On the Remembrance Trail in France
The north of France has seen some of the greatest bloodshed ever known to man, not just on its battlefields but in its towns and villages, too, as two world wars ravaged the land...
Book Review: Karl, No Regrets
Patrick Hourcade met Karl Lagerfeld in 1976, sparking a friendship that would last more than 20 years, strengthened by their shared passion for 18th-century art. Following his education in art history, Patrick Hourcade joined...
A Gift for the Ages: The Statue of Liberty
It is hard to describe the feeling of awe mixed with patriotic uplift that one gets when approaching the Statue of Liberty by boat. The approach by ferry from Battery Park to the Statue...
Book Review: The Chef in a Truck
When pastry chef François Perret left the world-famous Ritz in Paris to compete in a food truck festival in Los Angeles, he was pursuing the same mission: to surprise, to create and to make...
Belle Epoque Photography: A Very Modern Art
What happened when 19th-century artists took their first peek through a camera lens.
They were amongst the greatest painters of the 19th century, but when it came to the thoroughly modern art form of photography,...
On the Trail of the Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de La Fayette (1757 – 1834), was an American hero. Orphaned early in life, Lafayette joined the French Royal Army in 1771. After having achieved...
Fragonard: Perfume and l’Art de Vivre
Guy Hibbert visits the respected Grasse parfumier
What’s in a name? In the case of this famous maison de parfum, quite a lot as it happens. Imagine the conversation. “What are you wearing?” “I’m wearing...
Homemade Bread, the French Way
The ultimate bread bible, Upper Crust: Homemade Bread the French Way by Marie-Laure Fréchet, covers everything from the history of bread to grain varieties to mouthwatering recipes, as well as starter doughs and kneading...
Timeless Paris: A Charming Tour of the City’s Traditional Shops
Guy Hibbert leafs through a new book which takes us on a charming tour of Paris’s finest traditional purveyors of everything from buttons and pastels to wood panelling.
As we regret the loss of our...
Le Dernier Mot: Hen Pals Lead to Pen Pals
Kristin's fine feathered friends prompt an unexpected correspondence
Ever since we built our poulailler along the fence facing the street, our five hens have become a kind of neighbourhood attraction. ‘Cot! cot! cot!’ I hear...
