.Le concept : traduire un ancien billet et français, déjà pour pratiquer mon français à l’écrit mais aussi pour faire un geste envers mes lecteurs et lectrices francophones! N’hésitez pas à me corriger mon français. The concept : translate an old post into French, first in order to practice my written French, but also to be a bit more welcoming… Read more →
Catégorie : History
A well kept secret garden
The Institut Catholique de Paris is a private school in Paris for higher education. They also have a department for foreigners to improve their French skills and study French civilization. Students in the USA, sign up for a study abroad session there through API! But that is not the point of this article, the point of this article is about… Read more →
Bofinger – a pillar of the Parisian restaurant scene
Tucked inbetween the Marias en the Bastille neighborhood Bofinger has been happily doing the restaurant thing since 1864. Frédéric Bofinger set up shop here, being the first to offer freshly pumped beer to the Parisians, and boasting a copious plate of Alscacien fare, which the restaurant still proudly serves today. Authentic woodwork and glasswork, this venue is a veritable historical… Read more →
Barbizon : a photo journal of a Spring afternoon
Just a short drive out of Paris is the small town of Barbizon. A town epitomized by the pre-impressionist painters that went to to practice the art of painting outdoors, with natural light. Artists like Jean François Millet, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot moved there in the 19th century when this place was just inhabited by peasants and farmers. They has *gasp* the… Read more →
The Catacombes gets a boutique!
The Catacombes de Paris has been for a long while an « insolite » place to visit while in Paris, and the perfect place to escape the stiffling heat of August. It’s even slightly warmer than the cold January/February weather outdoors too. Down, down, down in the belly of Paris, where the bones of hundreds of thousands are now stacked to rest… Read more →
A family affair
Le Cirque d’hiver Bouglione. The Cirque d’Hiver was constructed in 1852, and is still standing. That is because those who practice, create and perform l’art du cirque do so with passion and a determination to see it survive. But then it is hard to image the circus disappearing as a form of art, because the acts just get more and… Read more →
It all makes scents to me now!
I had been wanting to visit the Fragonard museum for quite some time now, knowing that the guided tour is free, and finally the opportunity came up. (It’s hard to make time for frivolous and fun things sometimes, even in the city of Paris…time, that ever fleeting escape artist…) Sitting just behind the Garnier Opera house, the hôtel particulier (mansion… Read more →
Keeping track of the past
Les Archives de la Presse The boutique nestled in the Marais, sells books, magazines and newspapers of all sorts from the 19th century to the present day. It’s a place worth losing some time in. I was out shopping for holiday gifts when I happened upon this place, and found myself immensely distracted by the old-timey articles and publicity… Read more →
Killing 2 birds with 1 stick
I wish that canes were still in fashion. Canes, they have such a dignified elegance to them, or at least they used to. Now-a-days they usually look cumbersome and are made out of less beautiful materials and serve a very functional purpose… And that is good, but why should canes be reserved for the elderly and the injured? Canes, used… Read more →
Se mettre dans le bain = To get familiar with something
Do Americans still think the French don’t bathe? I live with one that takes two showers a day! The bathroom these days is a place to destress, a place of sensuality, a place for home décore and a place of hygenic bliss…You even have a couture line called Bain de Nuit. If you are smelling something strong in the metro,… Read more →