France

From our contributors: week of April 2

Another week, another roundup of posts written by some of our contributors on their blogs.

Spinach gnocchi

Carmen, our contributor from Romania, writes about St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Bucharest. (more…)

Laguiole, a prestigious folding Knife

The Laguiole knife, an object-tool whose reputation is second to none

Laguiole is the capital of cutlery in Aubrac, a region of central France. Most people think that knife manufacturing in Laguiole is an ancient tradition that has adapted and been mastered over the centuries! Surprisingly, it is not!

The Bee, one of the distinctive signs of a true Laguiole Knife

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From our contributors: week of March 6

This is what some of our contributors have written  on their blogs. Happy reading!

Fearless pigeons in Cismigiu Park (photo credit: Carmen Cristal)

Sandra, our contributor from Portugal, continues her A-Z of the Netherlands with C is for Children, where she shares her impressions on Dutch children and parenting styles.

On 14 February 2007, the United Nations considered the Dutch children the happiest in the world. On December of the same year I arrived in the Netherlands. Let me share with you my first impressions on Dutch children.

These are no  scenes from the Birds of L. Hitchcock. Everything happens in Bucharest.
Heavy snow fallen this February made wild pidgeons in Cismigiu Park be very hungry. They eat directly from the people‘s hands, without fear.

DeeBee, our contributor from France, wrote an article about the Baroque religious style in France.

The Baroque is the style of the Counter-Reformation, the reactive movement generated by the Church of Rome in order to reduce and annihilate Protestantism which had been introduced by Henry IV.
The Calvinist king converted to Catholicism before his accession to the throne in 1589 to end the bloody Wars of Religion. He was assassinated in 1610.

 

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From our contributors: week of February 20
From our contributors: week of February 6
From our contributors: week of January 23

The Bouquinistes-Book Sellers along the Seine River

Bouquinistes, a trade that goes back to the Middle-Ages and is unique to Paris

The story has it that a boat transporting loads of books sunk near Notre-Dame Cathedral.

The sailors swam ashore taking with them as many books as they could and sold them to the passersby to make up for the wages they had lost. They certainly found the sale lucrative enough to start making a regular living from it.

Bouquinistes' stalls near Notre-Dame Cathedral

Since then, we are used to seeing the booksellers along the Seine and they have become one of the many iconic symbols of Paris.

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Mardi Gras – Carnival Season

Yesterday the French celebrated Mardi Gras – Carnival Season – Shrove Tuesday.

Mardi Gras street Carnival

However, all enjoy celebrating the old traditions which are an opportunity to disguise and party with family and friends – and all disguises are allowed!

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French Royal Mistresses

Valentine’s Day is over.  But let’s still celebrate Love by talking of the royal mistresses who often influenced the fate of France.

The Royal Mistress, a vast and controversial topic that makes us either smile or shy away!

Madame de Pompadour (Source Wikimedia)

Not always but they were undoubtedly more attractive than the average women of their time when hygiene was questionable, when teeth started to decay in teenage, when women’s life expectancy was so short, when they had reached their “shelf-life” by the age of 30, if they had had the extreme luck of surviving until such an “advanced age” despite the multiple births and epidemics.

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