The Hôtel de Crillon in Paris is one of the oldest luxury hotels in the world. Situated in the heart of the City on the world-famous Place de la Concorde, it is steps away from the luxurious boutiques of the Faubourg St-Honoré, and is within walking distance of the Champs Elysées, the Avenue Montaigne, the Louvre, the Tuileries Gardens… The hotel was the favorite of the Joseph P. Kennedy family and royal families. In 1758, the eminent architect Jacques-Ange Gabriel drew up the plans, in 1788, the Comte de Crillon acquired it, and gave it his name. The Crillon remained a family home until 1907, before being turned into a hotel in 1909. This property belongs to the Louvre Hotels Group.

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn is the most famous of Holland’s seventeenth-century painters and, Night Watch, the most famous painting in the Rijksmuseum, actually has another title: the ‘Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch’. For much of its existence, the painting was coated with a dark varnish which gave the incorrect impression that it depicted a night scene, leading to the name by which it is now commonly known. This varnish was removed only in the 1940s. The picture is a militia painting: a group portrait of a division of the civic guard. Rembrandt depicted the group of militiamen in an original way. He did not paint them in neat row or sitting at their annual banquet, rather, he recorded a moment: a group of militiamen have just moved into action and are about to march off.

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Kathak is the major classical dance form of northern India. The word kathak means “to tell a story”. The story of Kathak begins in ancient times with the performances of professional story-tellers, this community of artists known as Kathakars narrated stories in temples of North India. The movement of hands and body as well as facial expressions used by the Kathakars to enrich the narrative, has given birth to Kathak. The dance form was enriched in the Mughal era – the subtlety of movements, intricate rhythm and breathtaking pirouettes increased. Today, the story-telling aspect has been downgraded and the dance is primarily an abstract exploration of rhythm and movement. The footwork is matched by the accompanying percussion instruments such as tabla and pakhawaj, and the dancer and percussionists often indulge in a virtuoso display of rhythmic wizardry.

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Opened in 2007 in the eastern wing of the Palais de Chaillot across from the Eiffel Tower, this architecture and heritage museum one of the largest architectural centres in the world, retraces the history of French architecture from the 12th-century through today. This huge museum impresses by life-size mock-ups of cathedral façades and the facades of some of the most famous monuments in France, and a whole labyrinth of rooms whose ceilings reproduce those of churches and other buildings and full-scale copies of medieval and Renaissance murals and stained-glass windows. The highlight of the modern architecture section is the walk-in replica of an apartment from Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse in Marseille. Don’t miss it !

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Benares has other names. Varanasi, located between two rivers Varana and Asi, and hence the name Varanasi, it’s a holy city, being one of the most sacred pilgrimage places for Hindus. More than 1,000,000 pilgrims visit the city each year. Hindus believe that bathing in Ganga remits sins and that dying in Kashi ensures release of a person’s soul from the cycle of its transmigrations. Benares is also known as Kaasi because it is beleived that supreme brilliance shines there, and lights the way to salvation (Kas – to shine).

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