Paris - the Bizarre and Grotesque
November 1st 2007 20:28
"It's so French" is the catch cry of the misofranc and the francophile alike. On the lips of the former it's code for "How rude! How arrogant! How inefficient! " How unnecessary! while rolling off the tongue of the latter, it translates as "What chic! What flair! What class! What savoir faire!" However, love them or hate them, most of us will admit that style, quiet good taste and understated elegance are hallmarks of France and the French - usually........!
Tucked away in a side street (heureusement!) off Boulevard des Capucines in the Deuxieme Arrondissement of Paris, just near the Opera, is the bizarre abberation, tellingly named "The American Dream Bar", pictured above and below. A veritable riot of style and form, its multitude of decorations - sculptures, carvings, stained glass, plastic, chrome, domes, arches, porticoes, curlicues, paint, plaster and neon, ranging from rococo to rock n'roll - is only outdone by its multiplex of functions - it's a dance-hall, a night-club, a piano bar, a jazz bar, a take-away, a pizza joint, a brasserie, a restaurant, a disco, a lounge, a theatre, a cafe, a cafe terrasse and a pub.
Not far away, in the Premier Arondissement, close to Les Halles, is the stylish taste of the grotesque pictured below. Elegantly displayed in the window of this quaint, pretty little "old Paris" shop, with its chic brass business plate and quietly tasteful lettering, are the stuffed corpses of of a dozen or more Parisian "animaux nuisibles" - rodents, in the main. Below and behind them are the instruments and potions of their extermination.
So, do these bizarre and grotesque exceptions prove the rule of French style, taste and elegance?
A bar in Paris
Tucked away in a side street (heureusement!) off Boulevard des Capucines in the Deuxieme Arrondissement of Paris, just near the Opera, is the bizarre abberation, tellingly named "The American Dream Bar", pictured above and below. A veritable riot of style and form, its multitude of decorations - sculptures, carvings, stained glass, plastic, chrome, domes, arches, porticoes, curlicues, paint, plaster and neon, ranging from rococo to rock n'roll - is only outdone by its multiplex of functions - it's a dance-hall, a night-club, a piano bar, a jazz bar, a take-away, a pizza joint, a brasserie, a restaurant, a disco, a lounge, a theatre, a cafe, a cafe terrasse and a pub.
A bar in Paris
Not far away, in the Premier Arondissement, close to Les Halles, is the stylish taste of the grotesque pictured below. Elegantly displayed in the window of this quaint, pretty little "old Paris" shop, with its chic brass business plate and quietly tasteful lettering, are the stuffed corpses of of a dozen or more Parisian "animaux nuisibles" - rodents, in the main. Below and behind them are the instruments and potions of their extermination.
Pest exterminator - Paris
Pest exterminator - Paris
So, do these bizarre and grotesque exceptions prove the rule of French style, taste and elegance?
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