Tag: France

TRAVELING SOLO [Tricks of the trade]

19 March 2018

I’m a woman and I travel the world. Alone. (With some occasional exceptions.) Alone, I’ve stayed in a stone cottage on top of a mountain in Tuscany, an 11th-century fort on an island off the coast of Brittany, an estancia in Argentina, and a riad in Tangier. Alone, I’ve shopped in chaotic flea markets in…
FAVE FIVE | SAINT-MALO [the best is free]

30 April 2017

I’ve often been asked, “What is your favorite place in the world?” and in all my years of travel, I never had an answer. Until now. My favorite place in the world is Saint-Malo, a town in Brittany, on the northwest coast of France.
BEFORE YOU GO TIPS | Booking the trip

20 April 2017

Before booking an international trip, there’s some research you can do to lay the foundation for success. This is a comprehensive list—I’m covering all bases. Take what you need from it.
BOOK | Paris Views | Gail Albert Halaban

10 January 2017

One of my guilty pleasures in my travels around the world is peering into the windows of homes. Not in a creepy way, mind you. I’m just fascinated to see the way that people live. (Think Hitchcock’s film, “Rear Window.”) New York photographer, Gail Albert Hallaban, has used this theme as inspiration for two fascinating…
Peace for Paris

15 November 2015

“The last time I saw Paris, her heart was warm and gay, I heard the laughter of her heart in every street café. The last time I saw Paris, her trees were dressed for spring, And lovers walked beneath those trees and birds found songs to sing.” -Oscar Hammerstein II, 1940
The pen is mightier than the sword

9 January 2015

On January 7, 2015, Islamic militant gunmen killed twelve people at the Paris office of French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, presumably in response to controversial cartoons published by the magazine. Philip Gourevitch, The New Yorker: “The French cartoonist Stéphane (Charb) Charbonnier liked to say, when jihadis repeatedly threatened to silence him, that he’d rather be…
EXCEPTIONAL EATERIES | Paris Flea Market | Chez Louisette

4 August 2014

I love going to the Paris flea market to search for treasures, and to visit vendors who have become friends over the years. When I’m there, I always break for lunch at a rollicking café that is just as exceptional for its character as it is for the food. The Marché Vernaison is a maze…
EXCEPTIONAL EATERIES | Belle-Île-en-Mer | Citadelle Vauban

29 July 2014

One of the most unusual hotels I’ve stayed in was also the location of an incredible, exceptional restaurant – but before I tell you about the restaurant, I must first describe the journey to get to this unique location. I took two trains, one bus, and a ferry from Paris to Belle-Île-en-Mer, an island off…
PARIS | Two rival cafés | Café de Flore & Les Deux Magots

30 June 2014

On Boulevard Saint-Germain-des-Prés, sitting a short block away from each other, are rival cafés Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots. They became rivals in the early decades of the twentieth century, when the intellectuals, writers, and artists of the period became loyal to one or the other. On one of my trips to Paris, I made…
Paris | Guimauves pour la Saint-Valentin

14 February 2014

On a quiet Sunday afternoon in Paris, I stumbled upon Meert. The windows were spilling over with delectable and beautifully packaged Valentine’s Day sweets, and I stopped momentarily to gaze through the window. That’s when I saw the marshmallows. I love marshmallows. These were big and fluffy and colored in shades of soft pastel, hinting…