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Category / Editor’s Picks

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DCVIII)

1. This Abandoned French Chateau, on sale for €150,000 How it was: The castle dates back to the 15th century, located in the Loire-et-Cher region of France, 2.5 hours southwest of Paris. The castle was last the property of art dealer and collector Sylvain Durand (1928-2018) who made his fortune with the paintings of Fernand Léger. The castle’s…

Run Your Own Vintage Bistro in the South of France this Summer

Nope, sorry, I refuse to stop imagining that I live in the past. This time – inside Grandmère Léone’s village bistrot in Provence. It’s about that time of year when Parisians start looking south to plan a summer escape from the city, and on my annual holiday house hunt, I stumbled upon this little gem,…

The Most Famous Street in Paris You’ve Never Heard Of

Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Rue de Rivoli, Avenue Montaigne, each year millions of tourists follow the tired and testing formula of ‘been there, done that, bought the Eiffel Tower keyring’, and often leave the city with an unfortunate case of ‘Paris Syndrome’. As you may already know, we are not tourists here. We choose the path…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DCVII)

1. This book of colour shades depicted with feathers Check out the full book on Science History 2. Culture in Crisps: Lays Flavours from Around the World Found on Lay’s Around the World, via Present & Correct. 3. Childhood Nostalgia (they just don’t make kids movies like they used to) Movie recommendation du jour –…

My Victorian Camping Trip

Once upon a time, before Instagram, a group of young friends went on a camping trip and captured some pretty great memories. More than a hundred years have passed, but time has stood still for these smiley Victorians in black & white – almost as if a friend has returned home from their weekend out of…

It took a Hundred Years and Two Gays to Decode Her Diaries

Anne Lister has recently crept out of the shadows of what was her own gothic novel, penned almost two centuries ago. Like all things of the neo-Gothic late 18th century, hers was also a world of shadows, veils, intrigues and most of all, it concealed her obsessional love for other women. British society was at…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DCVI)

1. The Coffee Machine Museum The Coffee Machine Museum found via Present and correct) 2. This French Bath House for Sale Located in Amiens, asking 340K euros, found on Espaces Atypiques. 3. A Forgotten Chinese Bathhouse of Paris Built in 1787 at 29 boulevard des Italiens, they were popular before the French Revolution before they were destroyed in…

Tucked away in a Florentine Medici Villa is the World’s Rarest Citrus Collection

The dynasty of the lemon has fallen from the aristocratic tree and now occupies the common ground of contemporary cuisine. Lost to us are its exotic cousins, the strange fruits of all sizes, colours and shapes with the family name Citron, not lemon. Together with olives and garlic the now humbled lemon is perhaps the…

The Femme Fatale who Rejected Frida Kahlo’s Marriage Proposal

The phrase ‘femme fatale’ must have been invented for ‘La Doña’ – diva of the golden age of Mexican cinema, María Félix. Strong-willed, outspoken, controversial and drop-dead gorgeous, her life story is that of a movie script, an escapee from desperate and humble beginnings, teenage beauty queen, silver screen actress with multiple marriages and even…

The Bygone Era Of The Hotel Detective

“Saverio Bongiorno had no permanent home and had been living in various midtown hotels. Bongiorno registered at the Edison Hotel on Sunday, with a small beach bag as his only baggage. He was assigned to room 1135 and nothing more was seen or heard of him…James Gerrity, chief house detective of the Hotel Edison, 224…

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