Some unique views of Paris and the Eiffel Tower!

The Maison de Balzac has reopened following the refurbishment of the overall visiting conditions. The garden on the Passy hill sides provides a clear view of the Eiffel Tower close-by and includes the Rose Bakery café for tea and cakes on the terrace while reading one of Balzac’s works (available at the café). The actual house has been kept exactly as it was 200 years ago and exhibits a unique collection of manuscripts and graphic works illustrating the writer's Comédie Humaine. This summer, Eduardo Arroyo’s works celebrating Balzac's masterpiece are on show. The Spanish artist was one of the founders of the Figuration Narrative movement in the 1960s. At the time, he already had the opportunity to show his interest in one of the writer's novels, A Passion in the Desert, in the company of Gilles Aillaud and Antonio Recalcati -other artists of the movement- who produced works that were exhibited in this same place. More recently, Arroyo immersed himself in Balzac's novelistic production with a very different approach: he produced portraits through a meticulous assemblage of fragments of old photographs. This technique, which is similar to marquetry or mosaic, allows him to combine the reading of the work and elements interpreted by his own memory. 

Another Parisian place, Le Perchoir Porte de Versailles, is just a little further south. Le Perchoir restaurants are spreading through Paris (in Ménilmontant, on the roof of BHV, on the roof of Gare de l’Est railway station, at les Buttes Chaumont and at the old auction hall of the Mont de Piété) and this latest one is on the left bank, in the middle of a large urban farm on the top of the exhibition halls at Porte de Versailles. Just like the other Perchoir restaurants, this one offers unique views of the city from the beautiful and vast terrace combined with the usual eco-friendly, beach-club ambiance. Start off with a refreshing Fragola, then why not stay and dine on seasonal produce, partially sourced from the neighboring farm.