Defined as the period 1715-1723, Regency Paris is so-named because it’s when Duke Philippe d’Orléans ruled as Regent for an infant King Louis XV. But Regency Paris, despite its relative brevity, has gone down in history as a culturally significant moment for the French capital — which is why it’s currently the subject of a […]
Haute Culture
Agatha Christie’s Parallel Parisian Life (and some Cosy Christie-esque Mysteries Set in Paris)
I have a theory that if you were to group Agatha Christie fans and Paris lovers in respective circles, you could create a Venn diagram with quite the overlap. Okay yes, Agatha is celebrated for cosy murder mysteries that mostly unfold in quaint ivy-sprawled, rose-scented, quintessentially English villages … Bear with me here … It’s […]
Heritage Weekend 2023: Unearthing Paris’s Hidden Gems
There are many reasons to love Paris in September. It’s the month of that slate-cleaning, fowards-looking, stationery-buying, wardrobe-polishing time known as la rentrée, for one. It’s also the first month of autumn/fall, when the turning leaves let you see the city in a whole, golden new light. And, as the temperature starts its steady descent […]
In Search of the Paris of Diane de Poitiers
Diane de Poitiers wears the bejewelled crown of France’s most intriguing, and infamous, royal mistress. The chief lover of Henri II, who ruled from 1547 to 1559, an all-powerful Diane made many enemies, and such was her dominant status that she has detractors to this day — many historians write her off as greedy and […]