(Here follows a Guest Post by Chris Aspinall) AMERICANS, it is said, cannot cope with the concept of cricket being a game that can last for five days. This week here in France, a single sporting event starts that lasts a month – and those competing don’t just appear for short periods, they’re putting their […]
On Saturday, May 5, 1821 – 2oo years ago – Napoléon Bonaparte breathlessly whispered ‘Josephine’ and with a sigh his life ended. No greater Frenchman has there been than this man – you may not agree with me though – but now a virus which originated in China has robbed him of the honour his […]
On Monday, April 15, 2019 – two years ago today – a fire broke out in Paris’ beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral. Since that day workmen have been restoring the cathedral. It will apparently take another two years before it will look as it did on that April day. I will not go into the reason […]
Every day at 5 p.m. the French Ministry of Health issues the newest statistics for how this terrible virus is attacking France. At this moment – 09.30 Sunday 14/03/2021 these statistics are: TOTAL CASES : 4,045,319 DEATHS : 90,315 PATIENTS IN INTENSIVE CARE : 4,070 DAILY NEW CASES : WAS 29,759 ON SATURDAY, 13/03/2021 DAILY […]
The Parisians love them, and so do tourists. I am talking about the Paris street market. Strolling round Paris on a Sunday won’t be such a delight as it is without a street market. Of course, for those living in Paris they are also – perhaps mainly – a shopping area where one can buy […]
To come across a painting one day quite unexpectedly and to think that you have in your possession a work of art by a famous artist – Van Gogh for example, or Picasso, or – well you can insert any famous artist’s name here – is something wonderful. In 2010 this was exactly what happened […]
It is always a pleasure for me to visit the town of Auvers-sur-Oise. Auvers-sur-Oise is of course where Vincent van Gogh spent the last two months of his life, and where he died and lies buried. I, an admirer of Vincent – not only of his paintings but so too of the man – go […]
As you may know I not only write but I also paint. That is canvases and not walls. I will show you some of my paintings here now. All are to be bought. So if you are interested do email me here on this site, or at marilynztomlins@orange.fr Or if you are a art gallery […]
On your next visit to Paris and you have a day to spare and you wonder where to go, what to see, what to do, think no more. I know where you should go: must go. The town is named Brie-Comte-Robert. It is not one of those large, noisy towns in the Ile-de-France […]
What is the world coming to? Have you heard of a killer being released from prison because he has a heart condition and may die – in prison? Well, this has now happened here in France. On November 17, 2009 I wrote the following piece for the true-crime site crime.magazine.com.http://crimemagazine.com/father%E2%80%99s-revenge It was a case which […]
I have been neglecting my website. However, there is a good reason for this. I am deep into writing another book. And what it is about? The picture above should give you a clue. Here follows my intro to this new book of mine. Myths die hard. Some never die. They go on and on […]
Oh, fortunate you who will be taking a break in the French capital this coming Christmas and New Year period because here are many new art exhibitions here now. I will list them. Luxembourg Museum (Musée du Luxembourg) – 19 rue de Vaugirard, (6) L’AGE D’OR DE LA PEINTURE ANGLAIS – from Reynolds to […]
Great was the relief and happiness on Friday, October 11 2019 (this year) when the news began to circulate in France that Xavier Dupont De Ligonnès, the ‘alleged’ assassin of his family – Agnès (his wife) and their four children – Arthur, Thomas, Anne and Benoit – had been arrested at Glasgow Airport […]
Every day people – French and foreigners – come to Rue Le Sueur in the chic and expensive 16th arrondissement of Paris. They walk down the street, the Eiffel Tower ahead, but for once the tower does not draw even a glance. Instead they stop at No. 21, a six-storey building, half-way down the […]
In 1992 I wrote about a scructural error in Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral, and that the building was not all that secure. My piece was published on Thursday, May 7, 1992, in the Johannsburg-based ‘The Star’ daily. At that time restoration work to the cathedral was being undertaken and in charge was French architect […]
