Heidi Ellison
Mini-guide to Avignon
Pont, Popes and Plays Tourists admiring the architecture of Avignon. Avignon, dominated by the imposing 14th-century Gothic fortress of the Palais des Papes and the adjacent golden-statue-topped Notre-Dame des Doms Cathedral next to it, is best known to the world … Read More
Institut National de l’Audiovisuel
Now Showing on Your Home Computer Screen May 1968 as seen on French television. © INA. While politicians and the entertainment industry argue about the right to download music and videos from the Web, France’s Institut National de l’Audiovisuel has … Read More
Dans la Peau de Jacques Chirac
Gueule d’Amour
In Dans la Peau de Jacques Chirac (Being Jacques Chirac), French television personality Karl Zéro and his collaborator Michel Royer have made a mock autobiography of Jacques Chirac by stringing together actual film clips from the French president’s 40-year political … Read More
Hotel Amour
Coolness Credentials High, Prices Low The room decorated by the artist André in the Hotel Amour. It is not true, as the French press has reported, that the new Hôtel Amour is the Parisian version of Japanese Love Hotels, where … Read More
Musée de l’Orangerie
Sistine Chapel of Impressionism Reopens
The facade of the rectangular building known as the “Sistine Chapel of Impressionism,” located on the Seine side of the Tuileries Garden (and the near-twin of the Jeu de Paume on the north side), has been left intact, but the … Read More
Ecole Normale Supérieure
Paris Modern The handsome main staircase. A new building in the heart of Paris is a true rarity in these days of fervent architectural preservationism, but one has nevertheless gone up in the Latin Quarter, designed for some of France’s … Read More
OSS 117: Le Caire Nid d’Espions
The Revenge of Jacques Bond
Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, code name OSS 117, is a character based on the novels of French writer Jean Bruce (the pen name of Jean Brochet), published in the 1940s, before Ian Fleming’s James Bond thrillers came out. OSS … Read More
Jean-Philippe
Johnny Be Real
One of those inexplicable things about France is the near-universal adoration of Johnny Hallyday, a rock singer who made his name in the 1960s by singing French versions of American hits and dressing like a tough-guy rocker. Even today, at … Read More
Murder in Montmartre
Sexy Detective and the City
Mystery writers these days seem to be required to stake out a geographical territory – Donna Leon has Venice, Steven Saylor has ancient Rome, Sara Paretsky has Chicago, etc. – and give it the status of a character in their … Read More
Les Fernandises
Heading South A neighorhood bistro serving southwestern dishes with a strong Spanish influence. Everything’s been turned upside-down in this neighborhood bistro, which used to serve excellent specialties from Normandy in a gloomy ambiance that made you wish antidepressants were served … Read More