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France

Gustave Eiffel at the Eiffel Tower in 1889

A Dizzying Spiral Staircase With a Single Guardrail Once Led to the Top of the Eiffel Tower. Now, You Can Buy 14 of the Original Steps

The 1,062 steps connecting the tower’s second and third levels were installed in 1889. Fragments from the 137-year-old staircase can be found at several French museums

“Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art” is showing at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

This Fashion Designer Collaborated With Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau to Imagine Fabulous Surrealist Ensembles

A new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum lays out the history and legacy of the House of Schiaparelli, focusing on its founder’s unique creative processes

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America's 250th Anniversary

The Spirited Revolutionary Who Led the Fight for Independence in Corsica Also Inspired America’s Colonial Rabble-Rousers

Pasquale Paoli was a “small fish fighting an entire empire.” Four thousand miles away, the founding fathers were watching and taking notes

The archaeologist Jean Charles Loriquet created a copy of the mosaic.

New Research

Is This 1,800-Year-Old Mosaic the First Known Image of a Woman Fighting Wild Beasts in an Ancient Roman Arena?

The artwork was destroyed during World War I. But an archaeologist’s sketch may reveal a female figure wielding a whip and facing off against a leopard, a new study suggests

A 1931 statue of the d'Artagnan in southwestern France

Cool Finds

Does This Skeleton Found Beneath a Dutch Church Belong to D’Artagnan, the Man Who Inspired ‘The Three Musketeers’?

Workers discovered the skeleton during recent repair work at the church in Maastricht. D’Artagnan died during the siege of the city in 1673

Pinot noir grapes in Verzenay, France

New Research

Scientists Say This 600-Year-Old Grape Seed Is ‘Genetically Identical’ to Modern Varieties Used to Make Pinot Noir

Researchers analyzed grape seeds dating to between 2300 B.C.E. and 1500 C.E., including one particularly intriguing sample found in the toilet of a medieval hospital in France

Archaeologists have discovered at least five seated burials in Dijon, France.

Archaeologists Are Mystified by These 2,000-Year-Old Bodies Found Seated Upright and Facing West in France

Researchers previously discovered 13 sets of human remains buried in a similar manner at the same grave site in Dijon

This chrysoprase snuffbox belonged to Frederick II of Prussia.

These Historic Snuffboxes Associated With 18th-Century Monarchs Were Stolen in a Shocking Heist. Now, They’re Back on Public Display

In 2024, thieves made away with the intricately decorated boxes, which had been on display in Paris. Two of the boxes, which were later recovered, are now on view at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London

The frieze takes inspiration from the Bayeux Tapestry, an 11th-century artwork depicting of the Norman conquest of England.

David Hockney Used an iPad to Create This Sprawling 295-Foot-Long Frieze Inspired by the 11th-Century Bayeux Tapestry

The artwork, which depicts the changing seasons in Normandy, is the centerpiece of “A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts About Painting,” a new exhibition in London

Font-de-Gaume's artworks were discovered by a teacher in a nearby village in September 1901.

New Research

These Mesmerizing Cave Paintings Were Discovered in 1901. Now, Archaeologists Finally Know When Some of Them Were Created

Researchers had long assumed the art inside Font-de-Gaume in France was made with pigments that couldn’t be analyzed using radiocarbon dating. Then they discovered traces of charcoal

An equestrian portrait of General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, father of the novelist Alexandre Dumas

Based on a True Story

The Real Count of Monte Cristo Was Alexandre Dumas’s Father, a Trailblazing Black General

Ahead of the March 22 premiere of a new TV adaptation, learn about the life of Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the French Army officer who inspired the beloved novel

Prayers partially cover diagrams from On the Sphere and the Cylinder, a treatise written by Archimedes.

Cool Finds

Historians Say They’ve Discovered a Long-Lost Page From the Archimedes Palimpsest, a Treasure Trove of Rare Ancient Mathematical Treatises

Three leaves had been missing for more than a century. Researchers found one of them when they decided on a whim to check the archives of a French museum

Swimmable Cities is a global alliance of local government officials, experts and advocates working to make urban waterways clean enough to swim in.

Would You Jump Into Your Local River? Swimmable Cities May Be Within Reach as Once-Polluted Waterways Are Restored

Efforts to improve the “swimmability” of urban areas are gaining global traction, from Paris to Chicago

Caitríona Balfe as Claire Fraser (left) and Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser (right) in season one of "Outlander"

Based on a True Story

The Final Season of ‘Outlander’ Is Here. See the Most Iconic Kilts, Gowns and Other Costumes From the Time Travel Drama

An exhibition at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown showcases 26 ensembles from the Starz series’ first four seasons

The Musée de la Vie Romantique has reopened in Paris after a lengthy renovation.

Museum Devoted to the Romantic Movement Reopens in Paris After Extensive Renovations

The Musée de la Vie Romantique, where the Dutch-French painter Ary Scheffer once lived, opened its doors on Valentine’s Day

Seascape at Port-en-Bessin, Normandy, Georges Seurat, 1888

Georges Seurat Is Most Famous for His Pointillist Painting of a Paris Park. But More Than Half of His Canvases Were Stunning Seascapes

More than two dozen artworks depicting the northern coast of France are now on display at the Courtauld Gallery in London. It’s the first-ever exhibition dedicated to the French artist’s seascapes

Prosecutors allege the scheme has been going on for a decade.

Investigators Unravel $12 Million Ticket-Fraud Scheme at the Louvre

Police have arrested nine individuals in connection with the crime, though they have not revealed their identities

Vincent van Gogh's Wheatfield With a Reaper (1889) is one of more than 50 artworks and objects on view in an exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Vincent van Gogh Adored the Color Yellow. A New Exhibition in Amsterdam Wants You to Fall In Love With the Hue, Too

The Dutch artist’s paintings showcase plants, landscapes, objects and buildings in bold shades of yellow

Pastis is an anise-flavored aperitif that was invented in 1932 in Marseille, France.

Coastal Cities of Europe

Get a Taste of Coastal Europe Through These Seven Spirits

From aquavit to pastis, these libations have notes of flavor and history

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There's More to That

The Tragedy of the Alps’ Disappearing Glaciers for Those Who Live, Visit and Ski There

Warming temperatures are wreaking havoc at elevation, upending the Winter Olympics and the tourism industry and imperiling communities

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