Cynthia D. Bertelsen's Blog, page 3

News Flash!

Cynthia D. Bertelsen’s Books Now Available on Kindle Unlimited!!! All of my books (see sidebar on this site) are now available on Kindle Unlimited, except for Mushroom: A Global History. Please visit my Amazon author page to check them out. Note: One thing, though. If your Kindle is not a Fire, you won’t be able … More News Flash!

Paris Under the Boots of the Nazis

Pondering À Paris Sous la Botte des Nazis (1944) The mailperson stuffed the book into my tiny mailbox with the same thrust they used for catalogs and flyers. It was so tightly embedded that I had to ask my husband to yank it out. How could they know what lay inside the flimsy paper envelope, … More Paris Under the Boots of the Nazis

Champagne and War: 1940-1945

In victory, you deserve Champagne; in defeat, you need it. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte, French military leader Champagne! The beverage of love. And of sorrow, too. I remember my first glass of champagne. In Paris, of course, at a small restaurant on the Left Bank, far from the hubbub of Place Saint Michel. And my first … More Champagne and War: 1940-1945

Liste Otto: Banning Books in WWII France

In appearance, it resembled a cheap mimeographed syllabus from a university course in the 1950s or 1960s. But it was anything but. In September 1940, close to six months after Adolf Hitler’s Wehrmacht troops marched in triumph through the Arch de Triomphe in Paris, German authorities drew up a list of books considered to be … More Liste Otto: Banning Books in WWII France

Julian/Julien Green’s “Paris”

Entering into a Dreamscape of Words Who? Julian Green. Or Julien Green, as he preferred to be called. An American, but not an American. Born in Paris in 1900 to American parents, he wrote sixty-five books, most in French, and spent the majority of his life in France. It’s no surprise I’ve stumbled across him … More Julian/Julien Green’s “Paris”

Auguste Escoffier and the Invention of the Restaurant Kitchen Brigade System

Not long ago, I read a book written by Julia Child’s great-nephew, Luke Barr. His Ritz and Escoffier: The Hotelier, the Chef, and the Rise of the Leisure Class revealed what happens when two geniuses meet. These two men probably did more to change the way high-class hotels and restaurants operated, and the impact is … More Auguste Escoffier and the Invention of the Restaurant Kitchen Brigade System

Les Bouquinistes of Paris: Booksellers Along the Seine

I’ve spent many happy hours strolling along the River Seine in Paris, browsing through the many book stalls (bouquinistes) dotting the parapet of the river. One of THE most emblematic symbols of Paris, aside from Notre Dame and croissants and the Eiffel Tower, the bouquinistes along the Left and Right banks of the River Seine … More Les Bouquinistes of Paris: Booksellers Along the Seine

The Dying of the French Concierge

Last Days of an Iconic French Cultural Figure This photo hangs on a wall in my kitchen. It sums up the stereotypical essence of traditional concierges of the past. I stayed once in a garret in Paris on the Île Saint-Louis for a month. Unlike the woman in Robert Doisneau’s iconic photo, the building’s concierge … More The Dying of the French Concierge

The Art of Writing History: A Satirical Approach

A Meditation on Éric Vuillard’s The Order of the Day The thing about history I love most is that we know how certain events came to an end. Or we think we know. Most of the time, that is. Living through historical events, on the other hand, presents challenges, often life-threatening, with the outcome never … More The Art of Writing History: A Satirical Approach

A Little Side Trip to the Dordogne/Périgord

Reading Martin Walker’s Bruno, Chief of Police Novels It’s interesting how synchronicity works. My current, long-term writing project involves France – actually Paris – during World War II. However, there’re are only so many words about that time I can take in at once. So when I discovered a series of novels set in the … More A Little Side Trip to the Dordogne/Périgord