Royat Auvergne

Lupin – the most popular show ever on Netflix – may have roots in the deep heart of France

Karen and I just watched all five episodes of Lupin, the French series that is dominating the Netflix popularity charts around the world.  We love a good “heist” story – and Lupin starts with a very good one – but it evolves into something even better:  a story about a “gentleman thief”, a hero who operates outside the law but is driven by a bigger sense of justice and “doing the right thing”.  (Think The Equalizer but with some elegance and a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor.)  The series also makes for a good opportunity to practice your French, if you’re inclined that way; you can watch it dubbed in English, or reset the language to French and turn on English […]

Gargilesse-Dampierre is officially one of France’s “most beautiful villages”

  I’m always fascinated by stories from French history where someone rises from a remote city or tiny village in the deepest heart of the country to international fame.  We’ve seen several such stories in earlier post on this blog:  Blaise Pascal doing his famous experiments at the top of the Puy-de-Dome, the nobles of the House of Bourbon rising out of Montlucon to create a royal dynasty that still exists in Europe today, or the Marquis de Lafayette leaving his rustic home in the Auvergne to play a major role in the American Revolution. But it’s almost as interesting to find someone born in the big cities who abandons the bright lights to seek calm in the wild mountains […]