Why celebrate Bastille Day? French National Day, also called ” Bastille Day” on July 14th was declared a national holiday in 1880. Today, military parade on Champs-Élysées in front of the Arc De Triumph celebrates Bastille Day. Proceeding the parade is a huge firework show and outdoor music festival in front of the Eiffel Tower....Read More
Unlike many other European cities, Paris did not suffer much destruction during the War. But here are some places of memories of WW2 in Paris. When the Nazis were marching to Paris, the city was declared an “open city” to avoid the destructions that occurred in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands or Warsaw in Poland. Starting...Read More
Who is Charles de Gaulle? What you didn’t know about the French most famous president. If you enter Paris by air, the name Charles de Gaulle will be the first one you will hear. And if you know anything about history, you have most heard of Charles de Gaulle or General de Gaulle already. De...Read More
Discover in a FAQ how it is to study in France ! Does France have a free education ? Just like in the United States, France has public schooling which is free and subsidized by the French government. Education is obligatory from the ages of 3 to 16 years old. The notion that education is...Read More
Paris has been around for more than 2000 years, and it has preserved many of its historical neighbourhoods. Most notably the Latin Quarter. The latin quarter is actually the cradle of the university of Paris, which is where it bears its name. « Latin » because the language of study was not French in the Middle Ages...Read More
Napoleon was many things, but short wasn’t one of them… You can see that for yourselves by visiting his tomb in the center of Paris, at the Invalides War Museum. 1. He was an army general at 26 Born in 1769 on the island of Corsica, he graduated from the military school of Paris in...Read More
Fontaine-what? Fontainebleau – literally the beautiful fountain. Or the fountain found by a dog, called Bliau. Or maybe it was its master’s name. We’re not sure – which is not surprising, since the castle’s dates back to 1137 ; older than the Louvre in Paris. But don’t let that date fool you : what makes...Read More
Versalles es mucho más que un palacio. Cuando Louis XIV, decidió convertir el palacete de caza de su padre en la residencia principal de la corte, del gobierno y suya, Versalles se convirtió en el reflejo del universo. No por nada se denominó a sí mismo como el rey sol. Él, en su palacio, es...Read More
1. The incredibly well-preserved appartments of a prince Chantilly was at some point owned by the Condé family, direct cousins of king Louis XIV, and therefore with the rank of princes. Some of the rooms still bear the trace of their formal wealth and rank, with a decoration unique in France – see below. The...Read More
An hour away from Paris by car, discover the wonderful castle of Vaux-le-Vicomte. And the tragic story that changed the course of French architectural history. The inspiration for Versailles Vaux-le-Vicomte is a project 20 years in the making. Built between 1641 and 1661 by Nicolas Fouquet, in charge of the finances of France under Louis...Read More
