Category: Culture

Travel with Rick Steves: Best Chocolates in Europe & Holiday Travels

Rick Steves’ 12/17/2016 radio show left me in desperate need of a chocolate fix. Our upcoming summer trip to Brussels cannot come soon enough!

“Writers Jane and Michael Stern discuss wintertime comfort food served in America’s roadside restaurants, then food and culture expert Fred Plotkin explores the various kinds of chocolate available across Europe. And listeners share the experiences that made their Christmas vacations in Europe really special — plus we’ll hear how locals get into the Christmas spirit in Prague.”

 

Chanson Du Jour: l’Ouverture du Barbier de Séville

Chanson Du Jour 12/16/2016: es Quatre Barbus chantent l’Ouverture du Barbier de Séville 1954 

Les Quatre Barbus, founded in 1938 recorded thirty albums including sea chanties, children’s songs, popular songs, bawdy songs and even an album of anarchist songs in 1969.

Among the members was the photographer Pierre Jamet, who sang tenor. Jamet was the son of a butcher, born on rue Mouffetard in Paris in 1910. Jamet’s daughter has written that her father had two passions: singing and photography.

Jamet’s brilliant photographs are featured at the top of the pages of my blog.

Rossini’s Barber of Seville has proven to be one of the greatest masterpieces of comedy within music. Below is a cartoon treatment by Woody Woodpecker.

French furor over frog romance

A court in France is set to rule on whether 20 frogs in the Dordogne region should have their pond filled in. The pond-owners hope the court will overturn the judgment of the regional appeal court, which followed a complaint from their neighbor that the frogs mate too loudly. The case highlights a common clash that occurs when city folk move to the countryside in search of a quiet life.

Listen to these noisy frogs at: Living Planet: French furor over frog romance | All media content | DW.COM | 08.12.2016

Beaujolais Nouveau is available for a limited time every year for the holiday season

Every year on the third Thursday of November the historical Province of Beaujolais, a French wine producing region, releases its seasonal Beaujolais Nouveau that finds itself to the lips of most wine drinkers during the holiday season.This tradition dates to the 1980s when Georges Duboeuf, the founder of France’s Les Vins Georges Duboeuf, began a marketing campaign that popularized its production.

“Duboeuf came up with the idea to have the first wine of the harvest on the entire planet,” said Bryan Della Volpe, the wine and cigar manager at Continue reading “Beaujolais Nouveau is available for a limited time every year for the holiday season” →