Leonardo da Vinci
The Original Renaissance Man
If you have not yet bought a ticket for the Leonardo da Vinci show at the Louvre, you will probably miss out on it. If you have, you are in for a treat. Although Leonardo is so familiar to us … Read More
Chang Restaurant
A Twist on Thai
You wouldn’t expect a restaurant named Chang to serve Thai food, but it does, and it is very good Thai food indeed. And it makes a nice change in Paris’s Little Tokyo (roughly the area between Opéra and the Palais … Read More
Andromaque
Back to the Roots of Racine
Jean Racine’s first major theatrical success, Andromaque, has been much on my mind in recent months, as a book of essays on the play that I co-edited was published recently. It was, therefore, a particular delight to be able to … Read More

Tree in the gilded cage of the Tuileries Garden. © Paris Update
What's Happening in Paris This Week
For full details about an event, click on the title to visit the official Web site (in English when available).
Through February 4
Winter sales
Official four-week retail sales period.
All over France
January 30
Help the homeless
The people of Paris come together for Nuit de la Solidarité, an annual mass operation to help those sleeping on the city’s streets. Sign-ups are available in all arrondissements.
Various locations, Paris
Through January 21
Cheap films
During the Festival Cinéma Télérama, you can see a selection of last year’s best films for only €3.50 each with the pass available in Télérama magazine or on the Télérama website.
Various cinemas, all over France
January 24-February 1
Drinkathon
Paris Cocktail Week offers master classes, special restaurant menus with cocktail/food pairings and other festivities.
Various venues, Paris
Through March 1
Godard retrospective
Iconic New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard is celebrated through film screenings, discussion groups and lectures. Above: Well-known New Wave film Le Mépris (1963) is among those being screened.
Cinémathèque Française, Paris
Through February 16
Free subtitled French films
My French Film Festival offers frees streaming of French movies.
Online
January 25-February 9
Contemporary art exhibit
Festival Hors Piste returns for its fifteenth year, this edition focusing on the constant stream of images with which we are constantly bombarded in the technological age.
Centre Pompidou, Paris
January 24-March 1
Installation art
Irish artist Sam Keogh shares Knotworld, a unique exhibition about the underbelly of the city.
Centre Culturel Irlandais
Through February 2
Paul Schrader retrospective
The work of another great director, this time hailing from the New Hollywood generation, is brought to light in Dans la Tête de Paul Schrader.
Forum des Images, Paris
Through March 8
World’s Fair architecture
An exhibition at the Musée Roybet Fould, Architectures Éphémères, looks at temporary buildings created for 19th-century World’s Fairs in France.
Courbevoie, Île-de-France
February 14
Valentine’s Ball
Lookahead to Valentine’s Day: don’t miss tickets for the Paramour Le Bal, a charity ball raising funds for AIDS research in Paris’s beautiful Hôtel de Ville.
Hôtel de Ville, Paris
Through January 25
Alfred Hitchcock retrospective
The master of suspense is celebrated in a two-month-long retrospective at the Cinémathèque Française.
Cinémathèque Française, Paris
Through February 9
Art of tomorrow, today
Performances and installations using new technology are on show at the Biennale Némo.
Various locations, Île-de-France
January 25
French film with English subtitles
Lost In Frenchlation screens Notre Dame, directed by Valérie Donzelli.