Paris is a place that seems to lend itself perfectly to intellectual pursuits: long meanderings through museums; leafing through classic tomes while lazing in leafy, classic parks; pondering deep and meaningful thoughts as you wander the streets; penning your first novel in a Moleskine notebook (or at least scribbling an existentially anguished diary) over multiple […]
Old Paris
La Traviata’s Paris
Arguably the most famous of all operas, La Traviata, which is currently playing at the Palais Garnier, has been one of the most enduringly popular pieces performed by the Opéra de Paris since the 1850s. Which is not surprising when you learn that, despite its Italian name, La Traviata is at heart a very Parisian […]
Julia Child’s Paris
You don’t have to be a Le Cordon Bleu-level chef to appreciate Julia Child’s Paris. The bonne vivante, who taught the world how to cook French cuisine (or at least just appreciate it more), loved all aspects of her years in Paris, a city that showed her how to savour life in full. Much of […]
The Champs-Elysées: Chic Again
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées, for so long a flashy strip of cinemas and fast food eateries, is living up to its former glory thanks to a recent succession of glamorous openings. The grand street can trace its history back to 1670, when the famed gardener André le Nôtre (of Versailles fame), after having beautified the […]