For an icon that is so quintessentially American in spirit, the Statue of Liberty is also so very French at heart. A little history to explain … In 1871, the French republican politician Edouard de Laboulaye approached sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, who had an interest in colossal statuary, with a big idea. The Americanophile envisioned […]
Musée d’Orsay
In Praise of the Pont des Arts
Of all of Paris’s bridges, the Pont des Arts must surely be the loveliest, with its iron arches rendered so light and lacy, leaping across the Seine as daintily as a ballerina. But it’s also because of the way the bridge seems to pull Paris together so effortlessly. When you linger there, in the middle, […]
The Seine from Above: Scoping Paris’s Best River Views
The height restrictions of central Paris are a key factor in the city’s harmonious charm. You see so much of the sky that you feel as though you can breathe, inhaling deeply and relaxing all the more with each exhalation — which can’t be said for most of the world’s major metropolises. One of the […]
Virtual Paris: How to Experience the City of Light from the Comfort of your Couch
I’ve just had to cancel my next two Paris trips. And that’s disappointing, sure, but also more than fine, given the dystopian circumstances we’ve suddenly found ourselves living in. Because, of course, we all need to hunker down at home for the sake of humanity (has there ever been an ask that’s so grand and […]