The artwork above is by the Soulful Gallery collective

This Friday just gone saw Jarvis Cocker launch Eurostar’s “Culture Connect” campaign as he was revealed as their new ‘Cultural Ambassador’

Culture Connect is a unique partnership between Eurostar and galleries and art institutions in London, Paris and Brussels. Simply put, when you travel with Eurostar, you can now present your ticket from your inbound journey and get 2 for 1 at these said galleries.

We managed to get some interview time with Jarvis, and although limited, we got an insight into why he was involved, where he recommends for a jaunt in London and learnt a bit more about the campaign:

Mr Cocker explained how he became the Cultural Ambassador for Eurostar because for the past 7 years he has divided his time between London and Paris so he is no in the position to talk about and promote the two cities and speak about their differences.

“Paris is like a very pretty woman, but you are never going to get off with her”

Say you took a train to Paris but you’re not only into art in the galleries? What do you do? Where do you look? Paris has a wealth of street art to offer and UKSA can help you pinpoint some of the artists and hotspots across the city. Jarvis explained that “…personally I like to get side tracked” and we couldn’t agree more:

– You can find miniature mosaics on Pont-des-Arts.

– Peep a look at Jean-Luc Duez’s bold memoirs of love across the city.

– See Jerome Mesnager’s consistently rendered “Ghosts of Paris” figures on walls, hoardings and doors.

– Infamous French artist, Invader “gets up” everywhere in the world, and may have started his work in Paris in 1998 but you can still see pieces across the city.

We’ve merely touched on the scene over in Paris, but you can find out more information on Paris Graffiti alongside checking out a tonne of photos on the Paris Street Art group on Flickr. Virtualtourist.com also offer up some good tips on where to catch some street pieces

Check out the full list of participating galleries here, but make sure you extend your visit to go off the mainstream track and you’ll always be sure to see something that belongs in the gallery of the streets.