La Vie Creative

Send us Fan Mail Barb-Nicol Ponsardin, shaped by Champagne, would become the woman and label we know as Veuve Clicquot. Born before the French Revolution to wealthy parents, she would marry the son of her father's business partner, Francois Clicquot in 1798. It would be the start of the Clicqout house, that would grow from very small and humble beginnings to the world renowned label all due t...

Send us Fan Mail A New Yorker who fell hard  for an Italian in Paris. She would later launch her handbags made locally in France. The hand-printed canvas bags were inspired by her world travels. She also provides fashion tours in the city of light introducing travelers to local designers. My guest today is Kasia Dietz https://www.kasiadietz.com/ Support the show 🎨 Join my 2026 Tour of Christmas i...

Send us Fan Mail Gertrude Stein was the woman behind many of the greatest writers and artists in Paris of the 1920’s and the famous catch phrase, the “Lost Generation”.  Growing up in a wealthy family, the incredible intelligent woman was well educated, appreciated art and amassed a collection that any museum would envy.  While her time in Paris is engraved on the life of the expatriates and many...

Send us Fan Mail New York Times bestselling author Craig Carlson first came to France as an exchange student in 1985 and instantly fell in love with the country. He never could have imagined that some thirty-five years later he’d be the owner of two American diners in Paris and be nicknamed “Le Pancake Kid” by the French. With a background in journalism, Craig studied cinema at the prestigious USC...

Send us Fan Mail Catherine de’ Medicis was the other Florentine queen that would also leave her mark on France. Catherine and Marie de’ Medicis are often mixed up and we hope we can help you tell the two apart like a pro in no time. The mother of three kings and two kings and the wife of Henri II would finally wield her power after the early death of King Henri II. What happens next is the tale of...

Send us Fan Mail Lindsey Tramuta, an American who has lived in Paris for a decade, writes the award-winning blog Lost in Cheeseland, and contributes to the New York Times, Afar Magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, and Bon Appétit, where she writes extensively on Paris and French culture. Today we chat about her creative process in writing and about her new book "The New Parisienne: the Women &...

Send us Fan Mail Berthe Morisot, one of the few women of the Impressionist Movement, with her dark locks and stunning gaze, was the perfect model for Édouard Manet.  However, she would become an artist in her own right stepping behind the canvas to create paintings that showed everyday family life, forging her own path among  the male dominated Impressionists     Born on January 14, 1841 to a weal...

Send us Fan Mail Sharon Santoni has gained millions of readers through her blog where she shares with people what it means to live a French country life. Her blog has grown into tours, a podcast, books, magazine, delivered gifts and much more!  We chat about how France brought so much creativity into her life and inspired her to create a thriving business after her children grown into adulthood. W...

Send us Fan Mail Once upon a time there were two Florentine queens that left their mark on Paris. In the newest La Vie Creative - Paris History Avec A Hemingway episode we talk all about one of them, Marie de Medicis from her childhood in Florence to her life in exile.  She was born on April 26 , 1575 to Francois I de Medicis and Joan of Austria in the Pitti Palace in Florence. Joan of Austria wou...

Send us Fan Mail Suzuki Violin with Camilla started playing the violin at age three with Elizabeth Mills, one of the very first Suzuki teachers in the United States, and was chosen to help demonstrate the Suzuki method to other interested teachers, with the help of Dr. Suzuki and his assistants. Later, about the age of 9, she went on to study with Sybil Maxwell in Los Angeles for many years and ea...

Send us Fan Mail Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, the woman that is known by only her first name and her reputation as the life of the party.  Like many of the ladies we talk about each week on La Vie Creative - Paris History Avec A Hemingway there was much more to her than just the image that remains.  Zelda was born in Montgomery Alabama on January 24, 1900, the youngest child of Minnie and Anthony who s...

Send us Fan Mail Cynthia is the owner of the company Delectabulles, which specializes in supporting women in the male-dominated wine industry by: only using champagnes made by women   telling the stories about the women behind the bottles   giving more women the tools and confidence they need to buy sparkling wines from around the world Canadian born, Cynthia has called Paris home for more than 25...

Send us Fan Mail Julia McWIlliams Child, the woman who brought French cooking to America, fell in love with France as generations have fallen in love with her. Born on August 15, 1912 in Pasadena into a wealthy family that had very very tall children. Julia would attend Smith College and due to her 6” 2 ‘ frame she was perfect for the basketball team but would also play golf, tennis and even act....

Send us Fan Mail Elaine Biss is a professional fashion event illustrator . She specializes in live fashion illustrations, sketching for the fashion, beauty and accessories industry in the New York, Washington D.C. and New Jersey. Elaine has been commissioned to create book illustrations, social media content, expressive calligraphy and live accessory customization that cater to the female buyer. S...

Send us Fan Mail New podcast out today! French author Colette has been a household name in France for more than a hundred years.  Her father's old friend Henri Gauther-Villars “Willy” would stop by their home in Burgundy and return many times to visit the young Colette. Fourteen years older, he would take her to visit Paris showing her the theater, parties and the glitz and glamour of the cit...

Send us Fan Mail Dreama is a self-taught artist and writer who started an online art business (a little to her own surprise!) a decade ago. With a collective following of over 60,000 painters, thousands of students have taken her online courses and participate in her groups. She is the creator of 4 online courses and is working to grow and expand a community of supportive and talented artists with...

Send us Fan Mail Long before she was a Hemingway, Hadley Richardson was a smart, quiet and talented young lady. The youngest of five children, her mother had been a singer and musician and would pass the gift onto Hadley as a pianist. Due to financial difficulties her father killed himself when she was just twelve years old leaving her with her very overprotective mother.   Hadley enrolled in Bryn...

Send us Fan Mail Janice MacLeod is best known as a Paris artist and writer. She is the artist behind the Paris Letters subscription service and author of a memoir, also called Paris Letters. Before her life in Paris, she was a copywriter and creative director for top advertising agencies in Toronto and Los Angeles. When she saw burn out on the horizon, she devised an escape plan from corporate lif...

Send us Fan Mail If there is one woman that deserves a monument, parade and her face on a euro it is Rose Valland. She isn’t a name that is widely known and if I can do just one little thing in this life it is for others to know her story.  Rose Valland was born in 1898 in the Auvergne region, an only child that showed promise from a very early age. Her mother would apply for special grants that a...

Send us Fan Mail Audrey Chapuis is a Harvard graduate and has worked in libraries for close to twenty years. As a Texas native she had an obsession with books and all things French from a very early age. She is now the Director of the American Library in Paris and also enjoys many creative passions including painting. We chat about how creativity changed her life and some of her favorite creative...

Send us Fan Mail Her love life after Boy was one horrible decision after another. In 1922 she met the Duke of Westminster Hugh Richard Grosenor or Bender. He was a huge anti-semite that gave her jewels and even a home in London. Their relationship lasted ten years. Then there was Paul Irbe, another anti-semite who started an ultra right wing newsletter against Jews and foreigners in France. Coco p...

Send us Fan Mail Sculptor and painter Véronique Anne Chabrolle, a.k.a VeroDalla, was born in Burgundy, France. Her life centered around success in the world of gastronomy until an encounter with a poppy flower changed her existence forever. The poppy called VeroDalla to pursue art. Her experience returning from the brink of death, during childhood, heavily influenced her artistic practice and miss...

Send us Fan Mail Out today, another story of one of the amazing women in French history. Victorine Meurent was born in Paris on February 18. 1844 and from an early age she was drawn to art. In 1862 Edouard Manet walked into Thomas Couture’s studio and met a young girl. On this one day, Victorine-Louis Meurent was in Couture’s studio when Manet arrived. She was just 16, with red hair and nicknamed...

Send us Fan Mail Formally living in London, Janine Marsh decided to take a weekend trip to France to buy some wine, which turned into her buying a farm instead. She started a website to share her adventures called, The Good Life France which has now grown to be one of the biggest travel websites in the world. She has also written several books about her French journey! Listen to her crazy story he...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to this week's episode of Paris History Avec a Hemingway. I chat once more with Claudine Hemingway about a Female French Creative from history. Today we learn all about Dalida. I like to compare Dalida to Cher in America. Lolanda “Dalida”  Gigliotti was born in Egypt to Italian parents in 1933.  The young beauty would be named Miss Egypt in 1954 and a few months...