Reflections of a Francophile
Ever since watching the French Netflix movie Lords of Scam (reviewed here), I ve been curious about the Parisian neighborhood of Belleville. This documentary traces the rise and crash of scammers who conned the EU carbon quota system and pocketed millions before turning on one another. Much of the action unfolds in Belleville,… Continue reading The post The Street Art of Belleville: Paris s Hidden…
I ve been reading John Green s Everything is Tuberculosis, in which Green shows how cultural norms and unscientific assumptions shaped society s view of tuberculosis and its victims over the centuries. In the 1800s, people thought TB affected the pure of heart, the highly intelligent, the emotionally sensitive, and the artistic. Being… Continue reading The post George Sand s 1839 Letter:…
In the recent reports of the Louvre break-in, many accounts mentioned the Louvre s heretofore most famous heist. In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci s Mona Lisa, now one of the Louvre s most prized possessions, was stolen. In an earlier post, I wrote about several aspects of this famous robbery: the Mona Lisa s… Continue reading The post The Patriot Who Stole the Most Famous Painting in the World appeared…
It s been a month since thieves broke into the Louvre and absconded with a valuable stash of crown jewels. In many of the early news reports, reference was made to an earlier and equally spectacular heist at the famous museum. On a summer morning in 1911, an employee of the… Continue reading The post The 1911 Louvre Heist: Picasso Accused of Stealing Mona Lisa appeared first on cas d intérêt .
Yesterday marked ten years since the worst terrorist attack carried out on French soil. On November 13, 2015, eleven terrorists, backed by the Islamic State (Daesh), entered Paris and carried out a series of coordinated attacks throughout the city. Over the last week, French media has been filled with recaps… Continue reading The post Paris Terror Attack: Harrowing Rescue From The Bataclan Theater…