I launched my latest book, Ballsbridge Then & Now, about the district of Dublin where we live, in that very grand and worthy institution, the Royal Dublin Society. It all went very well and everyone said afterwards that they really enjoyed the evening. The only trouble is that the refreshments had to be limited to tea and coffee, since many of the people there had to drive home afterwards. In one way, this was perfectly right and proper, since even here in Ireland, driving under the influence has become totally unfashionable, a good way of becoming a social pariah.
That's an excellent advance and one that I wholeheartedly recommend but it still takes a little fun out of the proceedings. However we hope to put all that right this Thursday evening when we do a book signing in Baggot Street Wines in Upper Baggot Street, Dublin 4. For the people coming to the
do, they'll all be within walking distance of home, so hopefully, modest refreshments of an alcoholic variety will be the order of the evening!
Which brings me to similar events in Paris. On various occasions, we've been to launches of exhibitions in the Musée de la Publicité, which has an extraordinary collection of publicity material. Some of those earlier French advertising designs, especially from the 1920s and 1930s are quite extraordinary, for perfectly ordinary consumer items. Just think of the vache qui rit! It's amazing to think that in those far-off days, design for packaging for the most humble kitchen products could be so entrancing, a contrast to all the consumer-generated rubbish that's foisted on consumers today and
which has little if any design merit.
The museum itself was founded in February, 1978 by Geneviève Gaeton Picon and for the best part of 20 years, it had a rather splendid address, in the rue de Paradis in the grimy 10th arrondissement of north-east Paris. This is part of working class Paris, the eastern part of the city, which is so much more interesting than the haunts of the high bourgeoisie and the super rich, the 16th and 17th.
That's by the way. The museum moved in 1997 to a wing of the Louvre museum, where it remains to this day along with a textile museum and the Musée des Arts Decoratifs. The rue de Rivoli is a rather
grotty street, dull, boring and lacking in any redeemable architectural qualities. But once you're in the Musée de La Publicité, all changes, and especially when they're having a launch.
Mind you, they rather make a habit of these in Paris, where the traditional vernissage or previews of art shows are still legion and you can feast yourself on canapés and wine. They're usually all very civilised and while Paris has always had a certain reputation for snooty formality, I've always found people in Paris, who live and work there, very approachable and friendly. The traditional image of Parisians doesn't do for me at all! I know it helps if you have a little French but even if one's vocabulary is limited, making the effort is all important.
One of our favourite galleries in Paris is the Galerie Maeght in the rue de Bac in the 7th, which specialises in contemporary art. It's small, but perfectly formed and has lots of interesting artwork. It's an offshoot of the Maeght Foundation at St Paul de Vence. For anyone who hasn't been to St Paul
de Vence on the Cote d'Azur, it's a marvellous medieval town, full of artistic traditions and wealthy socialites. Funnily enough, the Maeght Foundation, despite its modernity, fits in well.
So that's the Galerie Maeght in the 7th - if you ever get a chance to drop in on any of the innumerable vernissages in Paris, do go along. You'll have as much fun there as at big venue art centres, like the Grand Palais. And as for the Musée de la Publicité,once it moved out of the rue de
Paradis in the 10th, into the same building moved the Baccarat crystal museum. Baccarat is one of the
best-known and revered crystalware brands in France. Eventually, it too moved on, to really plush premises in the 16th, where it can display all its wares to stupendous effect. If you want to see style and elegance anywhere in the world, you go to Paris and they've really pulled out all the stops in this
museum in the 16th, where you can also dine to your heart's content, in the first floor restaurant, after
you've been bedazzled by all the crystalware displays.
The address of the Baccarat museum and company headquarters is 11, place des États-Unis. Behind that address lies an intriguing story. The building was once a hotel particulier, in other words, a very splendid townhouse, that had been built by the grandfather of Marie-Laure de Noailles, the Vicomtesse de Noailles (1902-1970). She was one of the 20th century's most daring and influential patron of the arts, a friend and supporter of such creative spirits as Salvador Dali, Jean Cocteau, Man Ray and Luis Bunuel. In true French aristocratic tradition, the happily married Maire-Laure was also very prone to horizontal liaisons, a great French pastime, with many of the artists she admired. So the Baccarat museum comes trailing glories of French aristocratic history!
Of course, the publicity museum and the Baccarat museum are just two museums in Paris. There are
several hundred more to choose from and fortunately, the French aren't so keen as other nationalities, like the British, in discarding their heritage and concentrating solely on the here and now. I always applaud the French for preserving their patrimony.
Just to end on a completely different note, French politics, these too are endlessly fascinating and they are usually as much written up in English as they are in French. Never mind the big split in the QMP party, once the preserve of Nicolas Sarkozy. What is really interesting is that the French went to such trouble to boot Sarkozy out of office earlier this year. Everyone thought that while François Hollande might be dull, at least, he'd have plenty of good ideas about getting France out of the economic doldrums. I loved the recent cover of The Economist, showing the disappearing president, a tiny figure beneath a Napoleonic tricorn hat. Like so many new governments everywhere, the new one
in France promised so much and has delivered so little. The sense of disenchantment over Hollande and his non-performance that has set in within just a few short months is incredible. Not for a very long time has a French political hero fallen so far and so fast. Perhaps Sarkozy is set for a return, in a puff of smoke and a flash of lightning. Who knows?
At least,it's a great talking point in France, a country where there's never any shortage of things events and personalities to yap about, especially at all those art gallery openings!