Oxford and London

We took the Eurostar from Paris to London between X-Mas and New Years Eve: so convenient and easy! Arriving at the beautiful and quite new St-Pancreas station (with its champagne bar: not to be missed). Next train from Paddington station to Oxford, covered in snow, where we took refuge from the cold in St Mary's church in the heart of the historic part of town.

 
Then we continued to the newly renovated Ashmolean Museum: three levles of objects from all over the world, well lit and handsomly presented:

 London was as foggy as it should but not too cold, well decorated for the holidays. There we visited one of the world's largest private galleries, the Saatchi gallery:

 

Victoria and Albert had a wonderful exhibition of Diaghilev and the golden age of the Ballets Russes 1909-1929, of Imperial Chinese robes and of photography. At the Royal Academy of Arts we saw the Glasgow Boys: pioneering painters 1880-1900: wonderful oils and watercolours. Not to be missed if you travel to London. Tea at Savoy was impossible: you have to book three months in advance! But we got tickets next door to the very funny Oscar Wilde play "An ideal husband". Quite exhausted by then, I dragged the boys to see the British Museum. We concentrated on the Greek objects that might, in parts, have to be given back to its original country:

Before leaving the "island" and heading back to Paris, we all needed to drink a beer at a typical English pub:

Free Press

What a week: with the revelations from Wikileaks and especially the US reactions. What are they so afraid of? There own incompetence! Where is the free speech here?

Then there is China: not allowing the Nobel Prize winner to come and collect his own prize! What are they so afraid of? What do they have to hide/safeguard?

Then we had "elections" in Egypt. What? Was that a joke? No that's what they call it when the sitting President Mubarak, old and sick and his party continues their ridiculous "status quo" that the Egyptians are so tired off, they have to joke about it, it's so insane. The writer Alaa el-Aswany (Jaquoubian's building), one of the founding members of the opposition movement Kifaya (Enough!), is one of the voices speaking up for democracy in Egypt. In vain it seems... at least so far! Presidential elections are coming in November 2011.

Website for this image

strandreleasing.com

India: then I went to get my visa for one of the biggest democracy in the world and after filling out several forms, indicating even my father's name (!) and of course my job... I had to pay 147 € as a punishment for stating that I was a journalist (although not going as an assignment) and a Swede living in France, hence the high prize I was told... and I will only get a single visa for ONE entry for three months. If I want to go back I'll have to pay the same horrendous amount once more...  Where is the freedom and democracy here I wondered? It sounds more like discrimination to me.

Finally, I attended a very interesting press-conference about the situation of handicapped people in Sweden verses in France: Stockholm wants to show off as the most handicapped friendly capital in the world and France has voted a law of quotas to force medium and larger sized companies to employ handicapped. A good thing. Maybe they should do the same with women because on that level, France is lagging behind (after Kazaksthan)...

Still, I want to believe the world is moving foreward because however hard some try to musel us, we'll always find ways to speak up and denounce tyranny on whatever level.

 

Manish Arore: fashion

Great fashion show in Stockholm and my Indian adventure that's starting with Manish Arore - living between Paris and New Delhi. A wonderful man, fun, happy and down to earth despite his huge international success. Check the dresses here:
http://www.manisharora.ws/manish.html

Some winter pics from Stockholm

... and the metro station:

Anders Zorn

One of Sweden's leading artists from last century: Anders Zorn is shown in Stockholm this fall:

His self-portrait, nature and his well-known women in the Orient. His depiction of water is his high-light.

Princesse de Montpensier

Tavernier's last movie "La Princesse de Montpensier" is beautiful: the scenery, the acting, the dresses...
A bit too much fighting for my taste though.
Check the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIJWSE1aAvI&feature=related

CHIN

Chin and four centuries of ceramics. From Korea to Japan a family Odyssey of fifteen generations of ceramists are shown on the lovely "hôtel particulier" at Mitsukoshi-Etoile, close to the Champs-Elysées in Paris. It's not a very frequented place and I could stroll around without the crowds obscuring the objects. A feast for the eye and the soul!