The Siege of Paris changed the city in some significant ways. Once-magnificent parks were stripped of their trees or used for pasture, the Comédie Française was transformed into a private hospital, and the southern reaches of the city suffered damage from roughly a month of shelling from the Prussians. And…

Most theme parks have a name that promises something, whether it’s thrills and adventure, or a world focused on particular characters. Le Jardin d’Acclimatation (The Acclimatation Garden)…not so much. Maybe that’s part of the reason it’s easy to overlook this charming little theme park located in a corner of the…

Soon after the Siege of Paris ended on January 28, 1871, many enterprising souls started selling souvenirs. Most of these were things you’d expect: memoirs, photo albums of ruins, postcards, commemorative medallions and such. In fact, even during the Siege itself, a number of people sold what they claimed were…

The holidays are here and maybe you’re wondering what to get the self-published author in your life. As a self-published author, myself, I’ve got some ideas for all budgets — including no budget at all. But first….As you might have noticed, this month’s blog post is a little different from…

The colors rose and fell like something breathing, as though the whole soul of the earth were there. He felt as though he were witnessing something greater than himself, than anything. The red wave rippled among the stars, at once something unknown and the blood of his heart. (description of…

The Siege of Paris began nearly exactly 151 years ago, on September 19 1870. That day, the city was entirely surrounded by Prussian troops, and all train and communication lines had been cut. The Parisians were truly isolated from the world. Well, the wider world, that is. Parisians could go…

Maybe the antique pocket watch that lives on one of our bookshelves could help me.… We’d gotten the pocket watch years ago, at an antiques fair or market or maybe even a garage sale. That’s one of the things about living in Paris: centuries-old objects turn up in the most…

One of the most important elements of a Beauty and the Beast story is the rose that sets off the whole tale. And then of course there are the enchanted gardens. So what do you do when your Beauty and the Beast retelling takes place in a typical 19th -century…

June 17, 2021 Imagine air so cold it takes the feeling from your fingertips. This is the kind of weather that always comes to mind when I think of Paris’s history museum, le musée Carnavalet. When I was a student here in Paris, a friend and I often used to…