Tag Archives: France

scratch-and-sniff

Posted on May 23, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Each May 16th, France celebrates Saint Honoré, the patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs. This year, the French postal service La Poste marked the occasion with a tasteful tribute in the form of a unique postage stamp. The “Baguette … Continue reading →

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Bookstore Tourism: A bit of France in NYC

Posted on April 7, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

La Joie de Vivre, a bookstore and café selling titles in French and English, has opened in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. Forbes reported that the shop, located at 145 W. 27th St., “offers a quick getaway to France. 50% of books sold in the … Continue reading →

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Course des Cafés

Posted on March 27, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

My very first encounter with a Parisian waiter reinforced every stereotypes of French restaurants. To be fair, it was an early morning visit to a railway station café after a night train from Amsterdam. My traveling companions included three other … Continue reading →

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Petit Livre d’Amour

Posted on February 14, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Your Valentine’s Day gift will have to be extraordinary to top  the Petit Livre d’Amour (Little Book of Love). This very elaborate handmade book was given by the 16th-century French poet Pierre Salas to his then lover and future wife … Continue reading →

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The Disappointed Tourist

Posted on January 17, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The Disappointed Tourist is a brilliant, on-going project in which artist Ellen Harvey is making paintings of places suggested by members of the public in response to the question: “Is there some place that you would like to visit or … Continue reading →

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Paris Syndrome

Posted on January 8, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

This weekend my wife and I watched a very disappointing film which was primary set in Paris at Christmas time. The only thing that it had going for it was the romance of Paris all aglow with holiday lights. And … Continue reading →

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Le Petit Prince

Posted on October 2, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

I don’t think that I would be going out on a limb to speculate that almost every one reading this post has at one time read the iconic Antoine de Saint-Exupéry novel The Little Prince. In my case, I read … Continue reading →

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Someone in Paris

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Someone in Paris, France Is Thinking of You This poem is happening in Paris, France where it’s raining and we’re all so drunk that it’s impossible to keep a secret. Every morning the waiters say bonjour and every morning I … Continue reading →

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Paris: RINGdeLUXE

Posted on July 22, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Plastique Fantastique (aka Marco Canevacci and Yena Young) created RINGdeLUXE, an exciting in situ installation enveloping the iconic Léopold-Sédar-Senghor footbridge across the Seine for the 2023 Nuit Blanche festival. The monumental ring artwork captures the imagination of its observers with its … Continue reading →

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They Had No Choice

Posted on June 6, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

On the annual anniverary of the D-Day invasion of France by the Allies, it’s customary to focus on the sacrifices of the human members of the military. This year, I thought that it was also time to acknowlege the contributions … Continue reading →

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