Know Your Louis: Marbré de Loire

THE STORY:

You hear about them so much, you feel like you know them: the Kings Louis of France (how do you make "Louis" plural?!). But how well do you know them? Do you know which one had a mistress (if you guessed all of them, you're probably close to correct). Who had the famous mistress Comtesse du Barry? Which was beheaded? Who ruled the longest? Who was the last King Louis? And why does anybody still care?

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Dijon for a Day: Chambertin

THE STORY:

Don't be F* Rude. Unless you're in Dijon, and you actually are F. Rude, a 19th century local sculptor who is honored there. The statue is a great place to start a day tour of Dijon, a small Burgundy city almost solely known to Americans, and probably the rest of the world too, for its production of mustard.

 

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Raindrops Keep Fallin': Colombelle

THE STORY:

While London has the reputation of being gray and foggy, somehow Paris -- which has virtually the same weather -- has the reputation of being romantic in the rain. Lucky I live in Paris then. My theory on why Paris in the rain is such a popular image is that the city already starts off moody and gray(architecturally speaking) even at the best of times.

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Making Love, the French Way: Coeur de Cocagne

THE STORY:

One time I asked my then-95 year old grandfather how he ended up marrying my grandmother, and he told me, "Right after I met her, I started to make love to her a lot..."

Argh! My ears! My ears! But then, of course, he went on to tell me about how he made love to her...by bringing her flowers, holding her hand, taking her on walks. Ah, so "making love" had a very different connotation in his day, and in our modern era, he just was getting the lingo wrong. Well, living in France, I now have a lot of sympathy for how out-of-date he was. After over four years here, I still can't correctly "make love" the French way.

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Under Where?: Le Coup de Pied au Cul

THE STORY:

You know those underwear you have that are for laundry days, most definitely not for special dates, and you just hope you don't get in a car accident and have to be examined in a medical emergency? French women don't have those. But guess what? You know those regular underwear you have -- comfortable, cotton, cute, in great shape -- that you wear pretty much on a normal basis? French women don't have many of those either.

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