Episodes
Wednesday May 06, 2020
A Virtual Visit to Florence
Wednesday May 06, 2020
Wednesday May 06, 2020
You can't go to Florence right now. But there's nothing to stop you going on a virtual visit and this episode will tell you all about the best resources to help you do just that. Hear about the websites, videos and books through which you can imagine yourself in Florence, and maybe reminisce a little, or start planning your next actual visit.
Wednesday Apr 29, 2020
Paris Episode 22 Literary Moments
Wednesday Apr 29, 2020
Wednesday Apr 29, 2020
A last look at Paris, this time through the eyes of authors who have set their work there. Four different novelists take us from the observation of murder and its aftermath in dingy 19th century back-street Paris, to an insider’s view of an elegant 21st century apartment block and its inhabitants. We look too at some short story collections, further extending the range of writing styles, eras and corners of Paris which are covered.
Tuesday Apr 28, 2020
City Breaks Update 01 April 2020
Tuesday Apr 28, 2020
Tuesday Apr 28, 2020
News on what the plans are for the continuation of City Breaks during the coronavirus pandemic.
https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
Paris Episode 21 Moments of History
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
A look at Paris through history books and historical novels, offering plenty of reading ideas to inspire your next visit! Biographies of Queen Marie Antoinette or of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir can provide plenty of background material. So too can fiction set in the past, such as Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, or Robert Harris’ treatment of the Dreyfus Affair, An Officer and a Spy.
Thursday Apr 16, 2020
Paris Episode 20 Memoirs of Paris
Thursday Apr 16, 2020
Thursday Apr 16, 2020
This episode sets out to enjoy the work of a number of writers who loved Paris and wrote their memoirs about living or working there. Hear some gossip from 17th century high society via the pen of Mme de Sévigny, enjoy the reminiscences of past writers like Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell and find out about life in more contemporary Paris as experienced by the writer Adam Gopnik or the chef and food-writer David Lebowitz.
Wednesday Apr 08, 2020
Paris Episode 19 Two Literary Houses
Wednesday Apr 08, 2020
Wednesday Apr 08, 2020
We visit the two best-known literary museums in Paris, the Maison de Balzac in the 16th district and the Maison de Victor Hugo in the Place des Vosges and give an idea of what there is to see in each. In addition, brief biographical notes for each author are coupled with extracts to give a flavour of their work, from Eugène de Balzac's novels Père Goriot and Eugénie Grandet and from Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Misérables.
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
Paris Episode 18 Buried in Paris
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
Visits to the Panthéon, where Paris pays homage to France's most respected citizens, and to the city's cemeteries are always fascinating. The world's most-visited cemetery, the Père Lachaise, contains the graves of, for example, Oscar Wilde and Edith Piaf, those in Montparnasse and Montmartre are also the last resting place of many famous writers, musicians and artists. We also take in Passy, the burial ground at the elite end of the city and the Picpus Cemetery, with its gruesome reminders of so many victims of the Revolution.
Wednesday Mar 25, 2020
Paris Episode 17 Cafe culture
Wednesday Mar 25, 2020
Wednesday Mar 25, 2020
'The last time I saw Paris, her heart was warm and gay. I heard the laughter of her heart in every street café.' (Oscar Hammerstein II). Paris welcomes you to its corner cafes, its bistros and its restaurants. Discover the history of the Paris café, with its properly attired waiters, its bread baskets and its cluster of little tables, spilling their contents onto the pavements. Find out about the 'must-visit' establishments and the famous Parisians who made them their own.
https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
Paris Episode 16 Le shopping
Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
Shopping in Paris is always a delight, whether you are popping to a local food market to choose some of the very best seasonal produce, wandering the 'passages', the maze of little covered shopping arcades dating from the nineteenth century or visiting one of the high-end department stores whose art deco interiors and piled-high top brands lure visitors from all over the world. From the macaroons of Ladurée to the latest word in fashion footwear from Christian Louboutin, you will find it all in Paris.
Wednesday Mar 11, 2020
Paris Episode 15 Modern Art
Wednesday Mar 11, 2020
Wednesday Mar 11, 2020
A rundown of some of the events and 'happenings' in Paris which celebrate modern art, plus a visit to three of the big hitter museums where you can see 20th and 21st century works: the National Museum of Modern Art in the Pompidou Centre, the City of Paris Museum of Modern Art and the Musée Picasso. To finish off, some ideas on other places to enjoy contemporary art in all its many forms, be that painting, sculpture, sound and video installations or photography.