Now here’s an inviting little shop on rue du Cherche Midi, I thought as I walked by one afternoon. Not that I had any particular interest in bags, purses, vanity cases, table linens, cushion covers, [...]

The Marquise de Païva was one of the remarkable courtesans whose history is inseparable from that of the expanding wealth of mid-19th century Paris. The tale of her life (1819-1884) and of the men she frequented speaks [...]

Sandwiched in eastern France between Champagne and Alsace, the Lorraine region doesn’t have the international or even national distinction of its neighbors. Champagne naturally calls to mind vineyards and bubbly wine, while Alsace has forged [...]

My favorite little shop in Paris, one of the last living vestiges of the historical belly of Paris that was the Les Halles Quarter, closed at the end of July 2009. It had been a long time coming–rather, going. It isn’t easy making a living selling…

I first met Leyla Ahi at a white picnic beside the Eiffel Tower one summer night, where she flitted about like an ivory moth, stopping long enough to pour me a glass of Champagne and, [...]

I was headed to the Hôtel de Beauvais, one of the grand mansions in the Marais, former home of Catherine de Beauvais, thinking that I’d complement my series of articles about Versailles with mention of the woman who [...]

To watch Lynn Rovida demonstrate the whimsical selection of handcrafted toys, finely cut puzzles, inlaid puzzle boxes, and animated sculptures available in her little shop in the Marais, you’d think that she was more intent [...]

Ever brush against a paranoid schizophrenic in the New York subway? That’s what it’s like when you don’t say Bonjour to a salesperson in Paris. It may seem harmless enough, but you can then nearly read [...]