A BRIEF AUTUMN TALE OF WICE AND GOOD WINE, IN PARIS

It was a brisk, dark evening in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, but from inside a shop with wooden floors and beams on the ceiling, lights beckoned.

The lights … were in the shape of wine bottles. And so began the introduction to Thierry Givone’s “Wine Tasting in Paris”, a company that partners with WICE to offer courses in appreciating and recognizing different kinds of wine.

Thierry Givone pours a Beaujolais.

On this particular night, Nov. 18, Givone focused on the Beaujolais region for a course that comprised tasting seven very different wines, including two types of Beaujolais Nouveau. This is of course the most known wine from the area located just south of Burgundy, and the course took place a day after its official release and national fete, with people filling cafés for a glass or two.

THEATRE DES CHAMPS-ELYSEES: MUSIC AND A PARIS SAGA

It’s the theatre where American icon Josephine Baker performed in a variety of revues and where Russian dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky caused an uproar in 1913 with Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), a ballet set to the music of Igor Stravinsky. The story goes that the reaction to the ballet was so intense that spectators came to blows – a battle between those who adored the show and those who despised its “avant-gardeness”.

The concert hall at the theatre.

Such sensational times may now be the stuff of legend, but the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées is still putting on exciting and thrilling concerts, with internationally renowned artists.

The current season features recitals, concerts by resident and visiting orchestras, chamber music performances, dance, and famous opera productions, among other events. Earlier in November, the illustrious Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra played to a packed house, with the musicians and French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet receiving enthusiastic applause for their virtuosity.