The FIAC, Paris’ contemporary art fair, opened it’s doors yesterday under the  beautifully restored glass nave of the Grand Palais. If you haven’t been inside the glass-roofed  exhibition hall of the Grand Palais since it’s been cleaned and re-opened now is your chance. The FIAC is always fun, if only for the people watching (very fashionable). Then there’s the art with galleries from Paris but also New York, Berlin, London and even China. And lots of bar areas flowing with champagne. Supposedly the financial crisis hasn’t hit the art market yet. But than the FIAC always offers lesser know artists at still affordable prices as well as  modern master’s from Bueys to Calder. See www.fiac.com.

An October drive South of Paris into the region known as the Essonne is perfect for seeing the leaves changing color and exploring chateau parks. Last weekend I was at Courson, a chateau overlooking a lake, that hosts a bi-annual International garden show the third weekend in October and in May. The park surrounding the chateau is known for its great old  trees, some rare, and for me, fall is the best time to visit. (www.domaine-de-courson.fr). The garden show is pricey, 15 euros an adult, free for children, but if you take along a picnic lunch as many people do, you can easily spend an afternoon.

Not faraway is the Chateau de Chamarande, today used for art exhibitions of contemporary sculpture that is placed throughout the park. Then there’s Saint Jean de Beauregard with its medieval garden. An hour’s drive from Paris, the Essonne is one of the prettiest regions  neighboring Paris – another is the l’Oise to the north. Find out more on www.tourisme-essonne.com (in French only) or stop by the tourist office in the attractive city of Dourdan.

One of the best things about traveling is when you happen upon a ceremony or event that you may have never get to experience again. For the many tourists visiting Notre Dame last night they got more than a glimpse of Saturday’s 6:30pm mass, but a two-hour ordination ceremony complete with a full choir, organ music, over a hundred white robed priests and one Cardinal. The eight men to be ordained could be followed on over ten high-tech monitors mounted throughout the Cathedral. The image of them spread face down on the marble alter as the choir chanted was hypnotic. I was invited by one of the men to be ordained, but was surrounded by tourists from across the globe. The evening light, and the music made people stop, and soon people were taking over the side-chapel steps and column bases. Then at 8:30pm, a concert, part of the annual October “Nuit Blanch” celebration began, making Notre Dame one of the best places to be on a Saturday night in Paris.

For Information on  hours and concerts see www.notredamedeparis.fr 

Today I was at Lenotre to drop my 13-year old off for a cooking class. A 3.5-hour, “Young Toques” class where an entire menu (including scallops rolled in smoked salmon) would be prepared and ample samples packed up and sent home to the family, including an entire brownie cake. Not surprisingly the classes are popular. I’d signed him up in July, and October first was the first free class. But then again, they are only open to about 6 children at a time. One of the young ladies had been given the class as a birthday present (they cost 80 euros for the 12-17  year olds, 40 euros for the shorter 8-11 year-old class) and all the children seemed thrilled with their afternoon. Lenotre opened the cooking school and restaurant on the Champs-Elysées (near the Rond Pont, Metro Champs-Elysées Clemenceau, www.lenotre.fr) in 2003 in the old Pavillon Elysée restaurant. The cooking class kitchens are sunlit and modern and the English-speaking chefs that I’ve taken class with have been great. For a child, it is an excellent way to experience something of French culture in a very secure, well-organized and fun environment.