Paris, Paris, Paris. This city has stolen the French cultural spotlight for too long.

The French government, local officials and well-known institutions are aware of the gluttony in Paris and are trying to spread the wealth to nearby cities through satellite facilities and museum expansion.

Like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, this work has paid off, helping the economy of these towns and enhancing their civic image. Visitors can also benefit by experiencing new landmarks created by some of the best architects in the world; a smaller crowd is another benefit.

During this cold time of the year, exploring the glittering buildings is especially fun, because it's not a bad idea to stay inside all day.

These cities are only two to three hours' drive from Paris. They are excellent destinations in their own right, showing a more resilient and vibrant France than most tourists are used to. They are still a little unconcerned, but this situation is changing rapidly.

Lens is a quiet coal mining town about two hours’ drive north of Paris. Few people knew about it until the Louvre opened its satellite museum in 2012. The museum houses many of the institution’s long-term isolation. Treasures.

The Louvre-Lens, valued at US$187 million, was built on the former mine and designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese company SANAA, demonstrating its ability to create tranquil sculptures.

Unlike the huge Louvre in Paris, the satellite’s aluminum and glass wings and public spaces are on the ground floor, surrounding the undulating landscape from the glass foyer. Inside, the gallery is simple, not radical. After all, this is the Louvre. But the repetition of the structure and the bright reflections are still fascinating.

The treasures inside—from Egyptian icons to Greek statues to European paintings—all testify to the amazing depth of the Louvre collection, as does the basement viewing area of ​​the museum's huge storage and restoration space.

Lens is not Paris, but if you are tired of the tourist flow of the French capital, this place is for you.

In some parts of town, you feel as if you are on the set of the British movie "Billy Elliot", with rows of red brick houses dotted with occasional bars. Observe carefully, you can appreciate the rough beauty of the city's fine arts, Art Nouveau and traditional Flemish architecture, all hidden in conspicuous places.

Lens’ main street, Place Jean Jaurès, is the ideal place to enjoy coffee and quiches (I tried Jean-Claude Jeanson Pâtisserie) and gaze at the eccentric orange brick Église Saint-Léger’s stately bell tower.

On your way out of town, staring at the piles of my rubbish called terrils. These cone-shaped hills were once regarded as a thorn in the eye, and now they have become an integral part of the image of this re-emerging city.

Information: www.louvrelens.fr/en/home

Lille is about half an hour's drive north of Lens and does not need to prove itself. Once considered crappy, it is now considered one of the must-visit cities in France, with a frenetic nightlife and world-class art scene.

Its reputation was consolidated in 2010 when the rising French architect Manuelle Gautrand reorganized its Modern Art Museum, which was an institution located in the eastern suburbs of Villeneuve-d'Ascq in the 1980s and is now renamed the Metropolis of Lille Museum of Modern, Contemporary and Outsider Art.

The original Red Brick Museum houses masterpieces by Joan Miro, Paul Klee, and Amedio Modigliani, as well as a sculpture featuring works by Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso and others garden.

Its new wing is made by obliquely rammed concrete boxes, decorated with peculiar openings, and houses the largest collection of foreign art in France. With its weird and often lively pictures, gorgeous mixture of ready-made materials, and strange oversized sculptures, this building can easily become the highlight of the complex. I like the sublime advancement of its space, but the lighting needs work. Be sure to visit the peaceful duck park adjacent to it.

If you have time, Lille is one of the best surprises in France. Stroll through its different historic districts and admire the charming mix of Flemish, French, Dutch and other architectural styles. Its cathedral Notre-Dame de la Treille has a translucent white marble façade, strange and charming.

More highlights for art lovers include the Palais des Fine Arts in Paris, one of the most extensive museums in France, and nearby La Piscine, Musée d'Art et d'Industrie, an eclectic gallery set in the former Art Deco style The swimming pool is north of the city. You can also visit the city’s numerous galleries and handicraft shops, stroll through its splendid Renaissance castle, and enjoy goulash, French fries and Belgian waffles at the local dining establishments Chez la Vieille and Meert.

In 2010, the Pompidou Centre opened its first satellite museum on the edge of Metz, a delightful non-tourist city about 3 hours northeast of Paris.

This $86 million structure was designed by another Pritzker Prize winner, Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. It is essentially a series of extruded glass boxes, topped by criss-cross laminated wood beams and translucent plastic fabric. Composition of curved canopy. (It is said that this shape was inspired by a hat Ban found in Paris.)

Its white shell encloses a huge hall where you will spend a few minutes stretching your neck towards the fashionable basket-like support grid. Thanks to the huge rolling glass doors, the lobby feels open to the city; you are full of vitality here.

The gallery includes huge spaces for displaying oversized works of art by George Braque, Max Ernst, Robert Delaunay, Henri Matisse, Anish Kapoor and others, as well as temporary exhibitions More private upstairs space.

On the top floor, you can gaze at the canopy from the projection balcony, or enjoy the city view through the large projection floor-to-ceiling windows.

Metz, the capital of Lorraine, has a fascinating imperial quarter and a charming medieval core, winding cobblestone streets, bustling indoor markets and St. Stephen’s Cathedral, one of the most charming cathedrals in France. A small island on the Moselle, featuring the picturesque new temple church, looks like a miniature version of Paris’s Cité. In this city suitable for cycling, you will find many parks to explore.

It is about a 40-minute drive from Nancy, the capital of French Art Nouveau, and is a good place for day trips. Be sure to visit the Musée de l'École de Nancy, which showcases one of my favorite styles (including winding Art Nouveau pianos, furniture, ceramics, etc.) and Villa Majorelle, which is the most magical and gorgeous You will be glad to see one of the residences.

Information: www.centrepompidou-metz.fr/en/welcome

Orleans is known as the most famous battlefield of Joan of Arc. It is located about an hour's drive south of Paris and was severely damaged during World War II. It is usually considered to be just a stop on the way to the castle of the Loire.

But this diversified city has a thriving design scene. In 2013, the new complex of the FRAC Center (which has been the home of art and architecture exhibitions since 1983) opened in and around the refurbished military barracks and hospitals, making the design The scene is clearer.

The new part of the museum is gleaming, covered with metal plates, and the square that moves around it is twisted and tilted, seeming to be crawling out of the earth. To me, it is similar to insects, heart valves, spaceships, or some combination of the three.

Its small holes gleam on the color electronic display, and you can even climb on it. This new building was designed by French star Jakob + MacFarlane, who created several buildings in the country that accelerate the pulse, such as the lemon green Paris docks and Lyon's orange cubes.

FRAC is one of the best utopian architectural displays in the world; its permanent collection contains hundreds of models, drawings, and headaches in urban planning from companies such as Le Corbusier, Ant Farm, and Superstudio.

Temporary exhibitions complement this combination, filling architecture fans with spectacular dreams, which, although inspiring, may never be realized.

I don’t have much time to explore Orleans, but I was able to visit this magnificent cathedral, which has three huge doors and rose windows, and of course the Virgin Mary located in one of the city’s many pleasant squares. De statue.

On my way out, I passed more amazing buildings, diverse neighborhoods, unexpected restaurants and more things that made these little-known cities so special.

Information: www.frac-centre.fr/index.php?lang=2

The best way to get to Paris

From Los Angeles International Airport, Air France and Air Tahiti provide direct services to Paris, while the United States, the United Kingdom, Delta, KLM, Lufthansa, Switzerland and United provide transfer services (changes). Restricted round-trip fares start at $849, including all taxes and fees

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