In Paris for a perfect Art Deco weekend

The ferment of a new era could be perceived as early as 1907, when it was conceived; but the exhibition was not planned until 1913: the outbreak of the First World War, however, scuppered the good intentions. Finally, in 1925, everything was ready for an exhibition that changed, and profoundly influenced, the face of the 20th century. 'Open to all industrialists whose products are artistic in character and clearly show a modern tendency': the 1925 Paris International Exhibition of Decorative and Industrial Arts, from 28 April to October of the same year, invaded the grand esplanade of the Invalides and overflowed into the world.

Of course, Paris did not forget it. An epoch-making event, it brought millions of enthusiastic people to the city, who returned home with a new way of living; it was an aesthetic, ethical and philosophical revolution that affected every sphere: painting and furniture, clothes and objects, sculpture and glasses, architecture and cars, graphics and jewellery, hats and trains.

The Musée des Arts Décoratifs has reversed the dates (from October 2025 to April 2026) and there is still a week left to enjoy the superb Art Deco centenary exhibition. Vibrating with colours, intersecting curves and geometries, the objects on display: the materials and ideas of a hundred years ago are still wonderfully relevant. The return to those years is expressed in various ways. The Paris exhibition, for example, has chosen to pay homage to the prince of travel at the time, the Orient Express: a symbol of French refinement and savoir-faire, the train reached its zenith in the 1920s, decorated by renowned artists such as Prou and Lalique: a moving testimony to that aesthetic. And one hundred years later, the legend is reborn: exclusively, in the museum's aisle, the exhibition presents life-size models of the interior of the future Orient Express, reinterpreted by artistic director Maxime d'Angeac. And one can compare continuities and changes with the originals of a 1926 Art Deco cabin from the museum's own collection.

Un interno del sontuoso treno Orient Express, che ripartirà nel 2027

Romantic atmospheres While waiting to depart for exotic train journeys (and time), one can stop at the Bristol, another legend, this time of the Parisian hotellerie. Here Josephine Baker, an absolute diva of the time, was at home, here she held her farewell party (in 1975) with guests such as Mike Jagger and Sophia Loren; and so the hotel has paid homage to her with one of the city's most beautiful suites. A romantic and exclusive atmosphere: at the top of the hotel, with typical Parisian sloping ceilings. The Suite 1925, this is the name, where I had the good fortune to stay, does not want to replicate an era, but reinterprets it with contemporary sensitivity, just as the Bristol (also fresh from its centenary, celebrated with books, playlists, pardon the 33-rpm record, how chic, various objects), the flagship hotel of the Oetker collection, does with the rest of its rooms. And if the portrait of Baker signed by George Hoyningen-Huene illuminates the room, together with the well-stocked library, the dream continues with fine fabrics in a soft palette: light blues, vanilla, delicate pink, ivory shades. Each element finds its own balance. Needless to say, the perfection of the service, the impeccable breakfast and bar, Café Antonia, or the triumphant Epicure restaurant.

Uno scorcio del minuscolo Bar Nouveau, nel Marais, già tra i 50 best bar al mondo. Solo 16 mq, una lista ristretta di cocktail (tutti ottimi, però), nessuna prenotazione e nessun cibo. Si può solo bere. Staff eccezionale

Speaking of bars, for your art deco weekend, don't miss a tiny, literally, 16-square-metre, novelty: Bar Nouveau (concession to Art Nouveau), in the Marais is a tiny space, houses a collection of remarkable vintage glasses and serves a series of cocktails that revisit the classics, or inventions, that are truly excellent: it is already among the 50 best in the world. For dinner in style, you can't miss Prunier, an exhilarating façade with mosaics and inlays, a renovated interior that is perfectly consistent: caviar has been at home here since 1924, as were Yves-Saint Laurent et Pierre Bergé for a long time; and their presence still hovers.