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 […]
Paris History
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 […]
In Search of the Paris of La Bohème
There are several quintessentially Parisian operas and one of the most popular, La Bohème — with its tale of struggling artists, chilly garrets and consumptive love — is currently playing at the Opéra Bastille. (Even if the opera’s words are Italian; and even though the current production is set in, err, outer space.) While Giacomo […]
Five Fabulous Artist Atelier Museums in Paris
These five evocative addresses provide much more than a lesson in art. By taking you into one-time private worlds, they reveal much about the inner life of some of Paris’s most celebrated artists. And they might even give you some architectural and gardening inspiration, too! Musée Bourdelle In the shadow of Tour Montparnasse, this remarkable […]