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Streets and Stories: Rue Saint-Sulpice in Saint Germain-des-Près
You know what is the best thing about each and every street in Paris? No matter how short, even if it’s just a block, it holds a story waiting to be discovered. The Rue...
Degas at the Opera in Paris and Washington D.C.
The year 2019 marked the 350 anniversary of the National Paris Opera, founded as a royal institution in 1669, part of the Académie de Poésie et Musique under Louis XIV. The 17th century poet...
10 Lesser Known Facts about the Place des Vosges in Paris
One of the most quiet and romantic walks in Paris, a stroll around Place des Vosges is steeped in history and nostalgia. Once a glorious, regal square embodying the bold dreams of a great...
On the Trail of Sculptor Antoine Bourdelle in Montparnasse
When Antoine Bourdelle died in 1929 he had already designed the plans to turn his atelier situated at 16 Impasse du Maine (Montparnasse) into a museum. It took another 20 years and the dogged...
Lacloche Joailliers: An Homage to the Iconic Paris Jewelry House
While I know my Chaumet from my Cartier and my Bulgari from my Buccellati, I had never heard the name Lacloche until the opening of “Lacloche Joailliers”, the exhibition presented by Ecole of Jewellery...
Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot in Paris
The playwright Samuel Barclay Beckett was born in Ireland in Dublin on April 13th, 1906. He was to spend most of his life in Paris, doing most of his writing in French, before translating...
Streets and Stories: Rue de l’Odéon in Saint-Germain-des-Prés
How do you pick a favorite street in Paris when the never ending maze of cobblestone streets are filled with amazing architecture, historic tales and lovely vistas? Well, it’s almost impossible, but one street...
Marie-Antoinette Stars at an Exhibition at the Conciergerie
In a must-see exhibition in Paris, the Conciergerie shines the spotlight on how the image of Marie-Antoinette evolved, as time passed and revolutionary zeal subsided. Initially a martyr in the eyes of the counter-revolutionaries...
Book Review: Under Occupation, A Novel by Alan Furst
Under Occupation: A Novel is the fifteenth in Alan Furst’s series of espionage thrillers, all set in Europe between the years of 1933 and 1943. I asked Furst, in an interview conducted in 2016,...
Streets and Stories: La Cour du Commerce-Saint-André
An unexpected bonus of Haussmann's grand plan to modernize Paris with grands boulevards and wide streets were the little alleyways that were left behind, untouched in the reconstruction of Paris in the 19th century....
Marking Armistice Day with Films on the Great War
On the 101st anniversary of the Armistice, two French films that chronicle the immediate aftermath of the First World War come to mind. Life and Nothing But (1989) by French director Bertrand Tavernier, and...
Windmills and Wine: A Moulin Rouge Themed Walking Tour of Montmartre
So you've seen the Sacré-Cœur, taken the obligatory selfie at the candy-pink façade of the Maison Rose, and ambled among the artists and caricaturists of bohemian Montmartre. Now it's time to step aside slightly...
