The line forms under the glass pyramid of the Louvre. It snakes up the escalator into the Richelieu wing, and up two more escalators to the second floor, and into the Salle Medicis. That is where Mona Lisa, also known as Lisa Gherardini, resides until October, when she will return to where she has spent […]
Author Archives: marina.woodson
For quite a while I have felt misgivings about taking clients to see the interior of the Chateau in Versailles. That is not for any lack of marvelous sights to see there. The pace of re-acquisition of exquisite objects and art that were created for Versailles and sold-off after the French Revolution continues unabated. Virtually […]
Located 50 kilometers southwest of Rouen in the Eure department, the site of the Abbey Le Bec Hellouin is one of the unsung cradles of Christian power in France, as well as for England. Indeed, it is quite remarkable that this abbey has produced three of the archbishops of Canturbury, two of whom were also […]
In the several hundred tours of the Normandy D Day and Battle of Normandy sites that we have performed, I have often thought how glad we are of its outcome, in contrast with how aghast we are at the horrors that everyone concerned experienced. Whether you were part of the invading or defending forces, or […]
For all lovers of greenery and original gardens, this article is for you. The gardens named after their creator, Albert Kahn, in the very early 20th century are one of the jewels of garden landscaping in Paris and its suburbs. They have reopened after almost 30 years of work and adjustments, in the style […]
Many persons contemplating touring in France in 2020 are anxiously following the current wave of protests relating to the French government’s plans to modify the pensions of different categories of public workers. At this time that includes more than forty different types of retirement plans, of which some are in tight financial straits and […]
When you think of the architecture of Paris and France, you are likely to conjure images of classical French architecture that evolved in the 17th and 18th centuries, of which structures such as the Louvre, the Invalides and those found in the Concorde Plaza are iconic examples. If you have dug into what […]
One of the major influences in what became widely known throughout the western world as ‘modern architecture’ is a person who never studied architecture. That was also the case of some of his most illustrious peers and contemporaries: Frank Lloyd Wright and Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe. That Charles-Édouard Jeanneret became an architect at […]
When you look at the skyline of Paris today, you see a fairly uniform horizon that is largely the result of Baron Haussmann’s urban renewal program, which progressed from 1853 until 1870. Ordered by Napoleon III, it was a crash program to transform an exotic but highly unhealthy medieval city that lacked basic […]
What is the difference between a basilica, a church and a cathedral? Should you care? You can, of course, sail through life oblivious of the distinctions, without any problem. However, if you believe, as we do, that variety is part of what makes life interesting, you may find that being aware of the […]