Gary Lee Kraut
Gary Lee Kraut is the editor of France Revisited and an award-winning travel writer. As a long-time specialist on travel and touring in France, he has become the go-to contact for individual travelers and travel agents seeking personalized travel advice and customized tours in Paris and throughout France. See the About the Editor tab at the top of this page for his complete bio.
France Revisited Newsletter: The Inauguration Issue
Dear Friends and Fellow Travelers, January 19, 2017. We gather here today to recognize and affirm our place in the world. We gather not to walk lock-step towards a single destination, but to wherever our interests, whims and desires may lead us, without willful harm to others. Where are we? Let us consider:
Market Day in France: The Southeast, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
From the bulls in the Camargue to the olive trees of Provence, from the vineyards of the Rhone Valley to the lemon trees of Menton and from the fig trees of Solliès to the apple orchards of Haute Durance, the agriculture of southeast France (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) offers a variety of stunning landscapes and notable products to travelers in search of local and regional gastronomy.
Market Day in France: Geography, Appellations and Terroir
The association of food and drink with place is what most marks market-based gastronomy in France. In this series we provide travelers with lists of appellations, geographic indicators and other labels given to certain agricultural products in various regions of France. Before getting to the lists, we explain here the various terms and labels that you'll encounter in your seach for quality food and drink and for delicious insights into local and regional traditions.
Aubusson Tapestries: Weavers, Spinners, Dyers, Cartoonists and the Cité Internationale
The International Center of Aubusson Tapestry represents far more than a pat on the back to the history of tapestry-making in the Creuse region. It also reaffirms and encourages the continuity of know-how for the entire branch of tapestry-related activities in Aubusson, Felletin and elsewhere in Creuse.
Paris Cocktail Bars: A 10th Arrondissement Cocktail Circuit
In this first in a series of Paris cocktail bar expeditions we sipped our way through a sliver of the 10th arrondissement with stops at three very different bars -- Lavomatic, CopperBay and Baranaan -- located just off Boulevard Saint-Martin, between the metro stations République and Strasbourg Saint-Denis.
Le Vieux Crapaud: Admirable Bistro Fare Near the Arc de Triomphe
Country fare meets upscale neighborhood near the Arc de Triomphe at Thomas Boutin’s Le Vieux Crapaud, where venturesome eaters enjoy frogs, pig’s ears, snails and pigeon while their dining companions savor admirable preparations of more familiar traditional bistro cuisine.
Wine Travel: Respect for Pinot Meunier in Marne Valley Champagnes
An introduction to Marne Valley champagne, from the western portion of the winegrowing region, where 70% of the vineyards are planted with pinot meunier, the Rodney Dangerfield of champagne grapes. An encounter with grower-producers who give the grape the respect it deserves. And good reasons to attend the annual October champagne festival in Chateau-Thierry.
Paris Is for Nerds
From Eiffel’s engineering to Pasteur’s rabies vaccine, from the trace of the Paris meridian to the swing of Foucault’s pendulum, from the Botanical Garden to the Discovery Palace, science holds a place of honor in the French capital. It’s a place that’s often ignored.
A Couple of Rabbis in Paris
On the morning of January 14, 2015, American Rabbi Tom Cohen and French Rabbi Pauline Bebe, a unique couple in Judaism in France and worldwide, awoke to news that soldiers had arrived outside their respective synagogues in Paris.