The Northeast: Champagne, Lorraine, Alsace

Three areas with strong identities comprise the region officially called Grand Est: Champagne, Lorraine and Alsace. Champagne, with Reims as its major city, has lent its name to the world’s most evocative sparkling wine, though there area points of interest beyond the bubble, e.g. the town of Troyes. Lorraine, with Nancy and Metz as its main cities, still bears the scars of — and the notable sights resulting from — the First World War (Verdun, American cemeteries and monuments, etc.). Alsace is bordered by the Vosges Mountains to one side and the Rhine River to the other. Strasbourg, Colmar and Mulhouse are its main cities. The Alsace Wine Route runs north-south through the heart of the province. To these three areas might be added a fourth, the French Ardennes, with Charleville-Mézières as its urban center.

Epernay view toward a Champagne daytrip from Paris © Ville d'Epernay

A Carless and Carefree Champagne Daytrip or Overnight to Epernay (Video)

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Let's talk about your Champagne education. Advice on organizing a Champagne daytrip or overnight to Epernay, a car-free DIY discovery of the world's most famous sparkling wines.
La Cour d'Or Museum, Metz (c) GLK

Couples Therapy in the Cour d’Or Museum in Metz

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I wouldn’t have thought that a museum could be so romantic. In Metz of all places. I didn’t expect to encounter so many couples in city’s Cour d’Or Museum.
Villa Majorelle (c) Musée de l'Ecole de Nancy

Villa Majorelle, Iconic Art Nouveau House, Reopens in Nancy

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With the reopening this month of the Villa Majorelle, Nancy reaffirms its attraction as a destination for visitors who delight in the floral- and nature-inspired curves, the flowing design and the craftsmanship of the Art Nouveau period.
Burgundy for Thanksgiving

French Wines for an American Thanksgiving

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Americans celebrating Thanksgiving in France typically, even traditionally, enjoy their fresh French turkey with some fine French terroir in their selection of wine—make that wines, plural, since a long meal calls for more than one.

Over There: WWI Sights of the American Meuse-Argonne Offensive

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This article, including three videos, focuses on sights relative to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of the U.S. First Army in the fall of 1918, specifically the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Romagne 14-18, the Romagne German Cemetery and the Montfaucon Monument.
Portrait of Camille Claudel (c) Musee Rodin, Paris

Camille Claudel’s Great-Niece Shines Light on the Sculptor’s Life and Work

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The Camille Claudel Museum in Nogent sur Seine, 65 miles southeast of Paris, not only brings the sculptor out of the shadows of her Auguste Rodin, it also shines light on Claudel’s work as a talented and innovative sculptor in her own right. An interview of Camille Claudel’s great-niece, Reine-Marie Paris, by Janet Hulstrand.
Montsec American Monument, France. Photo GLK.

The American Traveler and the First World War Sights in France

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Between America First and me first there isn't much daylight for a national history lesson. Nevertheless, you don't have to be a war buff or a history buff to visit American-related First World War sights in France and to understand how they relate to our place in the world today.
Gabrielle Renard and Jean Renoir by Auguste Renoir in Essoyes. Photo Janet Hulstrand.

The Painter’s Wife: Aline Charigot Renoir and the Renoir Home in Essoyes

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As the village of Essoyes in southern Champagne prepares to open Renoir’s home to the public and the surrounding department of Aube celebrates this as the Year of Renoir, Janet Hulstrand, a part-time American resident of Essoyes, examines the life of Aline Charigot Renoir, wife of the artist and mother of three artists.

The French Ardennes, Part 1. Charleville-Mézières: The Runaway Poet, Great Beer Bars and the...

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Two hours by train from Paris, in Charleville-Mézières, capital of the French Ardennnes, near the Belgian border, the author glimpses the flight of Arthur Rimbaud, sets out to investigate beer and beer bars and encounters the giant lizard Mawhot.

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The France Revisited Newsletter is sent out periodically so as to keep you informed about the 4-6 new articles that we post each month along with information about festivals, events and touring opportunities.

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