Paris Update Art Notes
BURNT BAR BLUES
A Nana Mouskouri album cover amid the debris.
A much-loved institution in Paris’s ninth arrondissement, the corner bar Chez Sylvain, went up in flames last week. Although Sylvain himself got out safely, his dog was killed in the fire. The messages of support scribbled over the boarded-up shell of the building – rivaling the tributes to Princess Diana at the entrance to the Alma-Marceau tunnel – demonstrate the esteem in which Sylvain, who doubles as a bar proprietor and an
Sylvain in happier days.
occasional drag act, is held in the neighborhood. The charred remains of a Nana Mouskouri LP bear sad testimony to Sylvain’s enjoyment of all things kitsch. We are all hoping that, phoenix-like, Sylvain will rise from the flames and reopen his bar very soon. Nick Hammond
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