IDS - Index

IDS - magazine_summer2008 - Index

14
visit/visiter
© Lydia Courteille
A mosque, hammams, saunas,
mint tea... Oriental lifestyle in
the heart of Paris!
An itinerary to help you escape
and relax.
Meditating
Paris’s “Grande Mosquée” (1) is a curiosity.
Close to the Jardin des Plantes, it covers an
area close to a hectare. It was built
between 1922 and 1926 in a mock
Hispano-Moresque style and the minaret is
33 metres high. To be visited by
appointment.
Also worth visiting: the hammam, the
tea room and the restaurant (2). On
the menu: tajines (stew in a
terracotta pot), “gazelle horns” (a
Moroccan pastry), date
“mamouls” (a Lebanese cookie),
baklavas and mint tea. All of this
in an Arabian nights setting.
Relaxing
The magic of Marrakesh has
landed at the “Les Cent Ciels” (3).
This 900m 2 authentic oriental
hammam, with exfoliation and
mud-wrap rooms, massage cubicles,
tepid hammam, hot hammam large
enough for 80 persons, swimming pool
and sauna. Ideal for relaxing and get back
into shape.
Eating
Apart from the oriental pastries found at
the mosque’s tearoom, there is “La Bague
de Kenza” (4) this boutique has become
the reference in oriental delicatessen. You
will find “zlaba”, honey-soaked doughnut,
or the “cigars”, tubes of pastry stuffed with
almonds and walnuts.
Greater Paris - summer / été 2008
The charms of the
middle-east in Paris
Drinking
A call at the Institut du monde arabe (IMA)
is a must. With until the 2nd of November,
a tribute to the singer “Oum Kalsoum”(5).
Impression of distant lands with the jewels
created by Lydia Courteille (6) in her two
boutiques, gold sets, diamonds and
rubies next to curios in blackened
gold, corals or inspired by the
antique cameos.
© Lydia Courteille
Le massage, scène de hamman de E.Debat-Ponsan au Musée des Augustins à Toulouse
© Photo Daniel Martin
Seeing
Beside Manet’s Olympia and
Ingres’s La Source (two paintings
on show at the Musée d’Orsay),
or Ingres’s Grande Odalisque
and Le Bain Turc (displayed at
the Louvre), the oriental
tradition of bathing and personal
care also inspired Edouard Debat-
Ponsan’s Le massage, scène de
hammam (see photo). This work
can be seen at the Musée des
Augustins in Toulouse.
Knowing
Yves Saint Laurent’s passion for Morocco
has inspired the exhibition “Une passion
marocaine, caftans, broderie, bijoux » (A
Moroccan passion, caftans, embroideries,
jewels), at the Fondation Pierre Bergé–Yves
Saint Laurent until the 31st August (7). In a
replica of the Marjorelle, a garden the
designer restored in Marrakech, this
retrospective reveals the influence of this
country on his work. The caftans, long and
ample embroidered tunics, illustrate the
18th, 19th and 20th centuries: in all 36
models…. magnificent. ■
© Les 100 ciels
© Les 100 ciels