Fed up with summer blockbusters in over-air-conditioned cinemas? Feel like an activity that’s both outdoorsy and cultural? Head for the parc de la Villette. Get out your picnic, crack open your bottle of rosé and lie down in the soft grass. As night falls, the stars begin to twinkle and the giant screen lights up. Lights, camera, action!

The annual La Villette open air cinema festival runs until 22 August. The festival, which is free (deckchairs can be rented for 7 euros) and open to all, is this year celebrating its 20th birthday with the appropriate theme "Avoir 20 ans" (Being 20).

And what filmmaker doesn’t have a soft spot for what is supposed to be the best year of your life, where everything is possible but where the decisions you make are so life-changing and unalterable…

Like the world which creates it, youth is golden, carefree, rebellious, distraught, violent, suicidal.

And watching these films will perhaps confirm that even if twenty isn’t necessarily the best age in life, there is hardly any other age that we miss so much!

Filmmakers from around the world have the honour of blowing out the 20 candles at Paris cinema-fans’ favourite event: Europe – François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Ken Loach, Maurice Pialat, Leos Carax, Abdellatif Kechiche, Cristian Mungiu; America – Woody Allen, Sofia Coppola, Jim Jarmusch; Asia: Liu Jie, Hong Sang-Soo... and many others.

See full details of the event

To get there from the Hotel Aviatic, take line 4 northbound from Montparnasse-Bienvenüe, then change at the Gare de l’Est and take line 7 northbound to Porte de la Villette.

YSL, three inextricably linked letters. They say that if Coco Chanel liberated women, Yves Saint Laurent empowered them. Until 29 August 2010, the Pierre Berge-Yves Saint Laurent Foundation and the Petit Palais museum present the first retrospective of Yves Saint Laurent’s work.

307 haute couture and prêt-a-porter designs are displayed, from the beginnings of the designer’s time at Dior in 1958 with the famous "Trapèze" collection, to the splendour of 2002’s evening dresses. Numerous photographs and films illustrate the historical context, the development of Yves Saint Laurent’s style and the foundations of his work.

In 40 years of design, Yves Saint Laurent revolutionised women’s wardrobes, borrowing from the masculine tailoring of the tuxedo, the trouser suit and the safari jacket, thus transferring the attributes of power from one sex to the other.

With his numerous sources of inspiration, from art (Mondrian, Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh), to the street (the shocking 1971 collection) to his imaginary travels (Russia, China, India, Spain, Japan, Africa and Morocco), Yves Saint Laurent never stopped "making fashion a celebration".

This retrospective pays homage to the immense talent of one of the greatest names in French fashion.

December. It’s cold, it rains almost every day, and the sky is a mass of depressing clouds. At home we hardly dare turn on the heating for fear of going into the red! You need a lot of imagination to find a ray of sunshine amid the winter gloom. Well, either imagination or patience as luckily Christmas will soon be here to cheer us up. “So what?”, you may ask. Will the weather be nicer at Christmas? It’s unlikely. On the contrary, the biting cold will probably be even more ferocious. And, who knows, with a bit of bad luck, it will have snowed and then turned to slush, leaving the pavements a dirty mush. So why should we see Christmas as an enchanted wonderland?

For the simple reason that, as Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States used to say, « Christmas is not a day or a season but a state of mind ». The sky might be grey and miserable, the weather might be merciless, yet the Christmas star still shines brightly in the middle of the gloom, warming our hearts and raising our spirits. Outside it’s cold, yet we are warm and cosy. The battle against the winter won, we can reward ourselves with gifts and decorations. With this in mind, the Hotel Aviatic is also getting into the festive spirit. Take heart! Enjoy the colours of Christmas! Red for passion, silver for plenty and a good dose of imagination to finish.

And as well as being a feast for the eyes, Christmas at the Hotel Aviatic is also a feast for the palate. At the Christmas breakfast an array of macaroons, petits fours and other treats will complete the traditional buffet. And because Christmas without presents is like a tree without tinsel, clients will receive an assortment of chocolates from master chocolatier Philippe Pascoet, one of the hotel’s neighbours.

'' Wishing you all a very merry Christmas from everyone at the Hotel Aviatic.''

In our last blog we gave you a few ideas for what to do in Paris in the pouring rain. However, despite the unusual weather caused by global warming, it would seem that, for now at least, “summer” is still synonymous with “sunshine” and “heat”. Aware that when the mercury rises the capital can quickly become stifling, in 2002 the Paris authorities created “Paris Plages”, temporarily transforming the banks of the Seine into a sandy beach. It was so successful that it has become an annual event, attracting more and more people each year (over 4 million visitors in 2008). .

This year, “Paris Plages” is open non-stop from 8:00 to midnight, from 20 July to 20 August. As well as the usual activities (swimming pool, pétanque, table football, rowing for beginners, volley-ball, beach rugby, fencing, etc), this year’s event features a redesigned setting, concerts for children (hosted by local associations), as well as water-based activities at La Villette... And don’t even think of taking out your wallet – all these activities are free. Who says holidays have to be expensive?

Complete Paris Plages programme 2009

Film showing a trip along the river bank, from east to west

Everyone understands the terms budget hotel, luxury hotel, and business hotel. But what about “boutique hotel”?

According to Wikipedia, a boutique hotel is an establishment with a unique style based on an original concept, differentiating it from the bland uniformity of many large hotel chains. In the Hôtel Aviatic every room has its own decor, every object its own story... a story which continues even when it leaves the hotel. The hotel has recently been renovated and so as not to abandon its many treasures, the Aviatic organised a traditional “vide grenier” (garage sale), much to the delight of the passers-by who came to hunt for hidden gems at bargain prices.

This year the vide grenier took place on the 5th and 6th of June, just a short walk from the hotel at 126 rue de Vaugirard. The sale was a real success, with some people even saying that Barack Obama, who was in Paris for the D Day landing commemorations, should have modified his schedule in order to attend!

The Aladdin’s cave (in reality Mr Bourgeois’ garages, assistant manager of the hotel and a distant relative of Ali Baba) was overflowing with treasures. But no “open sesame” was required to come and admire and acquire these many riches, this successful and popular event was public and open to everyone.

For details of the latest garage sales, flea markets and bric-a-brac sales in Paris:

http://www.brocabrac.fr

http://vide-greniers.org