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
The view of the Château de Chambord from the near distance is spectacular, but the sight of Susumu Shingu’s white kinetic sculptures moving silently in the breeze like abstract swans swimming on the moat turns it into pure magic. Beyond … Read More
The early-17th-century Château de Cheverny, one of the few in the Loire Valley that has been continuously inhabited for its entire existence by the same family, has added a new attraction to the many it already has: a “Love Garden” … Read More
Strolling around a landscaped garden and seeing some pre-Revolution architecture can be a peaceful way to spend a weekend, away from the rush of life in the city. The famed Château de Versailles is a must for most Paris visitors, … Read More
The Cistercian Abbaye Royale de l’Épau was founded in the 13th century to ensure the salvation of its founder, the Spanish-born Berengaria of Navarre, queen consort of England (although she never set foot in the country while actually queen) as the wife of … Read More
