The Assless Elephants of Chambery Head Off for Restoration
Imagine if Paris disassembled the Eiffel Tower to recast its iron or Carcassonne dismantled its ramparts to recut the stone and you can understand the visual trauma to the small city of Chambery in the foothills of the French Alps when the four beloved pachyderms of the Fountain of Elephants were removed...
Fish-Skin Leather Artisan Brings Siberian Tradition to Dordogne
Hidden in the Dordogne hills on a narrow street of the village of Fanlac, Janet Duignan discovers the marriage of ancient Siberian tradition and European craftsmanship in Kristof Mascher's fish leather handbags, belts and cases.
A Christmas Tour of France
France may be a deeply secular nation, but everyone gets into the spirit of what are called “the end of the year holidays” (les fêtes de fin d’année), meaning Christmas and more. Let’s take a tour of the Christmas season in France through Alsace, Champagne, Lille, Lyon, Provence, Nice and Paris.
In Dordogne: A Winter’s Woodcock Tale
One wintery day in Dordogne, Janet Duignan spots a woodcock foraging in the backyard, leading to reflections on 250 years of fine-feathered cuisine and wine.
Day Trip From Paris: The Giverny – La Roche-Guyon Combo
How and why to combine a visit to Monet's House and Gardens at Giverny with a visit to the chateau of La Roche Guyon, whether on a daytrip from Paris or a longer excursion to Normandy.
The French Ardennes, Part 1. Charleville-Mézières: The Runaway Poet, Great Beer Bars and the...
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.
The French Ardennes, Part 2. Charleville-Mézières: Place Ducale and the Bare-Ass Casserole
On the Place Ducale, the great square of Charleville-Mézières, the author tries the Ardennes' celebrated bare-ass casserole and encounters men and women in colorful robes and floppy hats during the Festival des Confréries.
The French Ardennes, Part 3: The Meuse, Sedan, More Beer and the Big Boar
In which the author continues his beer travels in the Ardennes and finds quirky bars, aspiring breweries, a magnificent view over the Meuse and an enormous boar named Woinic.
Blond Girl in Saumur: When Our Eyes Met for the Second Time
A photo/video-log from the Saumur area of the Loire Valley in which Gary Lee Kraut remembers when travel was less about fooding and more about flirting, less about getting reservations and more about losing inhibitions, less about looking for recommendations and more about following your own nose.