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.
On the Lecture Circuit: My Mother Is French
I normally speak to groups that invite me because they're interested in the subject of my talk, whether some aspect of travel, wine, culture, writing or travel journalism. But at this recent event the group didn’t have any prior interest in France as far as I could tell, so I was unsure about the best approach to speak to them about the country where I live.
Hotel Fouquet’s Barriere in Paris: A Drink at the Bar Le Lucien
At the bar of the 5-star Hotel Fouquet’s Barriere, just off the Champs-Elysees, I met Stephane Ginouves, winner of the first Meilleur
Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman in France) competition for bartenders, and got his recipe for mixing with Singles.
Vincent Dallet, Master Pastissier-Chocolatier in Epernay, and His Recipe for Champagne Biscuits (Biscuits Roses)
Vincent Dallet invites us into his pastry and chocolate school in Epernay to make the Champagne region's famous "biscuits roses" or "biscuits roses de Reims," known in English as champagne biscuits, and shares the recipe with our readers.
France Revisited Newsletter, Feb. 14, 2012
Feb. 14. Love is in the air, that’s what the calendar says: courtly love, big heart love, flower love, filial love, parental love, fraternal...
Love Locks on the Bridges of Paris
Some see them as graffiti, others view them as symbols of love placed at the heart of a romantic city. They are the love locks of Paris, attached to historic bridges over the River Seine. A France Revisited audio-slideshow.
Beyond Versailles: The Chevreuse Valley, Breteuil, Vaux de Cernay, Rambouillet
A daytrip or overnight from Paris into the Chevreuse Valley, including Chevreuse, the Chateau de Breteuil, the Chateau de Dampierre, the Hotel/Abbey of Vaux de Cernay, Rambouillet, and the Forest of Rambouillet.
Paris Street Talk: Merry, the Mural and the Pisser (Merry, la fresque et la...
...As I turned to walk up rue Saint Merri in the Beaubourg Quarter of Paris I was surprised to see that the entire wall of a 5-story building was covered with the image of a face of a man with a finger to its lips. The man was calling for quiet. He had Dali eyes.
Drome: An Unmistakable If Frigid Air of Provence in Winter
Heading south in the Drome region of the Rhone Valley, the landscapes, agriculture and architecture of Provence gradually assert themselves. Even on frigid winter days we recognize glimpses of Provence in Valence, Grignan, Nyons -- in town squares, lavender fields, truffle plantations, vineyards and olive orchards.
Creative Sophistication in Menton: Cocteau by the Port, Colagreco in the Hills
Menton, last stop on the French Riviera, has two major markers of creativity and sophistication, one gastronomic, one artistic: Mirazur, the outstanding restaurant of chef Mauro Colagreco, and the Jean Cocteau Museum, dedicated to a poet and artist who represents the artful high life along the coast.