find nothing written about it which I expected to do instead of remembering the TV thing - which I don't. The fallback is Beaubourg's Web site.

The BnF Launches Gallica 2000 Free of charge, France's Bibliothèque Nationale has just cranked up its Gallica server to offer more than 35,000 titles - either for consulting online or for download as PDF files. Most of these titles are 19th century texts and few are literature - but this will change over time. After all its stops and starts, the BnF is now 'open to the world.'

Les Chrétiens de l'An Mil - involves the posing of the question of how our ancestors faced the year 1000. The documents on show in this exhibition - for the first time - tell us exactly what was going on then in the minds of the people concerned. On show at the Musée d'Histoire de France, Hôtel de Soubise, 60. Rue des Francs-Bourgeois, Paris 3. Métro: Hôtel de Ville. Until Monday, 3. April. Open daily except Tuesdays; on Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 17:45; on Saturday and Sunday, from 13:45 to 17:45. Info. Tel.: 01 40 27 62 18.

Montparnasse and the XIV^e Arrondissement - the Action Artistique de le Ville de Paris has brought together a multi-layered show, featuring drawings, paintings, building plans and some early photos taken from balloons, to present a 'history' of one of Paris' more 'artistic' arrondissements - showing a bit more of the arrondissement than of Montparnasse itself. This exhibition continues until Wednesday, 1. March. You can find it in the annex of the Mairie of the 14th, at 12. Rue Durouchoux. Métro: Mouton-Duvernet. Open daily from 12:00 to 18:00; and conferences are held at 16:00 from Monday to Friday. Info. Tel.: 01 43 25 30 30.

This item closes the opening 'new' events for this week. You will find some other new items below. Again, lack of time has not permitted me to form a text to go with each of the images - but they do represent current events in Paris.

Rétromobile 2000 - For old car and old boat fanciers, the 25th edition of Rétromobile offers the best there is in Europe. This year, the 'Best of Ferrari' takes the spotlight, with 20 models on display. Other famous racing cars will also be featured, along with a special section for scooters. Also see what is possibly the oldest car in the world - built by Etiènne Lenoir between 1863 and 1883.

Need a rare part? It will be here too, plus everything else to do with old speed machines - such as a 1950 Ferrari-powered speedboat. The dates for the coming edition of Rétromobile 2000 are from Friday, 11. February to Sunday, 20. February 2000. At Paris-Expo.

Fly Fishing In Paris - this quiet sport has its fans in France and their world is on show at the Centre de l'Automobile, 25. Rue Honoré-d'Estienne-d'Orves in Pantin. Métro: Hoche. Dates: from Friday, 11. February to Sunday, 13. February: from 10:00 to 19:00. Entry: 50 francs.

Paris' Museums Online - is not the official name for the new Web site that is being launched, to present Paris' own 15 museums. To begin, the city's museums will be grouped on one Web site, but are expected to eventually develop their own sites. The city has hired 20 young people to put this together, and in the future the site should be very elaborate, with a mine of information available.

Il Signor di Balzac - is an Italian view of superstar Balzac, which was planned but has been put off until fall on account of storm damage to the Maison de Balzac, 47. Rue Raynouard, Paris 16. Info. Tel.: 01 55 74 41 80.

Brésil Baroque - Between Earth and Sky - 500 years ago next 22. April, Alvarès Cabrai found an unknown land, which is known as Brazil today. Apparently unlike Peru or Mexico, Brazil was a blank slate, to be filled in by Indians, Africans and Europeans. The resulting art is little known in Europe and this exhibition will change our 'blank slate' view of it. Until Sunday, 6. February at the Petit Palais.

Next spring, 30 centuries of Mexican art will take over, also in the Petit Palais, Avenue du Winston Churchill, Paris 8. Métro: Champs-Elysées Clemenceau. Except Monday, open from 10:00 to 17:40; to 20:00 on Thursdays. Info. Tel.: 01 42 65 12 73.

Portrait of Mexico - as part of the '2000 in Paris' salute to the new world of the Americas, a film history of Mexico is a current attraction at the Forum des Images-Vidéothèque. This is in the Forum des Halles, by the Porte Saint-Eustache entry, Paris 1. Info. Tel.: 01 44 76 62 00.

Here Come Les Fauves - for 30 years nobody has paid much attention to these wild men of color, who crashed in the public's consciousness in 1905 with their flaming palettes. No 'isms' here; just full-tilt color. Big names by the metre, lots of color; a perfect winter show. From 10:00 to 17:30 daily except Mondays; until 27. February 2000, at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 11. Avenue du Président Wilson, Paris 16. Métro: Iéna or Alma-Marceau Info. Tel.: 01 53 67 40 00.

Jean Béraud et le Paris de la Belle Epoque - While the impressionists were all the rage a century ago, Jean Béaud recorded in paint the streets and byways of the City of Light, capturing the charm and the spirit of it. This exhibition presents 60 representative works and it continues until Tuesday, 2. February, at the Musée Carnavalet, 23. Rue de Sévigné, Paris 3. Métro: Saint-Paul or Chemin Vert. Info. Tel.: 01 42 72 21 13.

Pri-ya - is the name of an Israeli artist who is featured in an exhibition with the long title of 'New Acrylic Technique In the Art of Painting,' in the Chagall Salon of the Maison France-Israel, 64. Avenue Marceau, Paris 8. On show until Tuesday, 29. February. Info. Tel.: 01 44 43 36 36.

Venise de Zoran Music - is an exhibition of 100 paintings and aquarelles done by Zoran Music between 1946 and 1998, at Paris' museum for the 18th century. At the Musée Cognacq-Jay, 8. Rue Elzéir, Paris 3. Opening hours are 10;00 to 17:40 daily except Mondays and holidays, until Sunday, 16. April. Info. Tel.: 01 40 27 07 21.

Oser Le Savoir - which translates as 'Dare to Know,' features '10 keys to the future' which will be presented with exhibitions and debates, from February until the end of the year. This takes place, in cooperation with the CNRS, at the Cité des Sciences & de l'Industrie at La Villette. 30. Avenue Corentin-Cariou, Paris 19. Info. Tel.: 0140 05 80 00.

Lasar Segall - the retrospective has been put together by the Laser Segall Museum of Sao Paulo, the Jewish Museum of New York and the Smart Museum of Chicago. Little-known in France despite a four-year period in Paris and a retrospective in 1959, Segall spent most of his life in Brazil. From Thursday, 3. February to Sunday, 14. May, at the Musée d'Art et Histoire du Judaïsme, Hôtel de Saint-Aignan, 71. Rue du Temple, Paris 3. Info. Tel.: 01 53 01 86 53.

Marcel Proust - and his 3000-page 'A la Recherche du Temps Perdu' is supposed to be as exhaustive as Eugène Atget's collection of photos. They might not have been exactly in the same circles, but they were at the same time. This exhibition, with material from the Musée d'Orsay, is at the Grande Bibliothèque, in the Grande Galerie - Hall Est - which is still at the Quai François-Mauriac, Paris 14. Métro: end of the line 14. Info. Tel.: 01 53 97 59 59.

De Bébé Cadum à Mamie Nova - this poster show features animals, people, and other objects used to personify products for their promotion. The posters in question are old ones, some featuring products past their heyday, some featuring ones that are still around. There are threeinterests satisfied here: graphics, French products and how they were promoted Until Friday, 31. March. At the Bibliothèque Forney, 1. Rue de Figuier, Paris 4. Métro: Pont Marie. Info. Tel.: 01 42 78 14 60.