David Hockney's iPaintings

You still have time to see “David Hockney: Fleurs Fraîches,” an exhibit of images (flowers, places and people) created by the British artist on his iPhone and iPad.  It's at the Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent in Paris until Jan 30th. With “Brushes” and other apps, Hockney used his thumbs and fingers to create full-color images directly on the device’s screen, modifying the hues and

Sweet!

Have you seen these new stamps yet? Aren't they great? They're .56€ each or 5.60€ for a sheet of ten and--wait for it--they're chocolate scented. If you're in France, you can get 'em at La Poste or you can order them here.

Summer Rentals: Swell or Hell?

Have you ever rented a summer house only to find out it was not as advertised? That it was, in fact, a horror? The Home section of The New York Times is doing a story about summer house rentals from hell. And the writer would love to hear from you. Email to: jowadl@nytimes.com and please include your phone number (with country code, as dialed from New York). Deadline is Monday, June 15th. Thanks!

Pâté or Dog Food? Most People Can’t Tell the Difference

Living in France, one gets ample chance to sample delicious things like pâté, foie gras, duck-liver mousse and terrine. So I was amused to see this article in the L.A. Times...

The Fight to Save Cezanne's Countryside

The family of Paul Cézanne is “horrified” to learn that the SNCF is thinking of building an ultra-fast train track at the foot of Mount Sainte-Victoire, which Cezanne painted 87 times and has come to symbolize his genius.

“I feel under attack,” Philippe Cézanne, the great grandson of the famous post-impressionist, told The Guardian in a story that appears today. “The soul of Cézanne is in these

In Memory of Marcel Guillot (1915-2009)

My next-door neighbor died yesterday, aged 94. After suffering a long time with bronchitis—he hadn’t left the house in three weeks—he finally agreed to go to the hospital; I can only imagine how hard his relatives pushed to make that happen. Fiercely independent, he’d lived happily on his own since his wife died many years ago. The couple had no children but Marcel had lots of attentive

Girl Scout

If you have a nice garden, patio, terrace or pool, Tricia Harris wants to know.

An Englishwoman living in Paradou since 2007, Tricia has a successful company that offers painting- and French class-holidays in Provence. And now she’s started a side business scouting locations for photo studios, ad agencies and magazines. “They’re not always looking for a ‘Homes and Gardens’ look,” she says, “but

Monkey Business

Today on CNN, I saw a restaurant in northern Tokyo that's using monkeys as servers. They’ve been a huge hit with customers and, as one patron puts it, “they’re better waiters than some really bad human ones.” Since animal rights laws allow the two monkeys to work just two hours a day, the owner is training three new baby monkeys to join the staff. Actually, monkey workers might be a perfect