Romanticism, for me, is the most fascinating literary and artistic movement associated with France. It can be difficult (and indeed, pedantic) to sort out exactly what one means when we call something romantic or Romantic (in French, romantique). Luckily, romanticism avoids absolutes and values above all individual imagination, creativity, and sentiment, so we won’t spend […]

Read more "The Romantic Life of George Sand"

Today was our first full day in Paris, and it was amazing. Lots of walking, but absolutely worth the level of exhaustion generated by said activity! I look forward to soaking my feet, but the only true sorrow today was the fact that I forgot my phone, so many of the off-the-cuff photos I might […]

Read more "Bibliophiles of the World, Unite!"

If you are wondering about the importance of a café on a literary tour, it’s important to think outside of the box. What many may not realize is that the art of people watching is a real thing here in Paris and all of France. When you walk by a café, 9 out of 10 […]

Read more "Les Deux Magots"

I am a notorious pinner. Pinner meaning, I pin anything and everything that speaks to me via Pinterest. If one could list Pinterest under their hobbies section on a collage application, it would be one of my top five. But don’t get me wrong, I’m nowhere near obsession with some 30,000 items pinned to my […]

Read more "Discovering Paris via Pinterest (On Accident)"

Yes, I’m in a bed in an apartment in Paris quoting Patsy Cline. Damn skippy. So, long story short: went to bed early, couldn’t stay asleep. The dark waters of the Seine were beckoning. Notre Dame was whispering in the cool breeze. There was a pull, an instinctual need to commune with the Marais at […]

Read more "I Go Out Walking, After Midnight . . ."

When I left Monday for France, I had many different expectations and ideas of what Paris looked like. I was unsure of what I was about to encounter but I was definitely ready for the adventure. The plane rides to get here exhausted me. The first plane from Fort Wayne to Chicago was an easy […]

Read more "Jet Lag"

Deliberations have begun regarding some changes to our planned itinerary. There have been some closings of museums and libraries that we had planned on seeing (I guess that the US doesn’t have a monopoly on cutting funding for arts and culture after all!), and we’re needing to shuffle some events around. Happily, this means that […]

Read more "Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes"

Feminist bookstore day in Paris, aka best day ever. Thanks to a recommendation from Sara, we stopped off at Violette & Co., a terrific French feminist bookstore on Rue de Charonne. In addition to a wide varitety of subjects, they carry some of our favorites translated into French, like Andrea Dworkin’s Intercourse, translated into French […]

Read more "Nos Désirs Font Désordre"

Just finished up a quick promenade through Père Lachaise; after several visits over the past several years, I finally found the grave of female mathematician Sophie Germain, for whom “Germain prime numbers” are named. These numbers are prime numbers whose double plus one is also a “safe prime,” so 5 is a Germain prime because […]

Read more "Marie-Sophie Germain, Jim Morrison, and Strange (Eternal) Bedfellows"

First stop in Paris: a super cute sidewalk café called “Café des Phares,” complete with a boost of caffeine and some delicious French pastry. The café is on the corner of Rue Saint-Antoine, the main street at the bottom of Le Marais, our neighborhood (or “quartier”) during this trip. It is opposite the Opéra Bastille, […]

Read more "Les Cafés Allongés et Les Croissants"