There's a new girl in town. ‘Albertine,’ a bookshop, has opened at the French Embassy onFifth Avenue. The brainchild of the French Cultural Counselor, Antonin Baudry--himself the author of "Weapons of Mass Diplomacy"--the shop will carry both English and French books, thereby filling a gap left by the closing of the Librairie de France at Rockefeller Center in 2009, when they found they could no longer afford the escalating rent. Of course, by opening within the French Embassy, 'Albertine', who always was a clever girl, has side-stepped that issue.And it;s in my neighborhood. I walk over, passing one of the Embassy's neighbors on East 79th Street. Don'y you love the entrance-- the doorsand the cascading flowers?

Books & ArticlesBarbara DonskyOctober 12, 2014A Philosophy of Walking, Albertine, Antonin Baudry, Cultural Events, Festival Albertine, Frederic Gros, French Embassy NYC, French writers, Literature, Toqueville Comments

Midnight in New York, Morning in Paris

Somewhere around midnight in New York, as I'm watching "Midnight in Paris" on my iPad, it occurs to me that Woody Allen’s Paris and mine are mirror images on one another. That both of us are besotted with Paris! And mad about the historic monuments and magnificent squares -- the Eiffel Tower, the Arch of Triumph, the Place de la Concord -- that add so much to the beauty of the city. Indeed, would Paris be Paris without them? At that point, I climb out of bed to compare my photographs with the fleeting images in the film. Starting with that of the Eiffel Tower.

Paris WalksBarbara DonskyAugust 17, 2014Eiffel Tower, Finding Paris in New York, French writers, Grand Vefour, monuments, Notre Dame, Paris- Midnight in Paris, Seine Comments