August approaches, and anyone who hasn’t left Paris may be looking for a way to get out of town to greener pastures, even if just for a day. While there are many options, there’s one place that has it all: … Read More
An immense, watery green paradise called Les Hortillonages lies in the very heart of the city of Amiens, close to its famous Notre Dame Cathedral and traversed by the River Somme. Forget about motor vehicles and public transportation in this … Read More
There is much more to Dijon than mustard. That’s the point the city seems to be making with its ambitious new project, the Cité Internationale de la Gastronomie et du Vin (International Gastronomy and Wine Center), which opened at the … Read More
When you are the daughter of a filthy rich Gilded Age banking tycoon, you would probably be expected to find a rich husband, have children and settle down to a life of luxury. Instead, Anne Tracy Morgan (1873-1952), daughter of … Read More
Last week, I was introduced to an element of French culture that had completely escaped me until now: a summer historical pageant. This one takes place in Meaux, a small city northeast of Paris, but I have since discovered that … Read More
To visit the town of L’Isle Adam, set on three islands on the River Oise, is to want to live there. An hour’s train ride north of Paris, it is even blessed with the last thing you’d expect to find … Read More
The lovely Musée des Beaux-arts in Rouen is celebrating the bicentennial of the birth of its famed native son Gustave Flaubert with a clever exhibition based on his historical novel Salammbô. Why Salammbô and not the much more famous Madame … Read More
With Covid-fatigued Parisians desperate for a ray of sunshine, every square inch of space in Paris’s parks and on the banks of its waterways is occupied when the weather is good, mostly by people who have taken off their masks … Read More
With the wealth of museums we have in Paris, it’s easy to forget about the art treasures to be found in the impressive museums in France’s provincial cities. The city of Rouen, only about an hour from Paris by train, … Read More
In French, the expression “image d’Épinal” refers to something that’s traditional, naively upbeat, clichéd, maybe even corny. The expression’s origin goes back to the Imagerie d’Épinal, founded in 1796, which became famous all over France for its brightly colored, simplified … Read More
