Ever since watching the French Netflix movie Lords of Scam (reviewed here), I’ve been curious about the Parisian neighborhood of Belleville. This documentary traces the rise and crash of scammers who conned the EU carbon quota system and pocketed millions before turning on one another. Much of the action unfolds in Belleville,…
This week, I began working on a post about the theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911. I’d read several articles and listened to podcasts about the heist, which is full of surprising twists. However, on Monday morning, as I perused a list of Le Monde’s top…
One of my favorite places to stay when visiting Paris is the bustling town of Vincennes. Vincennes lies just beyond the eastern edge of Paris, north of the Bois de Vincennes, Paris’ largest public park. Lodging in this prosperous suburb generally costs less than in the city of light. And…
One of my favorite exhibit spaces, Le musée d’art moderne de Paris, currently features over 100 works by Henri Matisse devoted to his daughter, Marguerite. The exhibit runs through August 24, 2025, so you might want to stop by if you plan to visit Paris this summer. I have to…
Or, Just Because You Have Impostor Syndrome Doesn’t Mean You’re Not a Fake Last week, I wrote about an excursion I took with friends to the top of La Grande Arche—a massive office building in the heart of Paris’ modern business district, La Défense. In the spring of 2023, we…
Or, Just Because You Have Impostor Syndrome Doesn’t Mean You’re Not a Fake An often overlooked site when visiting Paris is La Grande Arche de La Défense, located in a stylish business district just beyond the city limits. Starting from the city center, the most efficient route to La Défense…
I’ve covered stories about the Eiffel Tower on this site perhaps more than any other topic. This week I thought I’d serve up depictions of the famous monument by some of France’s renowned painters and illustrators. To liven things up, I thought I’d offer readers a challenge. Below, I’ve listed…
Last week I wrote about Edgar Degas’ most renowned sculpture, La Petite danseuse de quatorze ans. Degas’ portrayals of 19th-century dancers give us a window into the lives of young female professionals—a circumstance that was exceedingly rare. Referred to as rats, these budding ballerinas played a secondary and less desirable…
