Le Marquis de la Fayette sailed into the Boston harbour, on October 19, 1781, announcing that France would be providing military and financial support to George Washington,s troops. His magnificent blue and golden ship, Hermione, has been totally reconstructed is finally sailing back to America! It has only taken over 17 years to bring this magnificent …
Lafayette’s Ship, The Hermione Sailing Back To America! Read More »
Charles Baudelaire was the epitome of all French poets, past and present. Reading his poetry and prose leaves no doubt to the woundedness of his soul. His tortured emotions that brilliantly sculpted every word of his prose and poetry spewed from a gaping deep wound in his psyche. His words rip though your own illusions …
The past two weeks have been filled with one tragedy after another. Human lives taken without any mercy, are so frightening and gruesome that it makes me think we are certainly in an era of non stop violence all over the globe. I can never understand how or why another person could kill in cold …
Non Violence Is A Choice That Starts In Your Heart Read More »
This horrific catastrophe has weighed heavily on my mind, plunging me into a wave of grieving over such an immense loss of life. The chilling revelation that this was seemingly a deliberate murder of 149 innocent human beings made it worse. When I first heard that the chief pilot was locked out of the …
Germanwings Possibly Psychotic And Suicidal Pilot Unreported? Read More »
At one time there were around 150 of these beautiful covered passageways tucked throughout the center of Paris. Several spectacular ones have survived that offer wonderful glimpses back into the past. Only by chance would a tourist find them, as they are never really one of the first things to see. Maybe if you have …
Catherine de Medici, who was married to King Henri II, was indeed one of the most shadowy and diabolic queens of France. She was implicated in murders, including a massacre, poisonings, child abuse, favouritism with her children, and last but not least ignoring an incestuous relationship amongst her children. Some recent historians have tried to write …
Catherine de Medici; A Most Ruthless and Cruel Queen Read More »
Wherever I travel, the most important and the first things that I research are the restaurants! It becomes practically an obsessional search, looking here and there, and then cross checking reviews or reports for the best places. Athens though, was more of a challenge. If it is in France, it is a lot easier of …
Every once in a while, I find myself drawn to go back to a particular place, and this time it is Greece! It’s probably a longing for the sun and smell of the sea, though that can be had a mere two hours away from me at Deauville, minus perhaps a strong sun like in …
One of the most bizarre, yet totally fascinating mental illnesses is erotomania. It is not something a therapist sees often in their practice, so I felt lucky to have had the privilege to have had one of the most intriguing of cases. It is sometimes known as Clérambault syndrome, named after the French psychiatrist Gaetan …
I really debated if I should even write about this topic, frankly because it was so minuscule in comparison to the Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans that I grew up knowing and attending since childhood. I hate to make a comparison here, and there really can’t be, because it sounds down right uppity, and …
I had no idea what kind of concert I was going to, except it was to be commemorative of the Shoah. All of France along with other European countries had recent events of remembrance of this extremely horrifying atrocity in the history of humankind. My invitation to the Hungarian Institute of Paris to hear …
Seems like the whole country goes to crêpes on February the 2nd ! Chandeleur (Fêtes des Chandelles) is what they call it and the tradition goes way back. The French consume crêpes quite often as a snack or for a complete meal, but even more so today! The history of Chandeleur or festival of lights …