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Home , Parc Monceau, Passage des Panoramas, Petit Palais

The Hidden Treasures of

Tour Itinerary 18 – 26 May 2012

The Johnston Collection Travels Through Time Travels Through Time Cultural Studies and Tours Melbourne : (03) 9017 0897 Sydney : (02) 8205 7764 email : [email protected] www.travelsthroughtime.com The Hidden Treasures of Paris Tour

Day 1 : The Parc Following our check–in to the Hotel Carlton’s in Paris, our discovery of the exquisite corners of Paris will begin in the afternoon with the area, dear to 19th century writers such as Proust and Zola and members of the Impressionist circle, such as and Jean Forain. The Plaine Monceau belonged originally to Visits on this day include the Duc d’Orléans who had it landscaped as • Parc Monceau an English garden complete with . In • Musée Camondo the 1850’s under III, it became the • Dinner at Petit Riche * real estate jewel in the Paris of the wealthy bankers and financiers such as the Ephrussi, the Rothschild and the Péreire who were creating the myth of Paris City of Light. Their ornate and sometimes bizarre mansions remain there today, still owned by the Parisian elite. A stroll through this secluded garden is like stepping back into a Proust novel. Moise de Camondo’s banking family came Auschwitz. A visit of this amazing collection to Paris from Istanbul and was known as has the poignancy of stepping into the life of a the Rothschild of the East. He was an art sophisticated family who in no way suspected connoisseur and a passionate collector of their fate. 18th century objets d’art. At the death of his We will return to our hotel and then set out son, he bequeathed the entire collection and down the Rue des Martyrs for our first dinner the mansion he had built to the city of Paris. together at the 19th century Petit Riche, referred His daughter and grandchildren died at to in Zola’s novel about the Parc Monceau.

Follies at the Parc Monceau

Front Page : Courtyard in the Musée Carnavalet

2 Travels Through Time 18 – 26 May 2012

Day 2 : Paris of the Romantics The morning will be devoted to an unusual and little explored history lesson about 19th century Paris; the cemetery of Père Lachaise. This was the first of the garden cemeteries opened up after the Revolution by Napoleon Bonaparte Visits on this day include in accordance with Romantic ideas about the • Père Lachaise cemetery departed sleeping in Nature. Most of his generals, • Headquarters of Société- scientists and artists were buried here and Père Générale Bank Lachaise became an outdoor history garden. • Musée de la Vie By the Second Empire every bourgeois who Romantique had a mansion on Monceau wanted an equally extravagant tomb here and so the history park became a confusion of the most extraordinary sculptures, monuments and effigies. From Molière to Delacroix, Victor Hugo to Pissarro, courtyard filled with roses and wisteria. It was Piaf and even Oscar Wilde, this is a fascinating originally an artist’s studio belonging to the journey through these permanent Parisians. fashionable painter Ary Scheffer and it was here Our guide is a specialist on Père Lachaise and that the great writer and cross dresser George Sand would pose for the painter Delacroix while will recount the amazing stories attached to the her lover Chopin and Liszt composed at the tombs and Paris. piano. George Sand’s collection gives a glimpse After lunch at a little bistro nearby we return of the lives of the artistic elite that lived in this to the Boulevard des Italiens for a private visit arrondissement. of the headquarters of the Société Générale We will walk back to the hotel through the 9th bank with its amazing interior and arrondissement and visit a handmade chocolate staircase which is usually closed to the public. shop as well as a tiny perfume boutique started Our afternoon will be spent in the charmingly by a Duchess in the 1920’s. In the evening we named Musée de la Vie Romantique in a quiet will go into for an absinthe!

Detail at Père Lachaise Cemetery

The Hidden Treasures of Paris Tour 2012 3 The Hidden Treasures of Paris Tour

Day 3 : The quaint little streets and the chic boutiques of the Marais buzz with life on a Sunday. We will start our day at the little known Musée Cognacq–Jay, in a 17th century hÔtel particulier which houses the collection of art and decorative arts bequeathed to Paris by the founders of the Samaritaine department store. Like the Visits on this day include founders of other “Grands Magasins” such as • Musée Cognacq–Jay the Bon Marché, they felt they were an essential • Converted market of the element of the new Paris and had a philanthropic Enfants Rouges duty to their employees and customers and even • Musée Carnavalet set up exhibits in the stores. Clients would • Musée de la Poupée wander through collections of exquisite snuff • des Antiquaires boxes to get to the perfume counter. After lunch in the old converted market of the Enfants Rouges we will pop into the Musée Carnavalet to see some exquisite rooms of former 17th century mansions which were demolished but then rebuilt here. We will also see an entire art nouveau jewellery shop and Proust’s bedroom. To finish our day in the Marais we will wander Following afternoon tea at the quaint Loire into the Village St Paul and its winding lanes dans la Thèire we will explore the Musée de la of antique stalls and then go on to the grand Poupée. This charming little collection traces Louvre des Antiquaires. This elegant building the development of dolls from the 18th century was once a luxury hotel opposite the Louvre but onwards, when they were used for exporting now houses galleries and antique shops selling French fashions to the courts of . everything from jewellery to Lalique vases.

Musée Carnavalet

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Day 4 : Rueil Malmaison Today we will travel by private coach to the Château de Malmaison where Napoleon and Josephine spent the happiest years of their life together before he became Emperor and was consumed by ambition. Josephine characteristically overspent as she had the gardens redesigned in the fashionable English style, complete with winding streams, hothouse and garden theatre. It was here that she let Visits on this day include loose the emus, swans and wallabies brought • Château de Malmaison back from the Baudin voyage to Australia. • Island of the Impressionists at Chatou After their divorce Napoleon paid for • Musée de Sèvres Josephine’s continued interest in the cultivation • Ballet at the Opéra of roses. Her personality shines through in the Garnier * elegant rooms of the little chateau and in her collection of Sèvres porcelain and art work. We will lunch on the Island of the Impressionists in Chatou at the Auberge Fournaise made famous by Renoir’s Lunch of the Boatmen’s Party. If it is fine we will sit exactly where it was painted. In the afternoon we will continue on to the Musée de Sèvres with its magnificent collection This evening the Tokyo Ballet will be showcasing the development of hard porcelain in performing in the opulent Opéra Garnier, built the late 18th century under the patronage of the as the glittering centre piece of the City of Light royal mistress, Madame de Pompadour. by Napoleon III.

Château de Malmaison

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Day 5 : Off the Beaten Track We will begin early at the quaint little market at Maubert–Mutualité on the Left Bank where you can buy everything from hand crafted Visits on this day include jewelley and silk scarves to pungent cheeses • Left Bank markets and glorious flowers. After a quick coffee at the • Canal St Martin turn of the century Mosque where we will be • transported into the Orient, we will head up • Gobelins Tapestry W’shop the Rue Montorgueil which is packed with 19th century bars, bistros and food shops. We will • Drouot Auction Rooms thread our way through the tiny streets of the Sentier quarter up to two enormous triumphal arches which were originally gates given to Louis IV by the city of Paris to commemorate his victories. We will continue on to the Canal for a guided visit of the Gobelins Tapestry St Martin in the now trendy area of Republique. Workshops. These were established by Louis It is strange to see boats in locks a metro stop XIV in 1669 and produced tapestries initially or so from the Bastille. This tranquil quarter is for the royal palaces and now for the French now home to some of the cutting edge designer Government. We will visit the historic ateliers boutiques. Next we will head back down the and see the artists at work. boulevard to the Passage des Panoramas, one of the first covered passages to emerge at the end On our way home we will visit the Printemps of the 18th century. These passages invented the gourmet food store and admire the magnificent first browsing experiences as they housed little turn of the century stained glass domes of the boutiques and kept the customers out of the oldest part of the store which normally are out rain. Panoramas or static cinemas were set up of sight. to draw the crowds. Not far away is our lunch The Drouot Auction Rooms are the French destination, the Bouillon Chartier, a bustling equivalent of Southerbys or Christies. They 19th century popular restaurant which has will be open in the evening for us to inspect their recently been classified by the City of Paris. treasure trove of jewellery, furniture, decorative After lunch we will return to the Left Bank and fine arts up for sale the next day.

Canal St Martin

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Day 6 : Quiet days in Passy Until Napoleon III annexed it to Paris in 1860, the quiet area of Auteuil in the 16th arrondissement was comprised mainly of Visits on this day include summer residences of the wealthy such as Marcel • Musée Marmottan Proust’s aunt. By the time the Marmottan family • Hotel Mezzara had made a fortune in the reconstruction of • Hotel de Ville Paris, the area had become very fashionable. • Rue Fontaine Paul Marmottan began a prestigious collection • River cruise of First Empire decorative arts and documents which he housed in the former hunting lodge of the Duc de Valmy. Inspired by its layout, other collections were soon donated and the Musée Marmottan is now known as housing one of the largest collections of ’s work de la Cité for a private visit of the extraordinary in the world. To this have been added collections interior of the Hotel de Ville. Our guide will of , Renoir and recently, an explain the centrality of the building in the history important donation of mediaeval illuminated of Paris from mediaeval times onwards and how manuscripts. it was designed to represent the Republic’s Hall of Mirrors. We will mount the inner staircase After a quick lunch on the Avenue Mozart we usually reserved for foreign dignitaries! will visit the Rue Fontaine which was developed at the turn of the century and showcases the Art If we have time we will quickly go into the Nouveau architecture of . We Archives Nationales to see documents that have will view the exterior of the Castel Béranger and shaped French history: the Edict of Nantes, the Cafe Antoine. We will have special access the Declaration of the Rights of Man as well as to the Hotel Mezzara where he designed not Napoleon’s and Louis IV’s wills. just the building but everything down to the egg In the evening we will take a Bateau Mouche cups, taps, carpets and dishes. trip down the Seine and cruise under the bridges Later in the afternoon we will return to the Ile of Paris illuminated against the night sky.

Musée Marmottan

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Day 7 : The 19th Century Connoisseurs Parisian society was stunned when the debonair and wealthy Protestant banker Edouard André married his portraitist, Nelly Jacquemart. Together they travelled widely and amassed an Visits on this day include enormous collection of art from Italy which they • Musée Jacquemart André displayed in a sumptuous mansion built in the • Musée Parc Monceau area. Their glittering receptions • Ching–Tsai Loo Mansion were reported in the press as were their latest • Train Bleu at the Gare de acquisitions. As they had no children, the entire Lyon mansion and collection was left to the Academy of Fine Arts and is now open to the public. It is a unique opportunity to view first hand what the life of the wealthy must have been like in Paris in the 1860s.

We will have lunch in the mansion’s dining room for introducing early Chinese jades and bronzes with its Tiepolo ceilings before setting out to into the Parisian market. The building contains visit the collection of one of their acquaintances, superb sculpted 16th and 17th century wood and the Italian banker Henri Cernuschi who had lacquer doors. This is a wonderful setting for escaped to . He travelled widely to the collectors interested in buying Chinese prints East and set up highly esteemed collection of and antiques. Chinese and Persian statuary as well as silks and Later in the afternoon we will take the metro to objets d’art. We will have a private tour of this the extravagantly decorated turn of the century little known collection. Train Bleu restaurant at the . It At the end of the Avenue Velasquez nearby, was designed for the first trains that went from stands a strange pagoda–style mansion built Paris to Nice and so has paintings of every town by Ching–Tsai Loo, a preeminent dealer in on the way. Having a cocktail here is like taking Chinese art who was almost entirely responsible part in Agatha Chrisitie’s Orient Express.

Musée Jacquemart André

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Day 8 : Paris City of Light Built for the World Exhibition of 1900, the Visits on this day include majestic was designed to be the • Petit Palais show case of the modernity of and • Baccarat Museum design. Its Italianate exterior belies its soaring glass interior inspired by the art nouveau interest • Maxim’s in ceramics, mosaics, stained glass and metal. It • Farewell dinner at the houses State owned collections of Salon and Grand Colbert * Impressionist art but like the Marmottan has attracted donations of paintings and decorative arts from Ancient Greece through every century Hédiard and Fauchon, which have become the up to 1900. It is a treasure trove of French world–wide reference in luxury food products history seen through exquisitely crafted work. and display. Nearby, downstairs from the The collections are exhibited in small rooms and , are the only remaining Art Nouveau the visitor never feels overwhelmed as in large public toilets in Paris and they are certainly museums. worth a visit ! We will have lunch in the secluded Crystal Some tour members may wish to spoil Room at the Baccarat Museum. This is a small themselves with coffee and macaroons at the collection in a majestic mansion showing the legendary Ladurée with its delicate 17th century development of Baccarat crystal ceremonial ceilings and crowded with chic Parisians pushing pieces and table ware in the 19th century. a tiny cake around an even tinier plate. In the early afternoon we will take the Metro On our way home we will have a quick visit of to the Place de la for a private visit Dary’s Jewellery Store where you can sometimes of Pierre Cardin’s collection of art nouveau unearth a vintage Parisian treasure on the walls decorative arts, set up in what were the dripping with jewels for all tastes. courtesan’s rooms above the famed Maxim’s. That evening we will have our final dinner at This is a glimpse into the private luxury world of the Grand Colbert, an atmospheric 19th century Belle Epoque Paris. brasserie built in one of the most elegant of the Nearby are the two great food stores of Paris, early covered passages.

Petit Palais

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Day 9 : Farewell to Paris Bibliography After a last breakfast together, tour members Novels can check out up until 12 noon. Just time The Assommoir Emile Zola enough for a stroll through the winding streets Ladies’ Paradise Emile Zola of Montmartre across from the hotel. Nana Emile Zola The Kill Emile Zola Bel Ami A Moveable Feast Earnest Hemingway Works on Paris True Pleasures: A Memoir of Women in Paris Lucinda Holdforth Paris: Capital of the 19th Century Pauline de Tholozany Metro Stop Paris; an Underground Hstory of the City of Light Gregor Dallas The Judgement of Paris; The Revolutionary Decade that gave the World Impressionism Ross King The Flâneur Edmund White The Invention of Paris Eric Hazen Parisians Graham Robb The Dawn of the Belle Epoque Mary McAuliffe Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation Noel Fitch Paris was a Woman 1995 documentary of Paris Note : Items on itinerary marked with a * are optional in the early 20th century and not included in the price of the tour.

Place des Abbesses Metro Station

10 Travels Through Time