Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris will become an “extraordinary garden” The “most beautiful avenue in the world” – the famed Avenue des Champs-Élysées – is not seen as beautiful to many Parisians. They view it as an overcrowded tourist attraction that is now drab and unexciting. According to the architects commissioned to revamp the Avenue,Continue reading “Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris will become an “extraordinary garden””
Category Archives: Opal Hush
Pantheonized in the Paris Pantheon
Pantheonized in the Paris Pantheon. The Paris Pantheon is the burial place of France’s honoured citizens. To be pantheonised is to be entombed there. Pantheonised is not strictly the correct word, but it seems nouns become verbs these days. The pantheonisations – another verb for the act of being interred – don’t occur very often,Continue reading “Pantheonized in the Paris Pantheon”
Madame de Pompadour – prestige in the court of the King of France
Madame de Pompadour – her rise to prestige and power in the court of the King of France. Madame de Pompadour was the long-time mistress of King Louis XV of France. Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764) was born Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson – often ridiculed because poisson means fish. At the age of nine, a fortune-teller predicted that sheContinue reading “Madame de Pompadour – prestige in the court of the King of France”
Paris: a well-connected city
Paris: a well-connected city. A global study on urban planning and street design analyzed the design of city streets to determine the best-connected cities. Paris was ranked as one of the best-connected cities in the world. Connectivity influences people’s decisions to drive or travel by foot, say authors of the first global analysis of streetContinue reading “Paris: a well-connected city”
Paris on the Brink – an historical account of 1930s Paris
Paris on the Brink – an historical account of 1930s Paris. Mary McAuliffe’s 2018 book, Paris on the Brink: The 1930s Paris of Jean Renoir, Salvado Dali, Simone de Beauvoir, Andre Gide, Sylvia Beach, Leon Blum, and Their Friends is an easy-to-read historical account of Paris. Long title, but it is a well-structured book withContinue reading “Paris on the Brink – an historical account of 1930s Paris”
André Malraux, a man of Paris and the world
André Malraux, a man of Paris and the world. Paris-born André Malraux was a novelist, art theorist, and France’s first Minister of Cultural Affairs in the 1960s. He was also described as France’s ‘man of the world’ and ‘ambassador of the world.’ It was said that he was a man of action and a manContinue reading “André Malraux, a man of Paris and the world”
Paris bouquinistes: selling second-hand books along the Seine
Paris bouquinistes: selling second-hand books along the Seine. Along the banks of the river Seine in Paris, the bouquinistes continue to sell second-hand books, just as they have done since the 19thcentury when the city permitted booksellers to have a permanent location. Closed and locked at night, the typically green boxes sit on top ofContinue reading “Paris bouquinistes: selling second-hand books along the Seine”
The advice French mothers give their daughters
The advice French mothers give their daughters. Like all mothers, French mothers give their daughters advice. A study found that their daughters actually take their mothers advice, not about everything, but mostly about fashion. The French cosmetics company conducted research poll about mothers and daughters, and the advice given, and the advice taken. It wasContinue reading “The advice French mothers give their daughters”
The buzz of bees in Paris
The buzz of bees in Paris. Why did Napoleon love bees? He loved them so much that the bee became his signature emblem. It is said that bees were his symbol of tenacity. But bees are now very much a Parisian motif. Scientists from the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA-France) – the National InstituteContinue reading “The buzz of bees in Paris”
The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his good Theresa
The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his good Theresa. The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau is the autobiography of writer, composer, and philosopher Rousseau (1712-1778), written in 1782. Born in Geneva, his mother died in childbirth, and his watchmaker father raised him until the age of ten. From ten to sixteen years of age, he livedContinue reading “The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his good Theresa”