In 1560, a certain Jean Nicot introduced tobacco to Catherine de Medici, raving about its various healing powers. The queen and her court were soon hooked — and the ambassador would go on to be immortalised in the word nicotine. The backstory of tobacco in France has long infused smoking with an air of nobility; […]
Paris in the Movies
Twelve Stylish Movies Set in Paris
Paris is the capital of the fashion industry, so it’s no wonder that movies set in this city celebrate all things sartorial so well. Here are twelve to add to your viewing (and dream-wardrobe) wishlist … Gigi (1958) Leslie Caron plays an adorable Belle Époque courtesan-in-training; the frilly, feathery finery was confectioned by legendary photographer […]
Ernest Hemingway’s Paris (Part Deux)
‘If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.’ So proclaimed the author, whose years in Paris during the 1920s, those années folles, influenced his life-long appetite for the good […]
Make Like Amélie in Montmartre
The offbeat 2001 movie Amélie never gets old, nor does Montmartre, the neighbourhood in which Mademoiselle Poulain lived. Here’s how to see it through her fanciful eyes. Decked out in your brightest colours (flip-bobbed hair optional), take the métro to Abbesses station, where Amélie first spots Nino rummaging for old snaps beneath the photo booth. […]