Napoleonic art crimes A new book, Plunder: Napoleon’s Theft of Veronese’s Feast, by Cynthia Saltzman, describes how Veronese’s masterpiece The Wedding Feast at Cana came to hang (legally) in the Louvre. (Artnews) More on Napoleon’s looting of European art to … Read More
The Oyster Women of Cancale In Cancale, Britanny, famed for its delectable oysters, the local women proved their mettle as both workers and managers while the men were off cod fishing in the New World. (Atlas Obscura) Travel in France … Read More
Paris from above A new book by photographer Jeffrey Millstein, Paris from the Air (Rizzoli), shows a flat-earth view of the city. (CNN) Pandemic news The Paris fashion world is grieving the loss of designer Alber Elbaz to Covid at … Read More
Grandiose eco-friendly development French starchitect Jean Nouvel has designed something entirely new for Gennevilliers, a suburb of Paris: Jeuneville, a huge, multicolored development that will encompass residences, startup offices, shops, sports and leisure facilities, and parks. (New Atlas) Call my … Read More
Unsightly Paris Paris Update published a report on ugly street furniture a couple of weeks ago, and since then there has been a spate of articles on the subject in the French press. Unfortunately, the state of the streets is … Read More
Why the Louvre rejected the Salvator Mundi There was an empty space on the well of the Louvre’s recent Leonardo da Vinci retrospective where the recently discovered painting, purchased by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, for … Read More
Covid in France Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is asking the national government to avoid weekend lockdowns in the capital, saying it would be “inhumane.” She also called for a faster rollout of the vaccine (France has received 8 million doses but … Read More
Cementing British-French relations Artists are invited to submit works to the I Love You, Moi Non Plus project to help mend bridges between the two countries after Brexit. (The Guardian) Good karma A French village that hid a Jewish man … Read More
French cuisine Michelin announced its annual French restaurant awards this week and shocked the world by giving a vegan restaurant named ONA (for “Origine Non Animale”) in the town of Ares one star – this in a country where bacon … Read More
French cuisine Where to get the best Christmas bûches de Noël (yule logs) (Vogue). See also our article Holiday Dinners To Go. A proposed new law would make French ham healthier but not as nice to look at by banning … Read More
