History

Explore the département’s history, heritage, museums, festivals and outdoor activities Related articles: Calvados in Normandy: Tales from the Parisian Riviera Not-to-Miss Remembrance Sites in Calvados, Normandy HERITAGE AND CULTURE As the birthplace of William the Conqueror, Calvados is...

1721. Desperate to seal peace with Spain, the Regent of France, hatches a plan: to marry Louis XV, 11, and Maria Anna Victoria, the four-year-old Spanish infant. He even goes one further, offering the...

While the Marais continues to develop and its ever-rising rents become increasingly unaffordable, Jeffrey T Iverson slips onto a street where independents still thrive Ever since the 9th century, when the Abbaye de Sainte-Opportune first...

Near the Gare Saint-Lazare in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, the Place de l’Europe has been renamed in honour of Simone Veil, who died last year. This is one of many accolades awarded to...

Famed for its UNESCO-listed lace pattern, the capital of the Orne département has more than one string to its bow. A cradle of history and green oasis, this rural idyll makes a choice retreat LAND...

Our selection of some of the more important museums and cemeteries in the département. Related article: Calvados in Normandy, Tales from the Parisian Riviera CAEN MEMORIAL A strategic target for Allied forces, Caen was nearly reduced to...

I am an American who has lived in France for many years as a naturalized citizen. I would like to tell you about my hometown called Meudon-- situated 15 minutes on the RER C...

She was an accomplished pianist, but Misia Sert was also an artists’ muse, and a patron of the arts. Hazel Smith recounts her colourful career – and remarkable life... Artists and writers, musicians and dancers...

Theadora traces the footsteps of a remarkable feminist who also championed pets’ rights After getting all Balzac from too much coffee, I begin to picture the scene. From my bench in the Jardin des Tuileries,...

Famous for its cider and its eponymously named eau-de-vie, this is William the Conqueror’s birthplace and where the Allies landed in 1944. Marion Sauvebois discovers a département where the locals have become the self-appointed...