No trip to Paris, France is complete without a tour of the Louvre to see the famous Mona Lisa.

Today, a thick pane of bullet-proof security glass keeps artlovers a safe distance from the most famous painting in the world, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, Wife of Francesco Giacondo,” known in French as “La Joconde” and English as the “Mona Lisa.”  But back in 1911, it was simply hung on the walls of the Musée du Louvre like any other canvas.  That was until a former museum employee named Vincenzo Perrugia strolled into the gallery before opening hours on August 21, noticed the room was empty, took down the Mona Lisa and walked out of the Louvre with it under a painting smock.

When the loss was finally noticed, the police were mystified. For two years, the whereabouts of the masterpiece was unknown, while French detectives made various wild guesses.  (It had been stolen by the Germans.  By anarchists.  By evil geniuses.  By lunatics.)  They actually arrested the country’s top art critic, Guillame Apollinaire, then let him free.

Then, out of the blue in 1913, an Italian art dealer in Florence was contacted by a man calling himself “Leonardo” who claimed to have the Mona Lisa and wanted to see it hang in the Uffizi, Italy’s top art museum.  Although he found it hard to believe that the thief could be so reckless, the dealer tipped off the police and agreed to meet the strange Leonardo in a Milan hotel room.  There, the nondescript fellow opened his suitcase, emptied out his socks and underwear, opened up a false bottom in the case to reveal the Mona Lisa – and was immediately arrested.

It turned out that Perrugia was no criminal mastermind trying to make a fortune but a sentimental Italian nationalist who had stolen the canvas on impulse and merely wanted to see it returned to its land of origin.  (The Mona Lisa was purchased by France’s King Francis I in the 1530s.)  The recovery was greeted with exultation in France, and the famed canvas safely shipped to its home in the Louvre.  Back in Italy, however, the thief Peruggia was hailed as a patriotic hero in Italy and served only a short prison sentence.

Bienvenue, or welcome, to our series of posts on Paris, France.

We invite you to travel with us over the next month to the City of Love.  Spend a lazy afternoon in a café, wander through the Louvre and learn the history of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, Wife of Francesco Giacondo” and explore one of the most evocative sites in Paris, the Place de la Bastille.

Escape with us on our journey as we go off the beaten path and discover the must-see gems of this great French city.

Enjoy sipping on a cafe au lait at a French bistro with your true love on your Paris Honeymoon.

Stroll hand-in-hand along the Champs-Elysées, savor an intimate dinner in a Paris bistro, enjoy romantic views from the top of the Eiffel Tower—and do it all surrounded by that famous Parisian joie de vivre!

For more romantic inspiriation, view the Paris Photo Gallery part of the Places of a Lifetime series from National Geographic Traveler magazine.

Happily ever after begins with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for fun, romance and quality time with your new spouse.

The rest of this month we vow to provide you with the essential information to plan the perfect honeymoon and highlight some of the most romantic honeymoon destinations in the world.

Over the next few weeks stroll the white-sand beaches of Hawaii, indulge in a wood-fired Neapolitan pizza in Italy or enjoy romantic views atop the Eiffel Tower in France.

Get ready to say “I Do,” the honeymoon vacation is just beginning…

Most people get their first glimpse of southern France in an art gallery: Perhaps no place on earth has been home so many celebrated painters, leading some critics to put it on a par with Paris and New York as an international art center.

The influx began in the late 19th century, when the Impressionists Paul Cézanne and Jean Renoir became captivated by the south’s dazzling light, its sun-baked towns, the azure sea views and color-saturated hillsides.   Passionate about painting en plein air, “in open air,” they were naturally drawn to a land with over 330 days of annual sunshine.  (Cézanne took his love of the outdoors to extremes, and by 1906, at the age of 67 was still painting in the mountains near his home, Jas de Boffon in Aix-en-Provence; he was finally caught in a storm and collapsed, dying not long afterwards).

The roster of painters who either lived or holidayed in southern France, particularly Provence and the Riviera, becomes a who’s who of modern art: Van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse, Monet, Cocteau, Leger, Degas, Dufy, Braque and Dali were all inspired by the landscape here.

But perhaps the most prolific and celebrated artist to fall in love with the south was Pablo Picasso: He first visited the Mediterranean coast in 1939 (producing optimistic works with names like Joie de Vivre) and he returned to live in the south permanently after the Second World War, moving between beachside residences and a castle in Vauvernargues, near Cezanne’s home in Aix.  Picasso found the landscape liberating, declaring that “in Paris, I never draw fauns, centaurs, or mythical creatures… yet they always seem to live in these parts.”  Until his death in 1973 at the ripe age of 92, he stayed up until 3 am every night painting in his hilltop villa in Mougins, ceaselessly attempting to capture the magic of the South.

“They are not vegetables but miracles,” declared one gourmand recently of the wild black truffle, the rare dark tuber found buried beneath the oak trees of southern France.

The scarcity of this subterranean fungus, combined with its delicate flavor and unique, pungent aroma, has made it an obsession amongst food-lovers and driven prices as high as $500 a pound.  This “truffle-mania” dates back to Roman times: Ancient scientists, intrigued by the tuber’s curvaceous shape and underground birth, believed they were of magical origins and declared them aphrodisiacs.

In the Middle Ages, their scent was thought to evoke the ruffled sheets of a bordello, and monks were forbidden to eat them in case they would provoke indecent desires.  But truffles truly came into fashion under the hedonistic “Sun King” Louis XIV, who demanded they be served at the royal table in Versailles.

By the 19th century, with the rise of haute cuisine, French chefs were worshipping them as “diamonds of the kitchen.”  Demand soared, and the sight of truffle hunters traipsing across the countryside every fall and winter with their enormous waddling pigs became one of the most picturesque images of southern France.  Sows were the traditional beast of choice for hunters.  (Female hogs find the truffle’s scent very close to that of an aroused male and seek them out voraciously).  But pigs have the unfortunate habit of devouring the truffles they find, so in recent years dogs have been trained to sniff out and dig up the elusive fungi.

Sadly for gourmands, production has plunged in the last century due to deforestation and lack of manpower in rural areas; southern markets once exported 1000 tons of the tubers, but the amount is now closer to 50. Modern biotechnologists are coming up with new plans to cultivate the truffles in larger quantities, but true gourmands, it seems, will always hold the wild truffle supreme.

If you have a spare afternoon in Nice, take a taxi ride to the promontory of Cap Ferrat, France’s most exclusive playground for the rich and famous.  Its perfect beaches and steep hillsides are encrusted with fabulous “dream villas” built throughout the last century.

Most of these are private – but the two most historic properties, only 20 minutes walk apart, are open to the public and offer a glimpse into the storybook lives of millionaires past.

Read the rest of this entry »

Continuing our post from Friday, here are five more Nice, France gems just waiting to be discovered.

Cimiez
Old world meets new in this wealthy residential suburb north of town. Reminders of an ancient Roman past, including an intact amphitheatre and public baths, are juxtaposed with a vibrant modern art scene.

Molinard Perfume Factory
For an aromatic day trip, visit the fragrant town of Grasse and its famed perfume industry. Make your way to Molinard, where a keen sense of smell can help you concoct your own signature line.

Centre de Plongée Sous-Marine
The shimmering Mediterranean entices many visitors to take a closer look. Dive into the azure blue sea to discover underwater caves and view the magnificent blue gorgonians, which is actually a spindly red coral.

Rue de France
Exclusive clothiers. Sidewalk cafés. Trinkets and treasures alike. Give in to the impulse to spend an afternoon (or three) along this decadent pedestrian mall.

Monaco/Monte-Carlo
The glittering of this famous place is highly recommended.

We hope that these Nice must-see sights will help you get more vacation from your vacation and serve as a planning resource for your French Riviera vacation.

Packing your bags for a vacation in Nice, France, or are you dreaming about turning your travel dreams into reality?  Either way, when visiting the French Riviera, get off the beaten path and visit these French hot spots.

Neptune
This is arguably one of the finest private beaches found along the seaside walkway. Make sure to take advantage of the surplus of activities on offer. Everything from pedalo boats to jet skis to lazy lounge chairs.

Cours Saleya
Nice’s best-known market, this pedestrian district is attractively laid out, teeming with colorful stalls and lined with pleasant cafés and restaurants. No matter what time of day it is, there’s always something happening here.

L’Escalinada
Visit this delectable hideaway for simple home cooking along a back street of the cobbled Old Town. Snack on courgette flower beignets while choosing a handmade pasta. For a light lunch, try the hometown pride-salade Niçoise.

Mont Boron
Fabulous vistas of the Port of Nice and the Promenade des Anglais await at the top of Mont Boron, the home to several hillside celebrity villas. An easy walk along the downhill path back to the city adds a storybook ending to a sun-soaked day along the Côte d’Azur.

Check back on Tuesday next week as we continue providing you with local sites waiting to be discovered.

Everyone who has seen To Catch a Thief, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 classic, will recognize the Grand Corniche, that stunning coastal highway snaking along the cliffs above Nice to Monaco.  In the film, Cary Grant and Grace Kelly speed in sleek convertibles around its hairpin bends with the wind in their hair, confirming the Riviera’s new golden age of celebrity glamour in the post-war years.

For the Academy Award-winning actress Grace Kelly, the romance with the area would endure, with tragic consequences.  In 1955, she returned from the US to Cannes for the Film Festival and met the dashing Prince Rainier of Monaco; they married the next year in a fairytale ceremony broadcast around the world.  Kelly’s wedding dress was tailored by the famous Hollywood designer Helen Rose and took a dozen seamstresses six weeks to make; the 600 guests included film stars David Niven (a former beau), Gloria Swanson and Ava Gardner.  But in 1982, while driving the same stretch of the Grand Corniche that had been filmed with Hitchcock, the 52-year-old Kelly suffered a stroke, losing control of her car and plunging off an embankment with her daughter Stephanie.  By a miracle, the daughter survived, but Kelly died; her funeral was watched by 100 million people worldwide.

Today, it is difficult to imagine such dark thoughts while navigating the Grand Corniche, with its endless views over the sparkling Mediterranean.  But for anyone afraid of heights, there are convenient alternatives – the Moyenne Corniche and Corniche Inférieure, (Middle and Lower Corniches) – which provide the splendor without vertigo.

Read the rest of this entry »