I had read only one book of short stories by Nina de Gramont, my talented American cousin, “Of Cats and Men” published in 2001. She has since published six more books and her latest one, “The Christie Affair” was for a long time on the New York Times best seller’s list and is translated into twenty languages. It is a … Read More
Villers Cotterêts, the new citadel of the French language, is open
I was totally excited to finally get to Villers Cotterêts after a series of mini disasters (the opening visit was cancelled) and an hour and a quarter of driving from Paris. The small town of 10 000 inhabitants, is pretty dreary and the castle which houses the new Cité Internationale de la Langue française stands out like a meringue among … Read More
A spectacular exhibition in Chantilly … in 2025
The rain was drizzling on Maison de Sylvie in Chantilly but the atmosphere was electrical when Mathieu Deldicque, director of Musée Condé, and Marie Pierre Dion in charge of the rare books, announced that the “Mona Lisa of Manuscripts” Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, would be (partly) exhibited for three months in June-October 2025. The last time … Read More
A book on Fashion in the paintings of the Louvre, what a great idea!
I met Sabine de la Rochefoucauld years ago when she was the VIP guide at Versailles, and Harold Pinter and Antonia Fraser who was writing on Marie Antoinette, raved about her. She has now been for many years at the Louvre as chief of Protocol for royalties and stars, but still organizes visits for normal people. One of her cherished … Read More
Claire Bretécher, Prix Émile Perreau Saussine, Journée des Plantes in Chantilly and a novel on worms…
The Autumn Journées des plantes in Chantilly were heavenly with perfect cool and sunny weather and newcomers such as Jean Marie Dheedene from the Clematis Foundation in Belgium. He develops new clematises which survive better the heat and need little watering and has classified them all according to the flowering period and the perfume. I visited Claire Le Meur who … Read More
Trendy books get signed at Galignani’s!
What does an art book on “Bagatelle” and a biography of Princesse Bibesco have in common? They get signing parties at Galignani‘s, the English bookshop on rue de Rivoli, where Karl Lagerfeld used to buy hundreds of thousands of € of books every year. The month of September is traditionally rich in new novels and the rentrée littéraire is ready … Read More
From Santa Barbara to Cape Cod, a fabulous holiday
The two long weeks I spent in the US were the best holidays I’ve had in many years and flying from the Pacific in L.A. to the Atlantic in Boston, was a romantic experience. Both airports are on the water and I almost felt like I was sailing. My trip started in Santa Barbara where jacarandas were in bloom in … Read More
“Over the Rainbow”, at Centre Pompidou, celebrates homosexuality in art
Surfing on the LGBTQIA+ wave, a small exhibition “Over the Rainbow” is showing, on the ground floor of Centre Pompidou, a few paintings and photographs on the topic of homosexuality, which belong to Musée d’Art Moderne. And there are some finds which make the visit worth while. Thirty photos of transvestites photographed in 1931 at the Magic City ball, 180 … Read More