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...
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...
Read the Signs: Rue du Chat-Qui-Danse in Saint-Malo
A big bang in Brittany
Remember a few years ago in this column we visited a fishing cat in Paris, at rue du Chat qui Pêche? Well, today we are looking at a dancing feline....
In the Footsteps of Colette in France
A prolific writer, Colette had many homes and many loves during her life. Hazel Smith follows her from a childhood in Burgundy to her final years in Paris.
Colette is one of the most famous...
La Crème de la Crème: Discover the Chateau de Chantilly
Priceless artworks, fabulous gardens and a unique equine heritage – the Château de Chantilly has them all. Gillian Thornton discovers the cultural legacy of the extraordinary Duke of Aumale.
You never forget your first sight...
Buried Treasure: An Alternative Look at the Loire Valley
Chloe Govan discovers there’s more to the region than royal residences, delving deeper underground to explore the cave culture the tourist brochures don’t tell you about.
Sun King Louis XIV’s voracious appetite knew no bounds....
Parisian Walkways: Rue Cadet in the 9th Arrondissement
It started life as a market garden and today is a secret haven for gourmands. Jeffrey T Iverson takes a stroll along Rue Cadet where he finds food, wine and history to whet the...
Picasso’s Women
Hazel Smith flicks through the artist's little black book to reveal the wives and mistresses who inspired some of the most famous paintings of the 20th century.
Pablo Picasso’s life reads like a French bedroom...
