France and China both have proud language traditions, a long history of cultivating the arts, and *ahem* overly-hierarchical and opaque bureaucratic systems. But best of all, they both have very old and interesting culinary traditions. Here are a couple of dishes that connect these two diverse nations.
Read MoreAnna Hartley is an Australian writer.
She has lived in Paris and Beijing since 2011.
Her work has been published in The Washington Post, France 24, Forbes Travel Guide, The Houston Chronicle, The New Zealand Herald, The Vancouver Sun, the Beijinger, and Babbel Magazine.
Hey You! Yes, You: Meet Aurélie, Who Rode More Than 7,000km From France to Beijing
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At just 33 years old, French travel enthusiast Aurélie Gonet has achieved more than most people attempt in a lifetime. Since leaving her hometown of Dijon, France on Mar 3 this year, she has ridden over 7,000km by bicycle and traversed 16 different countries.
Read MoreNotre Dame Cathedral Blaze Provokes Outpouring of Sympathy From Beijing
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Beijingers have taken to social media to express support and solidarity with sister city Paris following a blaze which has destroyed much of the roof of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Paris and Beijing have been sister cities since 1997.
Read More4 Reasons Why Cycling in Beijing Is Way Nicer Than You Think→
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I never considered not getting a bike and cycling in Beijing. What I didn’t expect was how enjoyable it would prove. Here’s why:
Read MoreHow To Live Like A Parisian, No Matter What Neighborhood You’re In
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Articles about how to dress like/talk like/date like a Parisian are a dime-a-dozen, and mostly complete BS, so I was hesitant to take on this subject. Instead of listing what colors to wear and how to get that sexy french girl tousled hair that everybody seems to want, I’ve just described how I actually lived, when I was in Paris. Enjoy!
Read MoreTravels in the Loire: Visiting Le Château de Chambord
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Our target for the weekend is Château de Chambord. As the most famous and prominent castle in the region, can get very busy in the summer months, but after driving through the thickly wooded domain that surrounds it (and signs alerting us to wild boar and deer that roam about) we find it half-empty in the cold and crisp early December air.
Read MoreBull vs Man: la course camarguaise, a Roman arena and discovering Arles in the South of France
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There are about 15 young men in white, swarming over the sand, luring the bull this way and that. Psssst pssst they hiss and the bull swings his huge muscular body around, legs already splayed and hooves gouging the sand as he lurches forward.
Read MoreParis on Wheels: a short cycling guide
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Published in לאשה Laisha Magazine, May 2016
Paris and it’s surrounds are perfect for family and couple bicycle rides. Enjoy these three fun routes and explore the City of Lights.
Read MoreVersailles: An Unofficial Guide
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The Palace of Versailles, approximately 20km south-west of Paris is one of the most visited sites in Europe, and is on everybody's to-do list while in the City of Lights. It is an absolutely spectacular place, and one of my favourite sites in the Paris region, but it's not the kind of place you should just pitch up to and wing it.
Due to its size and popularity, a day in Versailles can easily descend into a disaster of long lines, bad timing, long walks in the dust and cancelled trains.
As a tour guide I've spent thousands of hours in the town and estate, and I firmly believe that preparation is the key. So read on, because I'm about to share as much advice as I can.
Read MoreExploring France: One Week in Beautiful and Wild Corsica
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An island marked by centuries of conflict and bloody rule, a stone’s throw from Italy, ruled by the French and the birthplace of one of the greatest rulers of modern history, Corsica is under an hour’s flight from Nice but it is like no other place on earth.
Read MoreThe Ultimate Paris Marathon Spectator Guide
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Watching the Paris Marathon isn't easy, even for a local. I was rushed, unprepared and even had to take a cab at one point. *shame*
Yet loads of people come to Paris from out of town to watch, so with this in mind, I've designed the perfect user-friendly Ultimate Paris Marathon Spectator Route.
Read MoreExploring Chartres: a Cathedral-sized adventure in the Eure-et-Loire
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Chartres is about 80km south-west of Paris, 1h20 by train. Perfect for a day visit, visitors go to see the UNESCO World Heritage listed Notre Dame de Chartres, arguably the most beautiful Gothic cathedral in France.
Back in May 2015, I spent a day in this beautiful little town with my Dad and his wife. Being the deadline-oriented, timely writer I am, I’ve let nothing get between me and this post.
Read MoreWhat Lies Beneath: Exploring the illegal Catacombes of Paris
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There’s a world you don’t see. Under your feet. A dark, wet, scurrying world. A muddy, candle-lit, labyrinthine world. Of immeasurable interconnected tunnels, dislodged boulders, vaulting galleries. Private dens, stone-carved temples and sprayed artworks. A world of pit-pat drips and natural springs, sagging electrical wires and bones.
A burrowing, endless honeycomb of a world under the huge, light, airy city you walk through every day. And one evening, this girl fell down the rabbit hole.
Read MoreHow I overcame my fears and spoke French on national TV
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Speaking French is not a simple matter of flicking a switch and carrying on with life. It is inextricably related to feelings of legitimacy, falsehood, belonging and alienation. It is associated with anger and frustration, inadequacy, stupidity, and triumph. It is related to who and what I am, my place in the world around me and a constant negotiation and re-negotiation of meaning, intention and power.
Read MoreWhy you should visit Paris now
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Since when is Paris a place that needs to advertise? It’s one of the world’s top tourism destinations. However, 2015 was a shocker of a year for France, and understandably lots of people are have delayed or cancelled their Paris trips.
Here are my top five reasons for why you should come to Paris now.
Read MoreMonet's 'other' masterpiece: His gardens at Giverny
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Published in The Washington Post, January 10 2016
A short train ride from Paris, visitors can enter a serene but spectacular Eden cultivated by the impressionist artist.
Read Moreabout November the 13th
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I’ve tried to write something about the attacks of November 13th for weeks. It never feels like the right time, or the right way. Still doesn’t. How can one possibly begin to put words to the enormous confusion of horror, pain, death, anger, grief, emotions, news reports, lack of sleep, tears that was it. How can one begin to describe something that you can’t touch, and which changed the very world in which you live, has coloured the way you see everything, and has made everything Before and After?
How can I, one among millions begin to even try? What right do I have to tell this story?
Like pushing magnets together, my words resist one another. The harder I push, the more violently they slip away into a messy pile on the other side of meaning.
Read MoreHey You! Yes You: meet Ellen, who has been up the Eiffel Tower over 700 times
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Welcome to "Hey You! Yes You", a new series in which I'll introduce you to a new marvelous person that I have encountered here on Earth, each with their own interesting story.
For the first ever post of I have chosen a friend of mine here in Paris, Ellen. Ellen is a seriously talented musician and singer, who has just finished recording a to-be-named new album.
By regularly coaxes the magic of unicorns out of her voice and into our ears on the Paris music scene. By day she works in one of the most beautiful places on earth: The Eiffel Tower. As a tour guide, and has been up the Tower more than a hundred times. Like, way more.
I thought it would be fun to ask her a few questions about what that is like.
Read MoreAnna's Adventures: Cooking authentic French cuisine
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Published in PRIMOLife Magazine September 2015
“Turn it! Turn it!”
Oil spits out of the sizzling pan, splattering my white apron and everything in the vicinity. I stand back, wielding shiny kitchen tongs like Steve Irwin fending off a particularly aggressive snake. Amid the encouragement of my companions, I flip the excitable chicken pieces one by one.
I like to cook, but usually without an audience so I can hide the chaos, the panic, the improvising and the fact that I’ve used every single dish in the kitchen. Yet here I am, in the beautiful Parisian home of Paule Caillat, aka, a proper French cook.
Read MoreAdventures in the South of France: Exploring the 'perched village' of Lacoste
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Provence has got to be one of the most adorable regions in France.
A land of lavender, vineyards, fruit trees, gently rolling hills and the occasional limestone range... Of ancient village centres, narrow cobblestone streets and carved stone fountains... The true paysage, the authentic rural heart of France which has remained unchanged throughout the centuries in its deeply significant traditions and unrelenting adorableness.
Did I mention lavender?
If I'm honest, the self-conscious provincialism can wear pretty thin, especially in the bigger towns where vendors cackle with delight at the commencement of the tourist season, and even on brand new buildings the paint is artfully weather-worn.
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