FIAC - Paris's International Contemporary Art Fair

The International Contemporary Art Fair (or FIAC) is an art event that takes place every year in Paris in October.

The 2014 edition was spread between the Grand Palais, Cité de la Mode et du Design, Jardin des Tuileries and Jardin des Plantes. Anyway, I'll leave it there and jump straight to the pics...

Studio Ghibli Layout Designs - Understanding the secrets of Takahata and Miyazaki animation

Miyazaki and Takahata...pure genius. This exhibitions presents over 1300 layout drawings from the 30 year history of Studio Ghibli, founded in part by Miyazaki and Takahata.

Think Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Grave of the Fireflies, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Pom Poko, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, The Cat Returns, Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, Arrietty and many, many more.

And if you've not seen any of the films, then it's worth doing before visiting the exhibition. In fact, it's worth doing full stop.

Highlights include layouts paired with their corresponding movie snippets; and translations of humorous comments written by Miyazaki and Takahata to the artists.

Winter expositions at the Grand Palais

An overview of the winter exhibitions at the Grand Palais - all are worthy of a visit. For general information regarding the Grand Palais, refer to my Grand Palais guide.

1.  Hokusai - One of my favourite artists, and with a huge and varied collection on display, this exposition certainly delivers. It follows a chronological order, generally broken up according to the different aliases that Hokusai used throughout his life. It includes some of his famous Thirty-six views of Mt Fuji series, and my personal favourite, painting instruction manuals created during his Taitō period.

••  Runs 1 Oct 2014 - 20 Nov 2014 & 1 Dec 2014 - 18 Jan 2015 (Clemenceau entrance)

Paul McCarthy - Chocolate Factory

Paul McCarthy's exhibition originally consisted of two parts - the Chocolate Factory exposition, and a public sculpture in Place Vendôme.

In case you missed the news, the public sculpture was a 24 meter high green inflatable "Tree" in the shape of a butt plug. It lasted two days before being vandalised by closed-minded Parisians and consequently removed.

But the Chocolate Factory is still here, displaying McCarthy's distinctive works and ideas. The Chocolate Factory consists of a functioning kitchen creating the chocolates, and an immersive 8 room experience - based on the ideas of Christmas, consumption, commodity, capitalism, Western and American culture. Upon entering you become surrounded by flickering lights, ambiguous moaning, crazy-man scribbles and xmas chocolates. Let's just say you'll feel a little different when leaving compared to when you entered!

Craft beer near La Défense - La Caisses de Bières

Paris isn't known for its beer culture, but it doesn't take much searching to discover there are several gems to be found, and La Caisses de Bières is one such gem.

Its location is just outside of Paris, and I've given it a mention because it is a 5-10 min walk from La Défense. This makes it perfect for all the expats working in La Défense, helps to keep the prices down, and shelters it from the tourist crowds.

What makes it a gem?

••  It stocks Belgian and French beers, with around 300 varieties. Belgian beer making up the vast majority (and rightly so).