Tag: Galeries Lafayette

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Paris or London?

I bet there are times when people are forced to make a choice about whether to visit Paris or London. Usually there just isn’t enough time in their holiday schedule to visit both. So, the decision is made to maximize their stay in one or the other city. But which one to choose?

 In 2013, I wrote back-to-back blogs on why I like (or dislike) London and Paris. Each blog made the case for a respective city. Here we are in the dog days of summer, and everyone is traveling to Europe when the majority of Europeans are on holiday. What better time to combine those prior blogs and reprint my arguments for visiting each city.

BonjourFrance Today has invited you to view the video of my 6 June 2024 presentation, DOUBLE CROSS.

It is the story of the successful deception by Allied double agents to fool Hitler into thinking the Normandy invasion was a diversion with the real invasion taking place elsewhere.

HOW TO VIEW THE FREE VIDEO

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(viewing this video is free for 30-days)

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Did You Know?

Did you know that dogs have been our friends for more than 12,000 years? They hunt with us, protect us, and despite how bad our day has been, they still love us. Dogs were the first domesticated animal and by medieval times, they were embedded in our homes (and castles). Think about the medieval tapestries you’ve seen in museums. There is always a loyal dog in the picture.

“Hunting with a Hawk” tapestry. Lots of animals but always at least one dog. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Metropolitan of Art (tapestry dated c. 1515). Bequest of George Blumenthal, 1941. PD-CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Wikimedia Commons.
“Hunting with a Hawk” tapestry. Lots of animals but always at least one dog. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Metropolitan of Art (tapestry dated c. 1515). Bequest of George Blumenthal, 1941. PD-CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Wikimedia Commons.

In the tapestries and paintings with dogs, we typically know the names of the human subjects but how often do we know the dog’s name? Did the dogs even have names back then? You bet they did according to a 15th-century manuscript titled, “The Names of All Manner of Hounds.” The author lists 1,065 names given to medieval dogs and you’ll see they are quite ingenious.

“The Lady and the Unicorn” tapestry. Notice the dogs? Photo by Own Work (15 December 2021). Musée de Cluny (tapestry dated c. 1500s) PD-Author’s life plus 100 years or fewer. Wikimedia Commons.
“The Lady and the Unicorn” tapestry. Notice the dogs? Photo by Own Work (15 December 2021). Musée de Cluny (tapestry dated c. 1500s) PD-Author’s life plus 100 years or fewer. Wikimedia Commons.

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Coco Chanel: Nazi Collaborator or Spy?

Coco Chanel and Her String of Pearls
Coco Chanel and her string of pearls. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).

Five years ago, I wrote a blog by the same name. It was back in the days when I purposely limited my blogs to no more than five or six hundred words (my Millennial friends told me this was the “norm”). I’ve re-read some of those blogs and frankly, I’m embarrassed. First, my writing style has evolved (and hopefully, improved). Second, I could have added so much more interesting information had I not listened to my friends. Another difference between then and now is the number of images we used. Our blogs today use as many images as I can find that add value to the story. In the past, one or two images made it into the story. I guess this is what you call progress. So, we’ve gone back into the archives and picked out some of the more popular past blogs and I will be re-writing them to present to you with expanded content. We started with the blog, The Last Train Out of Paris (click here to read the blog) and today, you’ll visit with an icon of the fashion industry, Coco Chanel (1883-1971). She is clearly someone who many people have put on a pedestal as a result of her achievements. But hold on before you worship at the Chanel altar. Coco Chanel spent many of her later years trying to hide her secrets from the public and I suppose she succeeded since not many people are aware of her espionage activities with the Gestapo or her virulent anti-Semitic views. Read More Coco Chanel: Nazi Collaborator or Spy?