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There are always a few women in history that are remembered for shaking things up a bit. Olympe de Gouges is definitely one of them and she did it back in the 18th century. 

Born May 7, 1748 in Montauban, Marie-Olympe Mouisset wasn’t sure who her father was. At 17 in 1765 she married Louis-Yves Aubrey de Gourges. The next year son Pierre was born and just two years after their marriage her husband was swept away in a flood. 

In 1770 she moved to Paris with her sister and became the belle of the Paris Salons. Jacques Biétrix de Rozières who was a director of a military transport company who wanted to marry the lovely Olympe but she knew she had more freedom as a writer as a widow than married. 

Olympe began to speak up through her words and on the stage. Creating her own theater company of women that would perform her plays. Her first play was Zamore et Mirza. The story of slavery in the colonies that never took the stage. It was 1784 and the Comedie Francaise received death threats and the controversial play would have to wait but would still send her to the Bastille. 

One play after another spoke out against women’s rights and those that couldn’t and would all lead her to her biggest accomplishment. As the Revolution neared she supported the monarchy until the day Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette tried to escape. She had hoped MA would support the rights of women including the freedom of speech, voting and running for office. The Rights of Men was published in August of 1789 and two years later Olympe would publish her own version.

On September 14, 1791 the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen was made public. The 17 articles were reimagined and many were the same as the mens, just changing the gender. 

Of course this didn’t sit well with Robespiere and had her arrested on July 20, 1793. She was charged five days later with “writing works contrary to the wants and needs of the people”.  A trial followed in October, but the end was laid out long before. On November 4, 1793 she walked the scaffolding to her death by guillotine. She would live on as a symbol for centuries as the woman that stood up for so many and laid the path for equality.

Claudine Hemingway
Bleu, Blonde, Rouge 

Author & historian

Podcast La Vie Creative, Paris History Avec a Hemingway 

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Grace is the co-founder of INSPIRELLE, a website, and association that inspires, connects, and empowers an international community of women who live in France or share a love for all things French. Formerly a communications and marketing executive for major multinationals in Asia, she is now an independent communications and events consultant based in Paris. Originally from Chicago, she journeyed to Hong Kong to discover her Chinese family roots and Asia — to then meet her French husband. She has been living in Paris with her husband and two kids since 2009. 

Senior Editor of INSPIRELLE, Elizabeth Brahy is a native of Los Angeles. She worked in film and television for many years before moving to Paris and becoming a freelance writer and editor. An art lover and pop culture nerd, she can most often be found visiting museums, listening to comedy podcasts and watching genre series (but not at the same time). Elizabeth is the Regional Advisor of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators-France and is currently at work on a middle-grade mystery. Follow her on twitter at @expat_eliz

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In the second episode on the life of Sainte Genevieve we look at how she is remembered. When you visit the many churches of France you will find small marble plaques in many of the chapels. The Ex-votos are messages of appreciation to a certain saint or to Christ. These can also come in other forms as well. 

There are many dedicated to Sainte Genevieve all over Paris in statues, art and even a grand piece of architecture.  After her relics were used to save the city and country, members of the government and royalty thought it was a smart PR move to align themselves with Sainte Genevieve.  

The largest ex-voto was as a result of a promise made by Louis XV. On August 17, 1744. At war with Austria, Louis XV fell deathly ill in the city of Metz. He said a prayer that if he survived he would have a church built and dedicated to Sainte Genevieve. He survived and kept his promise, but it took ten years before the funds were requested and another ten before anything began.  

She didn’t stay there long and it was changed to the temple dedicated to the great men of France. However, you can find her inside on the walls where four artists told the beloved saint's life on the vast walls. 

Depicted in paintings going back to the 16th century she is hung on the walls of museums and churches and her statue guard the edge of the city and in many chapels across Paris. 

More info and photos: https://www.claudinehemingway.com/paris-history-avec-a-hemingway-podcast-1
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Maureen O'Donoghue is a 24-year-old Franco-Irish singer and musician. Born in Paris in a musical family to an Irish father and French mother, she has been involved in various artistic projects including rock bands (Hobe, Silène and Black Alice), acting (music videos as well as a punk drummer in Microbe et Gasoil, Michel Gondry, 2014), and guest singing on a progressive jazz album, focusing more on her Irish heritage over the last few months with new folk duo Saelkie Folk and regular performances at the Paris Hootenanny with a flute player and guitarist Michel Sikiotakis. She has also participated in the production of the upcoming TG4 documentary on Irish composer Sean O Riada. Maureen recently completed a Master's degree in Cultural Management and Trilingual communication at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris, where she currently lives.

https://www.facebook.com/saelkiefolk/

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Today, January 3 on the 1,510th anniversary of the death of Sainte Genevieve we begin a special two part episode of the life of the Patron Saint of Paris. 

She stands on the banks of the Seine guarding the edge of Paris. Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, was born in the year 434 in Nanterre, west of Paris. At the age of 7 she was blessed by St Germain, bishop of Auxerre, and from then on she dedicated her life to God Following the death of her parents a young Geneviève  moved to Paris to live with her godmother, Lutetia.  

As a child she was visited in visions by angels and saints and her family and village thought she was crazy. Saint Germain l’Auxerrois was always a supporter spreading the word that she was a child of God to be listened to.  Marcellus, Bishop of Paris appointed her to care and look after the welfare of virgins, but it would be her future deed that gives her place as the patron saint of Paris .  In 451, Atilla the Hun and his army were on their way to Paris to take the city. 

The young Geneviève gathered the frightened Parisians together to pray. Atilla's Huns changed their plans and headed to Orleans, saving Paris. In 464 she would do it again, this time during Childeric’s siege of Paris. She took a boat to Brie and Troyes numerous times, buying grain and returning to Paris and through his blockade to feed the starving people.  

Genevive died on  January 3, 512 and was buried alongside King Clovis and his wife Queen Clotilde.

More info and photos: https://www.claudinehemingway.com/paris-history-avec-a-hemingway-podcast-1
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I came to France years ago after completing a B.A. in French to study at a 200-year-old French business school. My business career centered around corporate and private banking in Paris.

I love many things in French culture: food, artisan-made products, and history.

My interest in food was developed by observing French home cooks and taking weekend and evening classes at the Ritz Hotel's cooking school in Paris.

Since 2015, I'm an amateur judge of French artisan-made food products for France's National Agricultural Fair. I'm also married to a Frenchman

I started a blog 3 years ago to encourage readers who are bored with take-out and processed food to up-level their home-cooking by using tips I've learned in France. I try to communicate to readers the French approach to food: that if you use great ingredients, you don't have to do much with them to have a healthy meal, full of good flavors.

Nancy Conway

Gourmet Food Expert

French Food Blogger

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Paris itself is a living museum. Filled with over 150 museums and the streets that ooze with history and architecture spanning centuries. Before we had my beloved Musée du Louvre we had the churches that filled their walls with art from some of the biggest artists of the time. The Louvre opened in 1793 and over three hundred years before Notre Dame de Paris opened its doors. 

Art of the past was very different then it is now. Today it is just as much about the artist itself sometimes selling for millions of dollars just because of their  name. Centuries ago the only way for an artist to be seen was in the churches and the Salons. For this we are very lucky and you can see some of the greatest French painters for free by just popping into a few of the churches in Paris. 

In the newest episode of Paris History Avec a Hemingway on La Vie Creative podcast we talk about many of the ones you should search out when you arrive. You can discover the painter of Louis XIV Charles Le Brun in Saint Nicolas du Chardonnet where he was also laid to rest. The designer of Vaux le Vicomte was appointed by the king to bring the vision of Versailles to life as well as the Galerie d’Apollon in the Louvre where you can find another master. 

Eugene Delacroix was the leader of the Romantic movement and believed the best way for an artist to be remembered was to hang large scale pieces in public spaces. In 1824 Delacroix was commissioned to create a painting for Saint Paul Saint Louis. On the left of the transept above the door is Delacroix’s Le Christ au Jardin des Olivers shows why he is the master of Romanticism. 

A short walk away in the Saint-Denys-du-Saint-Sacrement church is Delacroix’s take on the familiar scene of La Pietà depicting the body of Christ in the arms of the Virgin after he is pulled down from the cross, was painted directly onto the wall of the Saint Genevieve chapel. 

Of course his greatest work was inside the Eglise Saint Sulpice that he created in those last years of his life. 

Listen to the newest episode to hear all about these paintings and more. 

More info and photos: https://www.claudinehemingway.com/paris-history-avec-a-hemingway-podcast-1

Support Claudine on Patreon and get more of Paris and all her stories and benefits like discounts on her tours, custom history and exclusive content  https://www.patreon.com/bleublonderouge

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I’ve been cooking since I was a little girl, influenced by my Indian mother who was pretty much always in the kitchen. I was raised on a predominantly vegetarian diet which is normal in Indian culture. While we did eat meat and dairy, they didn’t play the starring roles in meals and my mother was very strict about eating an array of fresh vegetables. She was the queen of substituting, always trying to make classic dishes healthier. She laid a solid foundation for me so that when I was college, while working a full-time job and doing an internship, I’d still come home late and cook. 

Born into an international family with an American father and an Indian mother, my childhood was divided between India and various states in the U.S. At 29 years old, I’ve continued to chronically move, have lived in 5 different countries and have never lived in any one place longer than two years. 

But there is one place I’m deeply enchanted with. I first visited France the summer after I graduated from high school and like so many, immediately fell in love. I’d always been a dreamer and loved poetry, art, books, and style but I’d never been somewhere where those things were so truly celebrated as Paris. I felt a belonging in France that I’d never experienced. I had signed up to take German courses in university but immediately switched to French when I returned home. I would go on to study abroad in Lyon and graduated with a major in Global Studies and a minor in French.

Like many college kids, I worked an array of odd jobs through-out university and took a corporate marketing job immediately after graduating. I was extremely unhappy and decided to look for online freelance work that would allow me to travel. It was then that I started teaching English online, an opportunity that allowed me to spend a winter living in a small village in France. After a few years of teaching online while globetrotting, I had my daughter. My husband and I knew we needed more stability but didn’t want to give up our international life, so I took a physical teaching job in China. Our “stability” lasted only six months before the pandemic hit and we were forced to leave our lives in China and return home to the United States. That was exactly a year ago and we’ve been in a sort of limbo since.

During the lockdowns, to distract myself from the upheaval of our lives, I picked up a stack of French cookbooks from the library and started playing with recreating the recipes into vegan versions. We had adopted a vegan diet after my husband got a bad bout of food poisoning from meat and requested that we only eat vegan food for a month. However, we felt so good and enjoyed vegan cooking so much that we decided to adopt the plant-based lifestyle. But we did miss French food, something that we had cooked often as Francophiles. Through my lockdown project, I got to combine my passions for French culture and plant-based cooking. It was and is an adventure in a largely unexplored territory, one that allows endless creativity and opportunities to learn. I decided to start sharing my creations on Instagram through which I’ve plugged into a lovely, inspiring world of creatives and Francophiles. 

I’ve been creating vegan, French-inspired recipes for a year and am amazed at what I’ve learned in that time. While I’ve never worked so hard at anything in my life, I’ve also never felt more inspired or content. I can’t fathom ever stopping and can only feel great excitement about how much I could learn and do in this niche over a lifetime. I’ve dreamt of permanently moving to France since my first visit, a dream my husband shares with me. While we work towards a life in France, I challenge myself to daily to learn, grow and create.

Learn more here:
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my cookbook: https://www.amazon.com/

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One hundred years ago today, on 20 December 1921, the newlywed Hemingway’s arrived in Paris. After almost two weeks on the  S.S. Leopoldina that left New York on December 8th the two finally arrived in the City of Light. Relying on Hadley and her eight years of French, the two found their way through day to day life. Friend and author Sherwood Anderson armed Hem with letters of introduction to other American expats and even made them a reservation at the Hotel Jacob et d’Angleterre on the Rue Jacob in Saint Germain-des-Près. 
Filled with fellow Americans, the hotel fittingly sits on the same spot that Benjamin Franklin and John Adams worked on the Treaty of Paris in 1783 that would end the American Revolution. When Ernest and Hadley stayed it was just 12 francs a day and in a bit of disrepair. Holes in the staircase carpet that Hem would call “traps for drunk guests”, but the price was right. Today the staircase and the inner garden is still the same, although they have changed the carpet.  
On those cold days of December the two would walk the streets of St Germain “arm through arm, peering into courts and stopping in front of little shop windows”. Dining almost nightly at the nearby Le Près aux Clercs on the corner of Rue Bonaparte and Rue Jacob, just steps from their hotel. They could get a fantastic meal for just 12 francs and dine like royalty.. 
Those next few months and years are the most documented of his life. The countless books change the facts or add in a bit of their own point of view. Listen to the newest episode of Paris History Avec a Hemingway on La Vie Creative Podcast to hear about these early days when everything was “poor and happy”. 

More info and photos: https://www.claudinehemingway.com/paris-history-avec-a-hemingway-podcast-1
Support Claudine on Patreon and get more of Paris and all her stories and benefits like discounts on her tours, custom history and exclusive content  https://www.patreon.com/bleublonderouge
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Author & historian

Podcast La Vie Creative, Paris History Avec a Hemingway 

Hemingway tours of Paris

ClaudineHemingway.com

IG @claudinebleublonderouge

FB @bleublonderouge 

La VIe Creative - Paris History Avec a Hemingway podcast.

New Every Monday 

And find my live from Paris videos and more at my YouTube channel 

Live From Paris Every Sunday, filled with the history of the places, buildings and the people that came before us.  

Support the show

🎨 Join my 2026 Tour of Christmas in France 

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I graduated from Yale University in 2018 as a double major in History and French and will soon be attending law school in the US. I have a deep personal connection to France and have spent a long time living in both Aix-en-Provence and Paris, studying abroad and later working at a Parisian law firm. I am in love with the French language and culture and also feel very attached to the people, owing to all the wonderful relationships I have cultivated during my time there. 

I started Art & Style with the objective of sharing my passion for the art, fashion, and food scene in Paris. Art & Style is a nouveau concept that integrates the best of magazines, blogs, and PR into a single platform. I publish long-form content like articles and profiles on my website and use Instagram to promote up-and-coming artists, brands, restaurants, influencers, and other Parisian creatives in a bite-sized format. When I am not reporting on the creative wonders of Paris for Art & Style, I work as a freelance writer for fashion, art, food, and lifestyle publications. 

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