Corinne LaBalme
Corinne LaBalme is a travel writer and novelist living in Paris. Her most recent book is French Ghost, a cozy mystery published in 2022 by The Wild Rose Press.
The Clos Lucé Enhances Its Connection with Da Vinci in Amboise (Loire Valley)
With three paintings in his luggage—Mona Lisa, St. Anne and John the Baptist—Leonardo da Vinci made the long and arduous journey across the Alps to Amboise via mule-train and riverboat in 1516 at the well-paid request of King François I, his last noble patron.
Les Franciscaines: Deauville Gets Culture
Deauville, Normandy's premier luxury seaside resort, can now present itself as a cultural destination thanks to Les Franciscaines, a new culture and media complex within a thoroughly renovated 19th-century convent.
Pierre Soulages: Beyond Black in Rodez
Corinne LaBalme saw only the dark side of Pierre Soulages, France’s most celebrated living artist, until she visited his namesake museum in Rodez, Aveyron, and saw the light.
Blade Running in Laguiole (Aveyron)
Corinne LaBalme ventures into Deep France to explore the cutting edge of cutlery in the town of Laguiole (Aveyron) and reports on the collision between age-old craftsmanship and high design at La Forge de Laguiole.
Citéco: New Paris Museum Examines the Economy
While a museum dedicated to the economy may sound geeky from the get-go, the hi-tech Citéco that opened in June in a faux-Renaissance palazzo near the Parc Monceau is a whole lot of fun.
Winter on the Riviera: The Mimosa Route
All that glitters on the French Riviera, the Côte d’Azur, is not 18K gold. As Corinne LaBalme reports, bright yellow mimosa flowers add Mother Nature’s Midas Touch to the winter season, particularly along the Mimosa Route between the medieval village of Bormes-les-Mimosas and the perfume capital of Grasse.
The Humble Crepe Gets a Paris Makeover
The humble crepe has been enjoying a Paris makeover recently as stylish yet relaxed restaurants devoted to neo-griddlecakes topped with anything from yuzu and Japanese sugar to sautéed scallops have popped up in trendsetting neighborhoods throughout the city.
The Paris Médusarium, the Most Psychedelic Show in Town
The Médusarium at the Aquarium de Paris, set up to educate visitors about climate change while highlighting the beauty of ocean fauna, is akin to a marine jewel box. Watching these iridescent creatures perform their graceful water ballet is a mesmerizing, nearly hypnotic experience.
Jean Paul Gaultier Fashion Freak Show at the Folies Bergère
Jean Paul Gaultier has always been the offbeat enfant terrible of French fashion culture, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that his life and work are presented in a Barnum & Bailey version of Gay Pride in Las Vegas. His Fashion Freak Show plays at the Folies Bergère until April 21, 2019.