Two weeks into the new year, and nearly a month since the blanket of white snow descended Europe-wide, the Arctic chill is finally going to ease off a little. We’re starting to see temperature around 1-3°C (yay it’s greater than 0) but there’s no telling exactly how long will this reprieve be. Brrr…

In The News

• Is the nightlife of Paris heading towards extinction? New York Times argues it is so.
• Pal Sarkozy (that’s the papa of Nicolas Sarkozy) has landed an one-man Surrealist art show in Espace Pierre Cardin in April. And the centrepiece of the show? A large canvas featuring his daughter-in-law, Carla.
• All the kerfuffle over Christmas attempted terrorist attack on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit has now seen rippling security tightening worldwide. The French civil aviation authority will begin implementing the body scanner in Paris at the end of the month on an experimental basis.

Lifestyle

• What is the favourite word used incessantly by Parisians? “Putain!“, claimed Olivier Magny.
• Are you a creature of habit when it comes to eating out? Or are you the adventurous kind who are constantly in search of some place new, you’re trying to challenge François Simon for his job?
• In the mean time, is wine bar the new trend for dining out? Here are a few of the best wine bars that you could check out next.
• Looking to pamper yourself a little in the new year with some Chinese foot massage session in your own home? At €40 an hour, it’s not too bad a deal and quite nicely, you have no need to go out in the cold!

Exhibitions

• Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson (not to be confused with Fondation Cartier) is hosting an exhibition of the works by the renowned photographer Robert Doisneau from 13 January to 18 April. Not to be missed!
• “Au détour de Jourdain” is a photography exhibition by Farida Hamak, and will be open to all (free of charge!) at the Centre Culturel Algérien. It runs from 13 January to 6 February.
• When children become the young models in which their parents try to capture their essence of lives in paintings – “Les Enfants Modèles, de Claude Renoir à Pierre Arditi” is currently on exhibit at Musée de l’Orangerie until 8 March.