Van Gogh exhibition
“Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night” is a special exhibition organized by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. It’s on display in the Amsterdam museum until June 7.
The show looks at the artist’s representations of evening and night and includes works from several museums, including the famous “The Starry Night” (MoMA), a portrait of Eugène Boch (Musée d’Orsay in Paris) and “The Potato Eaters” (Van Gogh Museum).
A New York Times review notes that visitors can “gain new insight into one of the 19th-century’s most influential artists with this unprecedented exhibition.”
Tickets are sold for one-hour time blocks and include admission to the rest of the museum (online reservations are available). They cost 18.50 euros for adults, 6 euros for children 13 to 17 years and are free for children 12 and younger.
The museum is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with extended hours to 10 p.m. Thursday to Saturday during the exhibition.
Find more details at www.vangoghmuseum.nl.
A week in Burgundy
Kick back in rented lodging in France’s Burgundy region near Beaune and enjoy the wine and food of an area the owners call a “gastronomic paradise.”
Grape Rentals has three houses in wine-making villages and an apartment in medieval Beaune. All include washer/dryer, bed linens and towels, wireless high-speed Internet connections, binders of “insider information,” a library of English books and movies and the use of a high chair, baby cot and children’s videos.
The weekly rate for La Maison des Deux Clochers, a two-bedroom house in the village of Magny-les-Villers in low season (Nov. 1 to March 31), for example, is 450 euros for one to two people (about $565) and 550 euros for three to four people.
In high season, the rate is 550 euros for one or two people, and 650 euros for three to four people. A refundable damage deposit of 200 euros is also used to cover the cost of utilities.
For details, go to the Web at www.graperentals.com.
Discount Paris
Looking for a discount deal in Paris or elsewhere in France? You may find one at www.discount-paris.com. The Web site’s organizing company is made up of travel professionals based in Kent, England.
Offers include packages for city tours, wine tastings, cabarets, cruises, sightseeing, Disneyland Paris, the south of France and Eurostar rail connections.
Best betsIRELAND: St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are already under way in Dublin. “The Sky is the Limit” is the theme of this year’s festival, which continues through Tuesday with a traditional parade. Warm-up events include: free performances of the Australian theater group Strange Fruit at the Grand Canal Square, evening concert with Seàn Keane and traditional Irish entertainment at the National Concert Hall, the top five Irish comedians at the The Laughter Lounge, the Irish-language Gaelspraoi celebration and a fun fair and children’s events. The parade starts at noon Tuesday at Parnell Square North and continues for two hours. The full program is at www.stpatricksfestival.ie.
What better day for the Guinness brewery to celebrate its 250th anniversary than on St. Paddy’s day with a festival in the Storehouse of the St. James Brewery? For a 15-euro entrance fee, participants can enjoy the music and performances of more than 250 entertainers and engage in lots of Guinness-centered activities, such as pouring pints, eating Guinness-laced foods and downing the famous Irish stout. Find more details at www.guinness-storehouse.com.
ENGLAND: The Irish rank as the largest foreign-born group in London. As a result, Sunday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade and festival in London will be full of the craic — Irish for good times and mischief. The lively procession with marching bands and street performers will start at midday from Hyde Park Corner and march through Piccadilly Lower Regent Street, Pall Mall East and Trafalgar Square, ending at Whitehall Place. Trafalgar Square will be the venue for Irish music, crafts, culture and food. Leicester Square hosts a big ceilidh — live music and dance — for those who want to join a jig or reel. Find details at www.londontown.com/London/ St_Patrick’s_Day_in_London_2009.
For almost 100 years, Bradford in Yorkshire has been associated with films, a relationship it celebrates with its annual International Film Festival in the National Media Museum. This year’s begins Friday and runs through March 28. On the program are more than 200 screenings that include 13 new films from the United States; screen talks with film guests such as Terry Jones (“Monty Python”) and Virginia McKenna (“Born Free”); the Widescreen Weekend, with classics shown in large formats, such as Cinerama and IMAX; and Industry Weekends, with talks about filmmaking, documentaries and short features.
This year honors the centenary of the birth of actor James Mason. Tickets cost 120 pounds (about $172) for a festival pass, 5.50 pounds for a single film. The Widescreen Weekend pass costs 85 pounds. Find more details at www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk.
