Paris in Bleu Blonde Rouge

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On April 18, 1946, Christian Dior was walking down the Rue Saint Honoré and stumbled upon a cast-iron star at the edge of the sidewalk.  During WWII, Dior worked for the Lucien Lelong fashion house alongside Pierre Balmain, negotiating the Occupation years in Paris. Coming out of the fog of war and…

On the first day of each season at true noon, inside the Église Saint-Sulpice, the sun hits a small hole in the window high above the south transept, and on the spring and autumn equinox, it hits a brass marker just inside the altar.  But why, you ask? It goes back almost three hundred years, to 17…

Anne d’Autriche was born on September 22, 1601, 425 years ago today. The wife of Louis XIII and the mother of Louis XIV has emblazoned her story into the history books, but it’s a set of rooms within the Louvre that really makes her legacy shine.   Today’s episode focuses on the suite of rooms with…

Henri Désiré Landru was born on April 12, 1869, in Paris, near the lovely Buttes Charmant. As a child, he seemed destined for a life in the church, but his path took a sharp turn along the way.  In 1912, at was the start of the Great War, and the men were dying on the battlefield, leaving women beh…

In September 1792, over five nights, thieves broke into the Garde-Meuble and stole thousands of France's Crown Jewels.   Of course, there is the “Heist of the Century” that hit the Musée du Louvre on October 19, 2025, but it pales in comparison to the 1792 theft.    Support the show

In 1939, as Hitler came knocking on the door of France, the keepers of the great art of Paris sprang into action. While Hitler’s art-loving henchmen headed to Paris with a shopping list of must-have pieces of art, the treasures of the Musée du Louvre were at the top. Jacques Jaujard, the director o…

There are many events that truly altered and changed the entire trajectory of hundreds of thousands of people's lives. Every five years, we mark the rounded anniversaries of the Armistice, VE Day, D-Day, and the Liberation of Paris. While the clean numbers on the 5s and 10s look good, we shoul…

Six days a week, for 115 years since her theft, more than 30,000 people a day push and shove to snap a photo or selfie with the Mona Lisa, and most have no idea why they even need to.  On a hot Sunday, August 20, 1911, at around 4 pm. Vincenzo Peruggia entered the Musée du Louvre just like any othe…

On August 10, 1793, the Musée Central des Arts de la République was opened. You may know it as the Musée du Louvre.  Art was not a stranger to the Palais du Louvre and going back to the 16th century, François I first held a few of his prized pieces. Under Louis XIV, they added the Salle des Rois, t…