For my Christmas card, I chose an image by impressionist painter Afred Sisley, titled L'Effet de Neige sur Argenteuil. ...
Culture and Tradition
Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!
Every year, on the third Thursday of November, le Beaujolais Nouveau is released for sale in France.
Beaujolais wine is unique in that it is harvested, fermented, bottled and shipped within six weeks. Thus, the term “nouveau” is assigned to the wine. According to tradition, at one minute past ...
Salon Coiffure
Have you ever noticed the number of beauty salons in Paris?
There seems to be one on every corner…and for good reason. On any given Friday or Saturday morning women line up at the salon to have a brushing, meaning a shampoo and a blow dry. Armed with a round brush and a powerful 2100w ...
Bringing Paris Home – Penny Drue Baird
The other night, I headed to the Alliance Française de Chicago for a lecture and book signing by New York Interior Designer Peggy Drue Baird, author of Bringing Paris Home.
Ms. Baird gave a terrific talk about how she became interested in French culture and how she incorporates French style into ...
Going Home
The taxi to the airport arrived promptly at 7 AM. It is Sunday morning, it’s still dark outside and I don’t want to leave.
I know this routine well. I’ve done it many times and it’s always the same: a sense of melancholy brought on by my impending departure, juxtaposed with joyful satisfaction at ...