Eleanor Beardsley

France Sells Presidential Wines To Update Palace Wine Cellar

Eleanor Beardsley — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 09:21:00 +0000

Prized Burgundies and Bordeaux once served at the presidential palace in France were sold for the first time ever as the wine cellar at Elysee Palace gets an overhaul.

Some 1,200 bottles, or 10 percent of the palace wines, went on sale this week at the famous Drouot auction house in downtown Paris.

Let Them Eat Grass: Paris Employs Sheep As Eco-Mowers

Eleanor Beardsley — Mon, 27 May 2013 18:10:00 +0000

City officials in Paris are experimenting with an unconventional way to keep urban lawns trimmed.

Agnes Masson used to be simply the director of the Paris city archives. Now, she's also a shepherdess of sorts, responsible for four black sheep munching the lush grass surrounding the gray archives building at the eastern edge of the city.

Masson says the ewes are efficient and easy to care for.

"We don't have to do anything — just look after them to see if the four of them are always together," Masson says.

France Pays Tribute To First U.S. Fighter Pilots

Eleanor Beardsley — Mon, 27 May 2013 16:47:00 +0000

Every Memorial Day weekend, a ceremony takes place just outside Paris to honor a group of Americans who fought in France. They're not D-Day veterans, but a little known group of pilots who fought for France in World War I, before the U.S.

War Of Words: France Debates Teaching Courses In English

Eleanor Beardsley — Sat, 25 May 2013 09:55:00 +0000

Will teaching in English at France's universities undermine the French language? That's up for debate in the country now, and the argument is heated.

The lower house of parliament approved a measure Thursday that would allow courses to be taught in English, something that is currently against the law.

Those in favor of the proposal say it will attract more international students and improve English language skills of French students.

An Ancient Religious Pilgrimage That Now Draws The Secular

Eleanor Beardsley — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:28:00 +0000

A 1,200-year old European pilgrimage route is experiencing a revival. Last year alone, some 200,000 followed in the footsteps of their medieval forebears on the Way of St. James, making their way some 750 miles from Paris across France to the Spanish coastal city of Santiago de Compostela, and the relics of the eponymous apostle.

But now, what was once a strictly religious affair has become a cultural and social phenomenon that attracts the nonreligious as well.