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Tag Archives: french history

French History – Le Manureva Posted by on Nov 21, 2017

Thirty-nine years ago, the French sailor Alain Colas and his boat, le Manureva, disappeared off the Azores (a group of North Atlantic islands about 850 miles west of the coast of Portugal) while particpating in the Route du Rhum. The tale has inspired many, including the French composer Alain Chamfort and the singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg…

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The monarchy is dead Posted by on Sep 26, 2017

Long live the nobility! One thing I’ve always found funny about France is that a country that so dramatically tried to eliminate all traces of the monarchy* (and ultimately did) would still have a fascination for – and many examples of – a noble class of landed aristocracy lying around. I came across two more…

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Did You Know? The French in North America Posted by on Sep 25, 2017

Did you know that there are 10.4 million Americans who can trace their history back to France or to French Canada? While it is generally known that French-American relations were very friendly during the Revolutionary Period (indeed, France’s centuries-long tension with Britain provoked a military relationship between the fledgling United States and France that directly…

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5 Facts about the Bastille Posted by on Jul 17, 2017

As you probably know, la fête nationale, or the French national holiday, is celebrated every July 14. As Tim explains in his Bastille day post, this celebration is held (partly) in commemoration of the storming of the Bastille in 1789, an event that is often noted to have begun the French Revolution. But Bastille Day…

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Marianne Posted by on Jul 4, 2017

Le 14 juillet (July 14th), Bastille Day, is the French national holiday commemorating the start of the French revolution in 1789. The end of the French revolution led to a series of Republics (more below) one of the symbols of which is la Marianne.   Named for the two most common woman’s names at the…

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French in Philadelphia Posted by on Dec 28, 2016

My family and I took an impromptu trip to Philadelphia for the holidays. It’s a wonderful city and, compared to New York, where I’m from, it’s much more manageable and low key, particularly for families. We took my son to the Franklin Institute, where he was dazzled by a robotics exhibition, and then to Drexler…

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French Legend: Fontainebleau from Henry II to Henry IV Posted by on May 23, 2013

Tel père, tel fils (as father, as son), says the popular adage. We previously saw how the father, in this case François Ier (or Francis I in English), was le responsable numéro 1 of introducing la Renaissance to France, by inviting the likes of Rosso Fiorentino and le Primatice to his court. There, the Italian masters…

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