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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

Members:

Click here to view.

Non-members:

Click here to view.

(viewing this video is free for 30-days)

FranceMedia Group publishes magazines, both in print and digitally, that cover various aspects of France. Their brands include France Today, Complete France, Bonjour Paris, French Entrée, Taste of France, France PropertyShop, and French Property.

Click here to visit the FranceMedia Group web-site.


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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SS City of Benares

When we think of children adversely affected by World War II, it is usually in the context of deportations and other Nazi atrocities, intentional and unintentional bombings of civilians (on both sides), and separations from parents and homes. However, certain stories have been consigned to history and largely forgotten except in the memories of new but distant generations of relatives of the participants. Today’s blog is the story of an evacuation ship, a German U-boat, and ninety innocent children.

German submarine, U-48, returns to port in 1941. Photo by Heinrich Hoffmann (c. 1941). Gross Deutschland im Weltgeschehen: Tagesbildberichte (Heinrich Hoffmann); HU 39625.
German submarine, U-48, returns to port in 1941. Photo by Heinrich Hoffmann (c. 1941). Gross Deutschland im Weltgeschehen: Tagesbildberichte (Heinrich Hoffmann); HU 39625.

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