Category: France

Slacking the Saint James

When the going gets tough, the tough get going . . . after a cappuccino or two, anyway.

Doing the Camino de Santiago Your Way The little nagging fear about embarking on a pilgrimage is, at least in my case, that everyone else on the trail will be a whole lot more religious than I am. So it…

Day Trip from Geneva to Yvoire, France

The castle in Yvoire, France, was built in the Middle Ages. Photo credit: © foxytoul — stock.adobe.com

Make Time to Go Medieval in a Small French Village From fast-moving and modern Geneva, with its trains and efficiencies, escape for a day to nearby Yvoire, France, a medieval town replete with a castle. Situated on Lake Geneva (also…

Retro Saint-Michel

Will a Half-Century Old Guidebook Help a Tourist View an Attraction Differently? Picking up an old guidebook on Mont Saint-Michel that was published in the 1960s, I flip through to find out what highlights were deemed important 50-plus years ago.…

Le Penseur Two Ways

Street art in New York City's Little Italy: A version of Auguste Rodin's Le Penseur with a contemporary twist Photo credit: M. Ciaardini

In New York or Paris, Rodin’s Sculpture Charms What sculpture might be as well-known as the Statue of Liberty? Could it be Auguste Rodin’s Le Penseur (The Thinker), accessible at the Musée Rodin in Paris and, with a contemporary twist…

Finding Napoleon beyond France

Napoleon left some cannons behind when the French fled Moscow. This cannon is in the Kremlin. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini.

Enamored with the French Revolution on my visit to Paris, I pay scant attention to Napoleon during my time there. Stopping by at Les Invalides, I focus more on a car show on its grounds than to the tomb of…

Celebrating Louis XVI

Excess at Versailles Photo credit: L. Tripoli

Accomplishments besides Marrying Poorly Louis XVI, king of France, was born 261 years ago on August 23, 1754, and what many seem to remember about him is his wife, Marie-Antoinette, originally of Austria, and his general ineffectiveness in leading his…

Wherever I Go, There’s Rochambeau

Recalling Rochambeau in Mount Kisco, N.Y. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini

Recurring Characters in Historical Travels Revered as a hero in the American Revolution, the Comte de Rochambeau’s efforts helping the new country ward off the British are commemorated along the Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail—almost 700 miles extending from Massachusetts and…

Depressed in Paris?

Think it's impossible to be depressed in Paris? Michael Caine's character in the film 'Last Love' proves the City of Light isn't inspiring everyone.

There are some places on the planet where gloom just doesn’t settle: Key West, Fla.; New Orleans; Paris. Does anyone visiting these destinations ever have a bad time? How could they? So it is surprising to watch a film about…