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Paris and France
'Bad Boy Poet' François Villon in Medieval and Modern Paris
Author: Francois Villon
The first time I read François Villon's works, I discovered a world I had yet to unearth, however, knew by heart. One of France's greatest medieval poets, Villon, writes in an old form of French. His poems include countless references to people, places, and events of his time. Sometimes it appears even more complicated than that: Villon occasionally wrote in the obscure jargon of the Coquillards, a gang of criminals.
Posted on Fri, Mar 30, 2007
Shadows of the Da Vinci Code in Southern France
As it happened, my wife was reading The Da Vinci Code as I was simultaneously absorbed in travel guides for our trip to the southwest of France. This is when the name 'Sauniere' emerged in both places. In the novel, he is the leader of a mysterious religious sect that for centuries has protected a 'Holy Grail'--the secret that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalen and that their descendants may still be alive today.
Posted on Fri, Mar 30, 2007
The Adorable Madeline: A Parisian Adventurer
Author: Ludwig Bemelmans
Austrian-born Madeline creator Ludwig Bemelmans penned these words each and every time he begun one of his children's books about this charming, yet tiny only in stature, redheaded French girl. The character of Madeline, named after Bemelmans' wife, carried on in a sweet and innocent in demeanor; however, the author maintained a much darker past. At the age of sixteen, young Ludwig apprenticed in a relative's restaurant, and had an unfortunate dispute with a waiter.
Posted on Sun, Mar 25, 2007
Auvers sur Oise: The Original Impressionist Landscape
Author: Vincent Van Gogh
I had an uncanny sense of deja vu when I first laid eyes on Auvers sur Oise thus I could not figure out why it breathed familiarity. I then realized I had been entranced before by much of the scenery, which hung on the walls of major museums and was printed in art history books.
Posted on Sun, Nov 05, 2006
Alexandre Dumas and Monte-Cristo
"Ah! Monte-Cristo is one of the most delicious follies ever made. It is the most royal bonbonnire that exists! wrote Honor Balzac, describing the dazzling chteau his flamboyant literary rival, Alexandre Dumas, had just built. One could become madly in love with this monument, like one loves the moon when one is young, journalist and novelist Lon Gozlan wrote.
Posted on Sun, May 21, 2006
A Week in Provence - Reflections upon Peter Mayles' A Year in Provence
Author: Peter Mayle
Anyone who has read Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence will appreciate the anticipation that consumed me when I had the opportunity to spend the last week of August attempting to live the author's Provencal life in southern France's Luberon Valley. Though I was only to spend a week, my family and I would rent a car and a house in the countryside.
Posted on Thu, May 25, 2000
Jean-Jacques Rousseau - The Short Period of My Life's Happiness at Charmettes
Author: Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The Savoie denotes both a region and province in southeastern France, comprising roughly that area between Geneva (and the Haute-Savoie region) and Grenoble (the seat of the Isre region). Chambry has for many centuries been the capital of the Savoie and the seat of the Dukes of Savoie. Modern Chambry is a city of 100,000, and a stop on the TGV line between Paris and Nice.
Posted on Mon, Nov 01, 1999
Fitzgerald, Hemingway And The Sun Also Rises
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Dear Charley - You wanted to know the decision on Hemingway: We took it, - with misgiving. There was of course a great [question]. I simply thought in the end that the balance was slightly in favor of acceptance, for all the worry [and] general misery involved."
Posted on Mon, Jul 12, 1999
Edith Piaf
Author: Edith Piaf
Edith Piaf has always had a cult following. A voice like hers comes along perhaps once in a century. Her sad and valiant life story steals hearts.
Posted on Mon, Jul 05, 1999
Hemingway at Shakespeare & Company
Author: Ernest Hemingway
For Ernest Hemingway, the walk from his Latin Quarter flat to Gertrude Stein's pavillon at 27, rue des Fleurs, would have been a pleasant one: down rue Moufftard until a left on rue Clovis took him past St. Etienne du Montno Notre Dame, but the sort of neighborhood church where you might stop and cross yourself if you were drunk and it was late and you were on your way home to your wife.
Posted on Mon, Jul 05, 1999
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