Nils Staerk @ FIAC

Paul McCartney @ Olympia

Paul McCartney announces show at the Olympia in Paris 22nd October 2007Paul McCartney has today announced that he is to play a very special show at the prestigious Olympia in Paris on 22nd October.The Olympia is the oldest and most famous music hall in Paris, having played host to an array of great names since it was founded in 1888; from Luciano Pavarotti, Judy Garland, the Rolling Stones, Celine Dion and Morrissey to esteemed French stars such as Yvonne Printemps, Johnny Hallyday, Charles Aznavour and also Edith Piaf, who performed at the Olympia many times during her career, and supported the venue when it faced bankruptcy in 1961.Paul himself is no stranger to the Olympia, having performed there with the Beatles in 1964. This special show will be the first time that Paul has played in France since he played the Stad de France as part of his 2004 summer tour.Ticket details are to be made available shortly.

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The Five Hotel

It’s never easy to let go of a comfortable old idea. We’ve gone on and on in these pages over the years about what a conservative lot Paris’s hotels are. The point was beginning to stretch a bit already, but now, on the occasion of the opening of the Five Hotel, it’s time to retire that old line for good. Because if enough new places like the Five open up, we’ll have to start droning on about how surprising, how whimsical, how visually modern the hotels in Paris always are, and couldn’t someone just put in a Louis XV chair or a crystal chandelier or something, to give us a break from all this design?

We’re not quite to that point yet. Which is a good thing, as it just means there’s still good reason to be excited about the Five. It’s still not every day you see a hotel painted in solid vivid colors like this, walls gleaming with the texture of Chinese lacquer, tiny pinhole stars floating up the walls and onto the ceiling. Fixtures and furnishings are simple and contemporary, some rooms featuring platform-style beds suspended from the ceiling — watch those hanging wires. And all of the rooms, though minimal, come with the basics, like satellite LCD televisions and high-speed wireless internet access. Beyond breakfast, you’re on your own, but this being Paris, you know the drill — if you can’t find something to eat around the Latin Quarter then there’s no hope for you.
The Five Hotel
3, rue Flatters
Paris, France

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