THE PEOPLE
Parisian encounters
Christophe Gruault arrives at the Bassin de l'Arsenal after a 2400-kilometre journey from Warsaw to Paris by rowing boat.
Ébeniste
Ébeniste
Ébeniste
Ébeniste
Christophe Gruault, a man with bold dreams, has embarked on an adventure that would make even the most reckless fish shudder: rowing from Warsaw to Paris, not just as a sporting challenge, but also as a scientific and educational mission. His solo journey has become much more than a simple personal challenge. Accompanied by a scientific and educational programme, he is committed to raising awareness among the children along the way of the importance of preserving the aquatic environment. With every stroke of his paddle, he studied the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems, measured plastic pollution in rivers and looked for the presence of endocrine disruptors. He has discovered the culinary cultures associated with the edible resources of rivers and aquatic ecosystems, exploring the deep links between man and nature. Christophe Gruault, like an intrepid researcher, navigated under the perplexed gaze of wildlife, but also through the meanders of knowledge, opening up new perspectives on the protection of aquatic ecosystems and the preservation of our planet. We hope his feat will inspire future generations to explore, understand and preserve our precious natural world.
Expedition in partnership with the Iris Foundation
More info
Christophe Gruault arrives at the Bassin de l'Arsenal after a 2400-kilometre journey from Warsaw to Paris by rowing boat.
Christophe Gruault à son arrivée à Paris
Christophe Gruault
Christophe Gruault
Christophe Gruault à son arrivée à Paris
Christophe Gruault, a man with bold dreams, has embarked on an adventure that would make even the most reckless fish shudder: rowing from Warsaw to Paris, not just as a sporting challenge, but also as a scientific and educational mission. His solo journey has become much more than a simple personal challenge. Accompanied by a scientific and educational programme, he is committed to raising awareness among the children along the way of the importance of preserving the aquatic environment. With every stroke of his paddle, he studied the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems, measured plastic pollution in rivers and looked for the presence of endocrine disruptors. He has discovered the culinary cultures associated with the edible resources of rivers and aquatic ecosystems, exploring the deep links between man and nature. Christophe Gruault, like an intrepid researcher, navigated under the perplexed gaze of wildlife, but also through the meanders of knowledge, opening up new perspectives on the protection of aquatic ecosystems and the preservation of our planet. We hope his feat will inspire future generations to explore, understand and preserve our precious natural world.
Expedition in partnership with the Iris Foundation
More info
Patrick Moles, painter, Calvaire staircase in Montmartre.
"The chance of a Parisian day in August 2016, I was in search of meaning and my wife appeared with small canvases and paintings under her arm.
For a surprised moment, I realized that she had already understood the meaning of a future life course, an artistic path.
Having previously scribbled a few proofs with markers, I am assigned a more complex but much desired mission deep inside me
There is no such thing as coincidence !
I believe that every man's life has several paths. A new one sneaks into my mind, although at first I guess I'm not up to this new experience.
Later, the attraction of large canvases enabled me to complete a painting dedicated to my father, a passing friend discovered it in my living room, asked me about its provenance, was enthusiastic and buy it.
She will become an ambassador, the walls of her office become a showcase that invites several people to acquire my colorful patterns. »
From doubt to confirmation, Miami, Shanghai, New York, Paris, London, Dubai, Monaco exhibit it and Patrick feels that a bond has been created with the public.
"From blue, my deep color, red has invited itself, the color of an agitation in the face of this disconcerting, overwhelming world.
Colors and shapes oscillate in these moods of world perception.
Sometimes, passivity and quietude create a sunshine allowing a new curiosity to arise in the world.
Tomorrow perhaps, a rainbow will stir on the web. In the meantime, walking in Montmartre allows me to sketch the fusion of my senses."
Richard Sahlani at Savannah Cafe
A rare place with a strong identity for tasty Lebanese cuisine.
The Savannah café, located rue Descartes in the 5th arrondissement opposite the large fresco by Alechinsky, opened in 1985. Its owner, Richard Sahlani, after studying at Sciences-Po in the late 1970s, returned to Beirut, his hometown. The war in Lebanon in 1982 put an end to some hopes and made him leave his homeland to settle in Paris in this former mason's workshop.
-"Why this name (Savannah) which sends us back to an imaginary distant and wild place"
-"Some see a reference to the Georgian town of the novelist Flannery O'Connor, others think of this breed of cat, with the incomparable grace of a wild feline.
- "The truth is closer to a late night schoolboys to find a name and which would end with - Salhani and Savannah are on a boat...."
The Savannah and Richard Sahlani are still around after 37 years. A loyal clientele from the start, including children and now grandchildren, who continue to make their presence felt in this unique place where everyone engages in conversation with the next table against a discreet and demanding musical background.
And of course, because we are in a restaurant and not just in a living room, Lebanese cuisine made with high quality products and proven know-how.
The unknown of Parc Monceau
In the center of Parc Monceau, I waited for a human figure to give scale to this remarkable tree.
Slowly, a young woman passed, followed, I learned it a few seconds later, by her mother who accosted me kindly, asking me why I had photographed her daughter.
I argued the beautiful look and the majestic tree.
While keeping an eye on her daughter who was walking away, she confided to me that this one was taking her first walk after being discharged from the hospital following a desperate attempt.
I was dumbfounded by this intimate conversation with a stranger.
When I saw the magnified image, in the accuracy of a hazardous situation, her unfortunate gesture from which she was now freed was exposed.!
Christophe, Villa Léandre in Montmartre.
"When I remember the first days of my stay in Belgrade in the 1960s, I see little by little appearing greyish facades in the Central European style and, in front of the Czechoslovak embassy, the procession of cars of his nomenklatura where one day the gleam of chrome and whitewall tires of three sparkling Tatra transfigured a bleak and misty landscape.
Every morning an embassy driver would drop me off at school. Son of a diplomat, in a country where the car fleet was limited, this vehicle with its futuristic automobile design captivated me like an object from another world.
This chic ceremonial limousine for apparatchik, I saw it again in Paris after Russian tanks invaded Prague, abandoned on outer boulevards no doubt after having fled this occupied capital.
In 1993, staying in Bratislava for professional reasons after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the desire to own a Tatra became pressing and I bought two, the second for spare parts. A restoration in a small local Tatra garage gave it that precious touch. The enthusiasm of the Slovaks had moved on the Mercedes for those who had the means. The Tatra did not arouse any passion on the spot and when I had to register it in Slovakia, a policeman remarked to me:
"You have to take care of it, it's a sports car"
“…ah”
“ Because you often have to push it...! »
My Tatra made the trip to Paris and crossing Austria and Germany then France, I found the astonished look of my childhood among drivers and passers-by crossing this vehicle which had never had the opportunity to go to the West.
There is now a scent of the Cold War in Paris.
The architect at the "Amazonias", rue de Lappe
I met Alexiane rue Mouffetard when she landed an exhibition. An architect by training, her passion for drawing and distant horizons led her to live for two years in Vietnam and Cambodia, where she was able to capture hundreds of huts on stilts with her pencil. It is in this universe of jungle that she feels at ease, even if the song of the birds is absent there. When we meet at the Amazonias café, she finds a semblance of this environment that fascinates her so much.
Charlotte in the Albert Kahn garden
Charlotte, actress: I love this place, there is only the present
Madeleine Aylmer Roubenne and her daughter in front of "The Gates of Hell" at the Rodin Museum
She was fifteen when France went to war. She was twenty when she was thrown into the Ravensbrück camp. She loved books and the cinema, and was the pampered only daughter of porcelain merchants. Nothing predestined her to play such an active role in the Resistance, apart from love and a keen sense of justice that made her reject the inevitability of defeat. His name was Jean Aylmer, not much older than her, 22, and a friend of a cousin. His father was English and he could easily have protected himself, but he had chosen France, which he would serve to the death.
Painter Isabelle Geoffroy Dechaume and Léonard Léoni in their workshops at La Ruche
Meet the painter Isabelle Geoffroy Dechaume: her gentleness, her faraway side mixed with modesty exudes serenity, a brooding palpitation.
In her studio, I discover such a beautiful face, her slender forget-me-not eyes plunging into yours. A large unfinished canvas sits in her studio, already well advanced. Her shyness only adds to the mystery and excitement of discovering this artist.
Isabelle invites us to meet her neighbour, Léonard Léoni, an incredible character who was born in La Ruche in 1933 and still lives there. He learnt mosaic with Lino Melano and Luigi Guardigli, and with them created numerous frescoes for Braque, Tal-Coat, Léger and Chagall. He creates a mosaic bestiary, imaginary cats, cows and scenes from everyday life. A child's soul in an octogenarian's body, with a laugh that makes the Beehive vibrate.
"There's a hive legend that says you've never crossed the Seine in 90 years. He smiles and laughs without denying it.
