What’s in it for you in… November!

Dear Friends! We always start the month with a little agenda post, showcasing all the best activities for you to discover when visiting France at this particular time of the year! Please note that we are slightly changing our format: to better suit travellers’ needs, we will now give you all the best tips one month ahead 🙂

November is usually a month French people don’t like so much….with winter around the corner, days getting shorter and colder, and no major vacation to look forward to. For travellers though, we’ve found it to be actually pretty exciting! Right in the low season, November will bring the beginning of Christmas ornamental lights, decoration and shopping, as well as good exhibitions and exciting events! Let’s take a look at what you can’t miss!

 

 

Yves Saint Laurent – Dreams of the Orient

 

 

What comes to your mind when we mention the Orient ? Mysterious, restrained and soft, the oriental exotic culture evokes many dreams for most of us and did provide Yves Saint Laurent with an endless stream of fashion design inspiration! The Paris Yves Saint Laurent museum will bring together approximately fifty haute couture, mesmerizing designs inspired by India, China and Japan.

Whether you are a fashion fan or an Asian culture connoisseur, don’t miss this exceptional gathering of the Yves Saint Laurent pieces displayed in dialogue with Asian artworks borrowed from the Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet and private collectors. Until January 2019.

 

 

Orsay Museum – “Renoir père et fils. Peinture et cinéma”

 

 

While many people may know either the famous film director Jean Renoir, or the impressionist painter Pierre Auguste Renoir, very few of us actually see the connection between father and son and how the two artists contributed to each other’s production. A carefully planned “Renoir father and son painting and movie” by the Orsay Museum, will lead the audience through a never-seen-before artistic journey through painting and movie.

 

 

 

Wine lovers, welcome the Beaujolais Nouveau!

 

 

Probably one of the funniest wine traditions in France: on the third Thursday of November, most bars and cafes in Paris and around the country will celebrate the launch of the “New Beaujolais”. On this day, wine fans from around the world too, from London, New York or Tokyo, Seoul, and Taipei, will be celebrating the Beaujolais new wine!

Beaujolais is the only region in France that is allowed to sell its wines so early after the harvest and following a very short fermentation. The historical reason for this exception is that Beaujolais was much hit by the second world-war and asked to be able to sell its wine earlier to improve its economic situation. Since then, the event has become a national celebration, welcoming the new vintage of wine-making!

 

 

Independent Winemakers’ Show

 

 

If you want to explore more of the French wines, don’t miss the Independent Winemakers’ Show! Lasting only 3 days from November 29th to December 2nd at the Paris Expo (Porte de Versailles) it is definitely one of the most exciting French wines events! Here you can taste excellent wines from every French producing regions: Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone, Champagne, etc., discuss with the winemakers and place your orders for your cellar! In addition, delicious ham, foie gras, and oysters on the show will let you experience great food and wine pairing. Lots of fun guaranteed!

 

 

Special bonus in addition: on November 30th and December 1st, the Bettane & Desseauve Grand Tasting wine exhibition will enter the Louvre Carrousel exhibition hall!  More than 3,500 selected wines, 350 top winemakers, 39 master classes and gourmet workshops will give you the best harvest!

 

 

 

Warm-up your Christmas vibe in Alsace!

 

 

Alsace in East of France has some of the best Christmas markets in Europe! But if you had to see only one, our special pick goes to Strasbourg! The market began in 1570, and is the most popular European Christmas market Due to historical and geographical reasons, Strasbourg combines the heritage of France and Germany, a real cultural intersection! This unique fusion culture makes the Christmas market a little different from other countries and Strasbourg is known as the “Christmas Capital”.

 

 

There are twelve Markets in the centre of Strasbourg. Every one is filled with hundreds of cabins, selling French and German specialities, centuries-old handicrafts and antiques of various Christmas themes. If you want to experience the most authentic European Christmas feeling, come to Strasbourg! The market will start on 23rd of November and also pave the way for all the other small, gorgeous Alsace villages markets not to be missed either !

 

 

Enjoy this November if you are travelling and don’t forget to share, like or send us your pictures!