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August 12, 2014
On 12th August in the year 1530, the anti-Medici rebels surrendered the Italian city of Florence to the Imperial army of Emperor Charles V and to the Medici pope, Clement VII. Little Catherine de Medici, who would later become Queen of France, was finally free.
The ong...
June 5, 2014
On the 7th of June, 1520 in a green valley called the Val Dore not far from English Calais, two great kings galloped across a grassy meadow and embraced as brothers.
Vast and elaborate tented camps had been set up close by outside Ardres in France and Guines which was...
May 22, 2014
On this day in 1526 King Francois I of France formed the ‘Holy’ League of Cognac with Pope Clement VII, and the Italian powers Milan, Florence, Genoa and Venice. While the stated purpose of the League was as a Christian bastion against the might of the Turkish Ottoman...
March 27, 2014
We’ve all seen a cavalcade of black SVU’s escorted by police riding steeds of steel through our streets and known that tucked inside is a political leader or more likely a celebrity or sports star. They shield themselves from the crazy realities of fandom and protestor...
February 11, 2014
Jeu de Paume was the precursor to tennis and was such a craze in the 16th century that every royal palace had at least one court and sometimes both an indoor and outdoor court. A few examples remain to this day at Fontainebleau Palace and across the channel at Hampton...
January 12, 2014
Some 24 hours after taking off in Melbourne on a Qantas jet I have touched down across the other side of the world in New York for the Digital Book World Conference and Expo. Wheeled at my side is a crammed suitcase including all my essentials and something swish to w...
December 23, 2013
As Christmas carols blast at shoppers in swarming shopping centres and every conceivable surface is draped in tinsel and baubles I thought I would take a moment in between humming my jingle bells and fa la la la las to visit the French renaissance court during the mer...
December 16, 2013
The festive season is upon us – lots of feasting, music (albeit tinny Christmas carols) and celebration. All that’s missing is the odd grand ball or two. In the court of Renaissance France very little excuse was required to throw an elaborate ball – and who wouldn’t...
October 26, 2013
By the heated glow of a bonfire, serenaded by a triangulation of owls and a chorus of frogs, my husband poured me a glass of a wine he had carefully cellared for 33 years. It was sublime and like all good wines, had a story to tell.
The Taltarni Cabernet Sauvignon 1980...
September 15, 2013
It's charming - a walk through the forest from the train station, through the iron gates of the walls that surround the grounds and you have arrived at Chateau Ecouen, France's National Museum of the Renaissance.
August 12, 2014
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