Interviews · Cinema · Observations · Paris

Not very well known, but still the winner of several film awards as director, actress and screenwriter, Zabou Breitman is the daughter of the fairly recognisable, if second-rank, actor, director and screenwriter Jean-Claude Deret…

Not very well known, but still the winner of several film awards as director, actress and screenwriter, Zabou Breitman is the daughter of the fairly recognisable, if second-rank, actor, director and screenwriter Jean-Claude Deret, a descendant of baptised Jews from Russia. Zabou's mother is the actress

Observations · Mores · Paris · People

I read about Françoise Dumas, an 85-year-old Parisian society organiser and legend of the dinner party, who for the last 50 years has been engaged in the country's most important gala dinners, balls and other such rendezvous…

I read about Françoise Dumas, an 85-year-old Parisian society organiser and legend of the dinner party, who for the last 50 years has been engaged in the country's most important gala dinners, balls and other such rendezvous, is acquainted with royal and presidential families, and continues

Museums · Paris · Ethnography

Falconry hoods and the training of hawks and falcons to wear them

What Do Henpecked Husbands Have to Do with Birds of Prey? The klobuk is not only a monk's headdress: it is also the name of the little cap placed on a hunting bird, covering its eyes completely and its ears in part. The hood is needed to calm

NB! · Society · Paris · Pop Culture

French President Emmanuel Macron Announces Plans to Ban Social Media for Children Under 15

Architecture · Observations · Society · Paris

I remember the summer of 2021, when it was being said that the construction of the Triangle Tower in Paris might rest on unlawful bureaucratic foundations, bound up with corruption and pressure on officials; the prosecutor's office then opened a prelimina

I remember the summer of 2021, when it was being said that the construction of the Triangle Tower in Paris might rest on unlawful bureaucratic foundations, bound up with corruption and pressure on officials; the prosecutor's office then opened a preliminary inquiry into suspected "favouritism" and

Art · Society · Paris

Two antiques dealers found guilty in France of selling forged 18th-century chairs

Two French antiques experts and furniture makers, Georges Pailhaud and Bruno Desnoues, have been found guilty. The dealers stood accused of forging and selling nine copies of eighteenth-century armchairs, which they passed off as genuine. Some of the pieces were represented as having belonged to Marie Antoinette. The swindlers

Archaeology · Art · Museums · Paris

In 1896 the Louvre bought the tiara of the Scythian king Saitaphernes for 220,000 francs

In 1896 the Louvre bought the tiara of the Scythian king Saitaphernes for 220,000 francs. Eight of the foremost specialists in antiquity and the history of art pronounced it a masterpiece and assured everyone that it would become the pride of the Louvre. The Imperial Museum in Vienna had

NB! · Architecture · Art · Heritage · Paris

American artist Brian Mark Taylor captured the 2019 fire at Notre-Dame de Paris in oils

Cinema · Paris · Humour

French serial “Les Vampires” of 1915 about a criminal association in Paris

The first vampire serial appeared as early as 1915, although Les Vampires, shot in France, was in general one of the first serials in history. In essence, though, the vampires figure in it not as supernatural beings but as the name of a criminal society spreading terror in Paris. The

Art · Observations · Heritage · Paris

Good Lord, what a nightmare

Good Lord, what a nightmare. Vandals in Paris have climbed onto the statue of Joan of Arc. The footage from the city streets almost repeats the scenes of the sack of Rome by Joseph-Noël Sylvestre

Archive · Books · Monarchies · Paris · People

Marie Antoinette on her ceremonial entry into Paris, in a letter to her mother of 14 June 1770

My dear mama, on Tuesday there was a festival I shall never forget. We made our solemn entry into Paris. As for honours, we received all the honours that can be imagined, but it was not these that touched me most. What truly impressed me were the poor, who expressed

Architecture · Art · Museums · Paris

Centre Pompidou branch to open in November 2027 with focus on South American artists

While the main building of the Centre Pompidou in Paris closes for lengthy renovation, a new branch of the museum is planned to open in the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguaçu, not far from the Iguazu Falls. The museum's activity will focus both on displaying part of