VENICE 

BY VIRGINIE TAITTINGER / CHAIRMAN CHAMPAIGN "Virginie T"

©Crédits : Virginie Taittinger

​​

​​

My first impression of Venice came during a trip with my family, including my grandmother. We took a sleeper train to Venice before embarking on a cruise (was it the Mermoz? I can’t remember). I will always remember that arrival: the railway station practically on the water, and then, two days later, that magical moment when we boarded the ocean liner, pulled away by a tugboat, and watched the city and its palaces slowly recede into the distance.

​

Love Affair

​

Certainly banal to say, but true: Venice is the city of lovers. Charles Aznavour’s song, with lyrics by Françoise Dorin, describes so perfectly the feelings one can experience in this city when one is not in love: “How sad Venice is… in the time of dead loves… the barcarolles only underline hollow silences… the heart tightens when seeing the gondolas sheltering the happiness of lovers…”

​

Practical

​​

I have experienced Venetian palaces, but my advice would be to choose a charming hotel on the water, with a view over the lagoon. I would recommend the Monaco Grand Canal or the Regina Europa: old-fashioned charm, but with rooms offering a view (make sure to request one!). Otherwise, for a few days, an Airbnb is well worth considering. You can shop for your own food — delicious fish, and a real vegetable market near the Rialto — and feel Venetian for a little while!

​

Hobby.​

​​

Dans Venise je ne fais que marcher ou bien, bien sûr, voguer. Sérieusement tout le charme de Venise c’est se perdre dans ses milles ruelles et ses centaines de petits ponts, sauter dans un vaporetto, le lâcher n’importe où, et s’éloigner certainement du micro centre fourmillant de touristes pour respirer l’air de Venise que j’adore, je crois, encore plus en hiver.

In Venice, I do nothing but walk, or, of course, sail. Seriously, the whole charm of Venice lies in getting lost among its thousand alleyways and hundreds of little bridges, jumping on a vaporetto, getting off anywhere, and certainly moving away from the tourist-packed micro-centre to breathe in the Venetian air, which I love — perhaps even more in winter.

​

Pleasures

​​

Venice is a sophisticated city, made for pleasure and dandyism. I would recommend approaching it fully from this perspective and, why not, reading A Fantasy of Eternity about Peggy Guggenheim’s Venice (by Véronique Chalmet), or rereading Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice.

​

VENICE 

By JPMDR​​​

There are a thousand guides and a thousand recommendations about Venice. Mine is to go during the Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art (roughly from the beginning of May to the end of November). This will allow you to discover the city both with and without tourists, enjoy the very particular atmosphere of the Biennale, and discover countless places throughout Venice where events connected to the Biennale take place.

 

 

 

Sleeping

 

A thousand hotels, of course! The Danieli (splendid common areas, magnificent terrace, excellent location, service of variable friendliness) 7/10. The Bauer (beautiful, well located) 7/10. The Flora, my personal favourite: family-run, reasonable prices, attentive staff, excellent location) 9/10. Otherwise, on the Lido, the Excelsior is exceptional.

 

 

Eating

​

Good! Perhaps the risotto at Harry’s Bar, Taverna La Fenice if you are going to the opera, and here and there, some perfectly good places — notably Da Rafaele, right on the water and very close to the gondoliers who pass by at night, laden with lovers (see Virginie), along a small canal.

​

Shopping

​

You have everything: Prada, Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès, etc. (which is not unpleasant when it rains), as well as a thousand souvenir shops (oops!). Between us, I no longer particularly love the Rialto Bridge.

​

Lido

I have often stayed on the Lido and continue to return to the Excelsior. Before that, there was the Hotel des Bains (Death in Venice), unfortunately closed and transformed into an apartment building. Otherwise, the Grande Albergo Ausonia & Hungaria has its own charm, with its beautiful façade. The Lido is just two vaporetto stops from the Biennale and allows you to experience a life less immersed in tourism — whether luxury or mass tourism — and to mingle with real Venetians. You will enjoy a few pleasant restaurants (Trattoria Favorita, Trattoria Andri), the beach, and the possibility of renting bicycles (Gran Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta). 8/10.

 

 

 

Biennale

 

The Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art was created in 1895. Originally concentrated in the Giardini, where the national pavilions are still located (the Belgian Pavilion was the first, in 1907), it first expanded to the Arsenale, which hosts independent artists and national pavilions, and then spread throughout the entire city. Each Biennale has a theme and invites us to consider the relationship between art and the development of human reality, as well as social and political forces… Always extremely interesting, and sometimes disturbing or exhilarating. 10/10.

​

Out of Venice 

​

BERENGO. A visit to the glassblowing workshops of Murano is definitely worthwhile! You see glassware of such extraordinary delicacy that it seems impossible it could survive a fall! And the island of Torcello, on a beautiful day (and reached by Riva), is a delight. Bring a picnic or book a table at Locanda Cipriani.

​

ALSO

Dries Van Noten Foundation 

​

Palazzo Pisani Moretta
A splendid renovation of an extraordinary Baroque palace. You will admire the ceilings, the chandeliers, the fabrics covering the walls… and the whole of this exceptional atmosphere.

Currently, there is an exhibition devoted to the theme of Beauty: “The only true protest is Beauty.”

It is a multidisciplinary exhibition combining fashion, art and craftsmanship, with a focus on Comme des Garçons and Christian Lacroix, but also moments of humour, such as a room filled with chairs, like a storage room, and moments of great emotion, such as Marshall’s work with the sculpture After the Rape.

​

The palace will once again have to undergo further renovations in order to accommodate older works and eventually function as a true museum.