Is there anything more Parisian than going out for coffee and coming back with flowers?
11 a.m. We start the day with a Parisian woman, Sophie Calle , one of the great living artists. Calle exhibits at the Palau de la Virreina Domus Vivendi one of the best retrospectives that have been seen in Spain of her work. Is photographer/storyteller she has developed a island artwork , who only looks like her because she is based on itself . The look that she builds on her life and her relationships with others and the look that she poses in the lives of others, are the material with which she works her stories. and she does without shame, but with love , with realism, but with an enormous sense of beauty, with the guts on the table, but with delicacy.
The Viceroy is a beautiful palace that is next to the Boquería . Its clean rooms are perfect for exhibiting projects such as _ Prenez soin de vous, Autobiographies _ or Les Aveugles . The last room breaks the tone by showing one of the works in a room. It is the perfect space to sit down to digest it . Surely we have also seen ourselves reflected in her stories: we are also the others.
Sophie Street. What voyez-vous? le concert. Vermeer
1 p.m. We headed towards a unique space. Literally. It is called La Maison des Carrés. The people of Barcelona (not to mention the millions of tourists) may have passed through the Passage of the Champs Elysées , a few meters from Paseo de Gracia ; I'm sure they ignored it. They will remember from now on. It is there that Hermès invented the Maison des Carrés. enter temptations not to tell what happens there so as not to reveal the surprises.
The French house has orchestrated a space full of imagination, magic and games to tell what is behind one of its emblems: the 90x90 silk scarf, the cart . This might seem like something only for the eyes of Hermés customers, that is to say for few. Big mistake. It's for everyone. In the end, what flies over the beautiful designs is a tribute to the unhurried creativity and contemporary craftsmanship. It would be nice if the Maison, a white space with beautiful illustrations, were filled with children. There they can draw, eat perfect organic ice cream and climb on silk swings. Parents will play designing their scarves, playing with them and looking at everything like amazed children. One piece of advice: don't miss the adjoining garden. Free entrance. The idea is that everyone plays. Thank you, Hermes
The garden attached to La Maison des Carrés.
2:30 p.m. In what city in Europe do you find, naturally, in-store florists ? And restaurants where you can buy cushions? In Paris, of course. Also in Jaime Beriestain (Pau Claris, 167), a lovely store (okay, concept-store) that could naturally be found in the Marais or the Faubourg Saint Honoré, but which is in the Eixample .
This is a author's project that starts and ends in Jaime Beriestain , a Chilean interior designer based in Barcelona who had seen enough stores around the world to know what his would be like. In this there is cafe, restaurant, bookstore, decoration space, stationery and the ineffable flower shop. Like other stores that we find in Paris like Merci, this one proposes a whole universe with limited editions, careful selection and exclusive designs by Beriestain himself . A walk, wandering through its different rooms, isolates us from the noise of the street. Here we can eat. And it would be better to leave the store with some flowers in hand.
Impossible to leave without something.
5 p.m. Let's continue shopping: Let's cross Paseo de Gracia towards Santa Eulalia: We will never get tired of writing about this store, one of the most important in Spain. If they told us: how do you imagine an exquisite store, one of those in which it is embarrassing to step on the carpet, with a secluded garden and silence, we would think of Santa Eulalia (Paseo de Gracia, 93).
The store has french aftertaste for every corner , although it is an icon of the city and part of its culture. It was founded in 1843, ten years after Le Bon Marché, the famous department store in Paris. I was then in the Plaza de la Boquería, where Domingo Fabernier i Prims he opened his first sewing shop in Pla de la Boqueria. There, in the manner of what happened in France, custom work was done . It was not until 1941 that it moved to Paseo de Gracia, to the place it occupies today.
Santa Eulalia still preserves the made-to-measure spirit (it has a tailoring section) but today it is much more: it has a Fabulous selection of men's and women's clothing and accessories. In addition, he has achieved something complicated: be contemporary while keeping the air timeless . Wow, we felt like having a snack in your coffee. A croissant, s'il vous plait.
The showcase of Santa Eulalia.
8 p.m. The French eat. And they eat lots of french food. If we were French we would also eat a lot of French food. After touring all of Paseo de Gracia and visiting the streets, we arrived at the Raval, where the French accent can also be heard. En Ville is a restaurant next to MACBA takes us to Paris without much effort. The aesthetics and the menu (and the name!) are clearly Frenchified. There are mirrors, a rustic touch in the right measure and a brasserie menu, which is what we will ask for. Here we can even sleep: En Ville has, in the same building, some nice apartments To rent.
The Frenchified En Ville Barcelona.
10 p.m. Y let's close where we started, near the Maison des Carres . There we will finish the day because we are not sleepy yet. Let's walk again in the direction of the mountains, the Eixample, and go to Les Gens que J'aime , a **pub (or a nightclub?) ** that has been since the 60's refuge of various Frenchified and divine. This place is a lucky Cave of Saint Germain but à la Barcelona. The question is: do Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin fit in here? If the answer is "Yes" you have to enter.
A pub (or a nightclub?) refuge for Frenchified people.
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