Tag: Corinne LaBalme
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.
Interview with Corinne LaBalme, Author of French Ghost, a Cozy Mystery Set in France
Corinne LaBalme, author of the novel French Ghost, a romantic cozy mystery, discusses how she uses her knowledge and experience as a travel writer in writing fiction.
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.
Hôtel de la Marine: Glimpses of Decorative Splendor and Onto Paris’s Largest Square
Six years after France’s Naval Ministry vacated its monumental headquarters in Paris facing Place de la Concorde, the public now has access to the 18th-century Hôtel de la Marine whose new museum presents a dozen painstakingly restored historic rooms and an impressive view out to the square. The building also houses a chic café, an upscale restaurant and a private art collection.
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.
Reinventing Paris: Innovative Urban Plans Go Forward
Urban planners in the French capital don't spend all their time imagining how to refurbish old buildings. There's also new, innovated work on the drawing board, including 23 projects that have just been given the green light by the mayor of Paris.
Paris Hotels: 7 Secret Garden Bars
From a glamorous 4-star hotel to a hip budget hideaway by way of an elegant BnB, here are seven Paris inns offering unexpected oases, notable whether you're lodging there or just looking for an open-air bar away from car fumes.
The Marquis, the Hounds and Château de Cheverny
The elegant Château de Cheverny is "chez moi" for Charles-Antoine de Vibraye and his family. Call him "marquis" if you like. His ancestors have resided on the premises for the better part of 600 years. Cheverny was one of the first private French estates to open its gates to the public, and de Vibraye welcomes on average 350,000 guests per year to his castle-sweet-castle.
La Toilette: The Invention of Privacy
In a delightfully exhibitionistic exhibition running February 12-July 5, 2015, Paris's Marmottan-Monet Museum examines French personal hygiene (and lack of) through the ages. (Spoiler alert: Lots of dirty pictures!)