Natasha Lester is the author of numerous books, including the internationally best-selling historical novels The Paris Seamstress, and The French Photographer, which has just been released in America as The Paris Orphan. As the titles suggest, Natasha loves to set a story in France, particularly Paris, and such is her love for the City of Light, […]
Paris Markets
La Rentrée in Paris
If you’re in Paris in early September, you’ll notice all sorts of signs proclaiming C’est la Rentrée! ‘The return’ refers to the start of a new school year — many students have had two months off by now — as well as the getting back to work for Parisians who took off much of August. […]
Paris’s New Smoke-Free Parks
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-Perfect Shopping Bags
Paris is the kind of place where you can’t help picking up a this or a that when you’re out walking (say, a sweet vintage book from a bouquiniste or a coffret of macarons in the new-season flavours). So it pays to have a bag on hand that comes packed with some handy extra space. […]