Gustave Courbet, the Rebel Painter from Ornans, Episode 620
Elyse Rivin and Annie Sargent tell the story of Gustave Courbet, the self-taught painter from Ornans who defied the French art establishment. His scandals, his politics and his exile in Switzerland, plus what to see in Ornans today: his museum, his studio, the family farm and the Loue Valley.
Baccarat Crystal: Visiting the Town and Museum in the Grand Est, Episode 618
Baccarat is a small town between Nancy and Colmar that gave its name to world-famous crystal. We talk about how glass becomes crystal, what to see at the Baccarat crystal museum, why the Saint-Rémy church is worth a stop, and the humanist library in Sélestat on the road to Colmar.
Brittany Coastal Camping Guide: GR34 from Saint-Brieuc to Saint-Malo, Episode 617
Jennifer Gruenke hiked the GR34 in Brittany from Saint-Brieuc to Saint-Malo, camping every night without booking ahead. She explains how French campground stars work, how to use the BreizhGo buses when your legs give out, and where to find mussels, galettes, and a tidal island chapel along the way.
Two Heroines in the Panthéon: Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz and Germaine Tillion, Episode 616
Two women honored in the Panthéon, Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz and Germaine Tillion, were arrested as Resistance fighters and survived deportation to Ravensbrück together. Elyse Rivin joins me to explain how their friendship began there, and why they spent the rest of their lives fighting poverty, torture, and injustice.
Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de Lapérouse: France's Greatest Explorer You've Never Heard Of, Episode 614
Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de Lapérouse, was born near Albi in 1741 and became one of France's greatest naval explorers. Elyse Rivin joins me to cover his forbidden love story, his humane command style, and the 1788 cyclone that ended his voyage and became one of France's enduring maritime mysteries.
Louis Braille: The Blind French Teen Who Changed Reading Forever, Episode 612
Camille Claudel: Betrayed by Family, Locked Away for 30 Years, Episode 610
Camille Claudel was a gifted sculptor who trained and worked alongside Auguste Rodin for ten years. When the relationship ended and her mental health declined, her own family had her committed to an asylum, where she remained isolated for 30 years until her death by starvation in 1943, largely forgotten.
Catherine and Marie De Medici: Queen Mothers and Kingmakers, Episode 608
50-word website preview: Catherine and Marie De Medici, two Italian banker's daughters, married French kings and ended up running the country. Annie Sargent and Elyse Rivin trace Catherine's decades as regent through religious wars, and Marie's proxy wedding, coronation, and exile. Both left their mark on Paris, from the Tuileries to the Luxembourg Gardens.
An Art Retreat in a Medieval Burgundy Village, Episode 607
Julie Lynch, an Australian costume designer turned painter, spent eight nights at an art retreat in Burgundy. We talk about painting without pressure in the medieval village of Noyers, afternoon outings to Vézelay, Avallon, and Chablis, and why a slow week beats a packed itinerary once you've traveled enough.
Eugène Delacroix: The Painter Critics Loved to Hate, Episode 606
He painted Liberty Leading the People, yet critics tore Eugène Delacroix apart for decades. Elyse Rivin and I trace his life: the family debts, the brutal Salon reviews, the seven months in Morocco that changed his art, and where to see his work in Paris, from the Louvre to Saint-Sulpice.