It’s all opulence and grandeur at this hôtel particulier on Boulevard Haussmann. The Musée Jacquemart-André is a private art collection with everything that you might expect. Rich, deep red velvet walls; fine Italian Renaissance and Byzantine art; a Fragonard (currently, unfortunately, on loan to an exhibition); an unexpected, but very delightful, run in with Élisabeth […]

My first encounter with Honoré de Balzac, the man (I was obliged to read his literature in school), was at the Musée Rodin, and I will say that the sculptor must not have liked him much, because the rendition is anything but flattering. However, I had also been seeing many posters for the re-opening of […]

The townhouse is rather unassuming — if you’re not looking for it, you’ll walk right past it. There is no imposing gate to attract (or deter) the curious; no garden to meander through to reach the entrance. Just an iron-black door, surprisingly light as you lean on it, which dumps you right into the entryway […]

If you love France or are planning a trip, download one of my FREE travel guides! The forecast promised thunderstorms. It was the middle of June, and clouds were on the horizon. Ironically, we had postponed our day trip to Monet’s garden in Giverny because it was set to rain on our original date. Clouds […]

I’ll admit: sculpture is beyond me. I’m much more of a paintings gal (Renoir is my jam, but I have a soft spot for Impressionism in general). But, I’ve heard so much about Rodin Museum in Paris (and it’s so close to me in the 7th Arrondissement) that I had to pop over, if only […]