The Pompidou Center hits a high note with the opening of two excellent and inspiring exhibitions: Calder The Paris Years and Kandinsky. I’ve never had a problem with being “challenged” by modern art, but still it’s nice to come out of an exhibition feeling simply content, even happy. The colors and amoebic forms of Kandinsky or the mobiles and Circus studies of Calder were never simplistic, but they did show that art could incorporate movement, across a canvas or literally through the air. Both spent time in Paris, with Kandinsky living in Neuilly-sur-Seine from 1934 until his death in 1944. Calder would come to Paris between the wars as a graphic artist. It was in Paris, that he began creating his wire figures, becoming the artist we know today. A 20-minute film within the exhibition shows Calder at work and gives good insight into his art.

I saw these shows on two separated days because there is so much to see. But if you try to do it all in one go (they’re on the same floor of the museum), you will find that there is an energy that comes from these painting and sculptures, making you want to see more.

Calder – Les Années Parisiennes, 1926-1933: Through July 20.

Kandinsky: Through August 10.

Open daily 11am to 9pm. Thursdays until 11pm. Closed Tuesday. Centre Pompidou, Metro Rambuteau or Hotel de Ville. www.centrepompidou.fr

Photo: Alexander Calder. Josephine Baker (IV) circa 1928. © Calder Foundation, New York/Adagp, Paris 2009

I left Paris for Brussels last weekend, and in 1.5 hours was in the land of fries with mayo, chocolate, comic books and of course René Magritte. The inauguration of Brussels’ Magritte Museum is June 2, making it all the more interesting to head for Brussels for a weekend or even for the day – easy to do with the high speed Thalys (www.thalys.com ) trains leaving Paris’ Gare du Nord on the half hour on weekdays.

What to do in Brussels?  Of course everyone heads to the historic Grand Place surrounded by ornate brick guild houses.  Nearby are beautiful glass-roofed galleries filled with endless chocolate and antique shops.

Out of the center of the city center, but a must for anyone interested in design and architecture is the Victor Horta Museum. It is located in his fully furnished home surrounding you with Art Nouveau detail and beautiful woodwork.  Unfortunately, the museum (a little bit of a walk from the Metro) is only open in the afternoon, so you need to manage your time.

And then there are the art museums, of the Place Royale, just above the old city. Here is where you find the Musée Royaux des Beaux Arts (Brueghel, Rubens; www.fine-arts-museum.be ), and down several levels, the 19^th-20^th century art collection (James Ensor). Almost next door, in its newly renovated building, is the Magritte collection. Brussels hopes this building will become a magnet for international tourists. I should say that one of their other very popular museums in the Comic Book museum. My children loved this place, but they also grew up in France with Tintin, Lucky Luke and others famed characters created by Belgians. I liked the Victor Horta designed building that houses the museum and pleasant café.

Brussels is full of good restaurants serving copious plates of seafood and local specialties (and yes, paper cones of fat and delicious French fries). I had lunch right next to the museums at the Museum Brasserie (3 Place Royale; you can enter from the sidewalk or from within the Beaux Arts museum; www.museumfood.be) and the food by chef Peter Goossens was excellent from the just-seared tuna to the perfect lamb. A fixed-price lunch menu makes it affordable, as does a three-course dinner menu at 35 euros. There is also a café inside the museum.

Quick note for Art Nouveau fans: I had always wanted to stay in Brussel’s Metropole Hotel but, in the end friends told me just to visit the café and lobby for a glimpse of the architecture, but stay someplace else. The website room photos were also discouraging. While the hotel still has it’s beautiful front desk and ornate café, it is very dark and needs a facelift.

In the end Brussels was a good destination for a short break. It was also very rainy! Beware that while top notch, hotels near the European parliament buildings are expensive during the week, when delegates on big budgets fill them up. 

The Spring Art season is full of blockbuster shows including:

Andy Warhol: From March 18 to July 13 at the Grand Palais. (www.rmn.fr). A huge retrospective with art, magazines and films that cover his Factory days and his influence on art today.

Arcimboldo to Dali – Les Images Doubles: Also at the Grand Palais April 6 to July 6 (www.rmn.fr). False perspectives, and visual games unite 250 works, including drawings by M.C. Escher.

Calder: The Paris Years (1926-1933): From March 18-July 20, at the Centre Pompidou. Alexander Calder was 27 when he arrived in Paris an unknown illustrator. During the seven years he lived here he would begin his famous Circus and mobiles, defining himself as one of the most original voices of 20^th-century art. The exhibition includes drawings and mobiles as well as photos and film. 

Suzanne Valadon – Maurice Utrillo: From Impressionnism to the Paris School. From March 6 to September 15 at the Pinacothèque de Paris. (28 place de la Madeleine, 75008). This in-depth exhibition concentrates on one of Paris most famous painting families. There will be over 100 paintings from both the mother (Valadon) and her son (Utrillo), including his “white period” around 1914, and many scenes of Montmartre.

The Jazz Century: From March 17–June 28 at the Musée du Quai Branly (www.quaibranly.fr). A dynamic exhibition that explores the relationship between Jazz and the arts - including literature, film and music. It promises to be a comprehensive look at the phenomenon of the “Jazz effect” on the visual arts with over 700 objects, including 70 paintings by artists including Matisse, Picasso, Man Ray, Bob Thompson, Alexander Calder, Francis Picabia, Piet Mondrian, Jean Dubuffet, Jeff Wall and Dan Flavin. A musical soundtrack guides visitors through the exhibition.

A bright light in the February sky is the opening of the Giorgio De Chirico retrospective at the Museé d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.

De Chirico (1888-1978) is one of those hard to categorize artists. His austere but very poetic paintings of plazas and colonnaded buildings defined his metaphysical period. When De Chirico came to Paris in 1911, he would have an influence on the growing Surrealist movement, only to return to Italy and follow his own path, with his almost theatrical compositions. New for me out of the 170 paintings, drawings and sculpture were his many self-portraits (some in period costumes) and the fact that he revisited his own most famous paintings later in life, copying his own work.  He called these “replays” a way of separating himself from the famous artists he had become. And while I can’t say I enjoyed all of his work, I’ll consider it a warm up to shows that are coming up this Spring, like Dali and M.C. Escher at the Grand Palais.

Before heading into the De Chirico exhibition, I went next door to the Palais de Tokyo (the two “twin” museums share a plaza) to check out the boutique and the scene. The Palais de Tokyo, with its restaurant, DJ, cool Japanese monster gifts and art magazines has become a hangout for both art students and hip Moms from the surrounding neighborhood. The museum even had a “Baby disco” this year and still has a one room hotel on its roof, the Everland (www.everland.ch) that will stay in place through May 1, 2009 and which is auctioning off the last nights on Ebay for about 1,040 euros at last check.

While I was leafing through magazines a loud voice filled the hall. It was a performance artist staging a diatribe on the euro – I think.  His moans and screams, set every child in the place howling.   I finally had to leave, but hey, I was there.

De Chirico. 11 Avenue de Président Wilson; Metro Iéna or Pont Alma. February 13- May 24, Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am-6pm. Closed Monday. www.mam.paris.fr

Today I discovered an unusual and charming neighborhood known as Mouzaïa, just north of the Buttes Chaumont park in the 20^th arrondissement (Metro Botzaris or Danube).

What makes it special is street after narrow street of individual row houses – very unusual for Paris. Houses with tiny front yards and sometimes back gardens as well.  I was in the neighborhood to take a course in preparing Suschi (www.wasabi.com) on Rue Mouzaïa, but it would be great to stroll these alleyways in springtime, when the flowers and wisteria are in full bloom.

One note on the Sushi class: The course was good and afterwards we got to partake of our creations, but several people didn’t touch their fish.  They had already eaten lunch, and it is a particularly French thing to not eat between meals (certainly not a bowl of rice and raw fish) or at odd ours like 4:00 in the afternoon.  They took it to go but asked for soy sauce as well - which I think was a bit much. It’s a cooking school….and a great cultural divide.