May 1 is lily of the valley day around France. You may have already seen stalks and potted plants of lily of the valley (muguet, lys des vallées) being sold in Paris. Originally from Japan, the tradition to offer the muguet (moogay) dates….
At the Palais-Royal gardens, while enjoying the spring magnolias and narcissus one cloudy, chilly Spring day in March, I noticed a little canon perched on a pedestal on the grass. The sign said that since 1990 it was once again functioning, firing at noon every day. I believed the sign!………
David Downie’s latest entertaining memoir, “Paris to the Pyrenées, a skeptic pilgrim walks the way of Saint James” is a series of vignettes. The book is multipurpose whose words constantly upturned my lips into a smile or a smirk. They are the stories of his walk across France. It is …
The Lost and Found department of the Paris police department is one of the oldest in the world, over two hundred years old. The history of Paris’ objets trouvés in French is no longer available on the Préfecture de police’s website.is recorded already in 1367. Charles, Duc of Normandy, decreed that hotels …
Paris to Mont Saint Michel A reader asked for advice on how to reach Mont Saint Michel from Paris without driving. To answer questions on Normandy, I would suggest the official FranceGuide Web site (government). I have no experience or reader comments on travels to Normandy with a group. The FranceGuide Web …
The introduction to the television series Desperate Housewives is recognizable by its branding image: Adam and Eve under a tree. Lucas Cranach, the Elder, painted it. You may have heard of the Louvre’s fund raiser to purchase “Les Trois Grâces” for four million euros. They succeeded. The artist? Lucas Cranach, …