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Category / Don’t Be A Tourist

A Pocket Guide to Conker Season in Paris

In the mood for something cozy for fall in Paris? Think quaint bee houses in the Luxembourg Gardens, or a stroll through Paris’ accidental gingerbread house street. Think “cottagecore”. Fun fact: 31% of France is actually covered by forests, and that percentage grows by 0.7% every year. So we humbly ask: is there a better…

5 Ways to Fake an Endless Summer in Paris

Summer is over. The angry clouds over Nôtre Dame make it look too sinister, Sunday strolls in Montmartre are more melancholy in dreary weather and the rain-soaked gravel in the Tuileries does no favours for your shoes. It’s not exactly the makings of a picture perfect Paris. But if like me, you’re a little stubborn…

The Not-So-Lost World of the Parisian Salon

Once upon a time, in a pre-smartphone world, people had to make their own entertainment. And so enters the salon, an Italian-influenced tradition of gathering of artists, writers, musicians, dancers, philosophers and intelligencia that flourished during a period known as the ‘age of conversation’. Dating back to the 17th century, guests would assemble in the…

The Undiscovered Rainbow Market of Madagascar

It was love at first sight when I first spotted them gently blowing in the ocean wind, the rainbow of colours and intricate textures changing as they played with the midday sun. As we floated through the village, a maze of kaleidoscopic alleyways created by walls of hanging embroidery, timid local girls peeped out curiously…

Trolling Nazis (and the world) with Forged Art

The accepted number of authenticated Vermeer paintings today is 34, but that number became mysteriously higher during World War II. Hermann Göring himself, a leader of the Nazi party and notorious art looter, traded 137 of his prized stolen paintings for a newly-discovered Vermeer, one of several 17th century works that had suddenly emerged in…

The Time Capsule Ghost Town waiting to be brought Back to Life

On the north coast of British Columbia in Canada, where the Alaskan border is closer than the nearest town, lies a mysterious hidden place, accessible only by a long arduous gravel road behind a locked gate. Ninety-four homes, two hundred apartments, a hospital, shopping mall, Town & Country restaurant, movie theatre, sports centre, a Royal…

Stepping back in Time to a Jazz Age Lawn Party

Can you imagine anything more delightful than sailing from Manhattan, and heading for an uninhabited island filled with the ghostly remnants of a deserted army base; and once there, to step back in time to an authentic lawn party from the Jazz Age ? To dress in white linens, sip exquisite cocktails, and dance the…

A Lesson in True Bohemianism with the Witch of Positano

Every so often, an original is born; timeless, defying genre and completely of themself. Vali Myers, artist, dancer, environmentalist, bohemian and muse, was as original as they come, inspiring writers, artists and musicians from the streets of a post Second World War Paris to her bohemian coven in the wild canyons above Positano. Forming friendships…

The Rise, Fall and Rise Again of Brooklyn’s Most Beautiful Restaurant

Brooklyn’s Fulton Street Mall is a treasure trove for the urban explorer. At first glance, the shopping precinct of some two hundred stores in downtown Brooklyn looks like it has seen better days. Low rent retail, cheap costume jewellery, mobile phone accessories, knock off perfume and factory outlets crowd sidewalks filled with street vendors. Many…

Revisiting a Podcast: “Americans in Paris”

If you’ve ever lived in Paris or had notions of living in or travelling to Paris, a twenty year-old podcast episode from This American Life is essential listening. For the program’s 25th anniversary, producers dug up the episode for rediscovery, and as the author of book called Don’t be a Tourist in Paris, the podcast…

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