The Tarot Garden of Niki de Saint-Phalle

Posted on February 12, 2025 by Keith Van Sickle

Niki de Saint-Phalle was a French-American artist who was ahead of her time. She was a performance artist before it was a thing, created perfumes with her own branding before others copied her, had a personal style so confident that Gloria Steinem called her “the first free woman I’ve ever seen,” and was a remarkable artist.

Her masterpiece is the Tarot Garden in southern Tuscany, where she created huge, colorful sculptures of the 22 major arcana of the tarot. It was inspired by Gaudi’s fantastical Parc Guell in Barcelona, and having seen both I have to say that Saint-Phalle has surpassed the master.

The Tarot Garden is spread over 14 acres and each sculpture is stunning. They are so intricate that it took Saint-Phalle over two decades to create them all, and one is so big that she lived inside it while she worked!

To learn more about Niki de Saint-Phalle and her art, and to see beautiful photos of the Tarot Garden, check out this article in Frenchly!

Living Between Two Worlds

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Keith Van Sickle

Florence Melin is a French woman who has lived in the United States for half her life, and also visits France every year. We met through a mutual friend and had a very interesting conversation, as I’m a little bit the opposite of her: an American who lives part-time in France.

I really appreciated Florence’s thoughts on how the US compares to France. She is able to see the good points of each country, along with the occasional frustrations. I could relate when she said there are some things you can never really understand about your new country, like events from childhood and are part of the collective cultural memory.

You can read about how Florence sees the two countries in My French Life!

The Great Women of France, Part 3

Posted on April 10, 2024 by Keith Van Sickle

Who are the great women of France? There are so many, it is hard to list them all! But let’s start with 15 who have played important roles in the history of la belle France.

There is so much to say that I’ve divided my list into three different articles, each discussing five women. This third article covers the 20th century.

Some of the women you are probably familiar with, like the great Marie Curie, winner of not one but two Nobel Prizes. But how about Nadia Boulanger, who taught some of the century’s greatest composers? Or Simone Veil, the Holocaust survivor who became one of France’s most important political figures? And did you know that Coco Chanel, the brilliant couturière, was also a Nazi collaborator?

Read all about these and other great women of France in My French Life!

The Great Women of France, Part 2

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Keith Van Sickle

Who are the great women of France? There are so many, it is hard to list them all! But let’s start with 15 who have played important roles in the history of la belle France.

There is so much to say that I’ve divided my list into three different articles, each discussing five women. This second article covers the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.

Some of the women you are probably familiar with, like the author George Sand. But did you know that the mathematician Emilie de Chatelet not only corrected some of Isaac Newton’s theories, but also developed an early form of financial derivatives? Or that Berthe Morisot was considered one of the finest of the Impressionist painters? And how about the salonnières, the women who ran the famous salons of the Enlightenment, sometimes called “the cradle of the French Revolution”?

Read all about these and other great women of France in My French Life!

12 Influential French Women to Know

Posted on January 17, 2024 by Keith Van Sickle

France was behind many countries in granting women the right to vote, doing so only in 1944, but a lot of progress has been made since then. Today French women hold top roles in politics and business: the prime minister and the mayor of Paris are women, as are the heads of some of the most important companies and financial institutions. Women are leading lights in the worlds of art and entertainment and are some of the country’s greatest chefs.

Would you like to meet a few? I’ve written about a dozen of them, all immensely talented. And soon I’ll share a series of articles about some of the greatest women in French history, from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Madame Curie, and many more.

Read all about 12 of today’s most influential French women in France Today!

Dominique Crenn, Rebel Chef

Posted on September 23, 2020 by Keith Van Sickle

Dominique Crenn is one of the world’s greatest chefs, and her flagship restaurant in San Francisco has been awarded three Michelin stars. Known for her creative cuisine, Crenn has recently published her autobiography Rebel Chef: In Search of What Matters. It’s a fascinating look at a fascinating person.

Crenn’s has been an unusual journey, and she is not your usual chef. As an infant she was adopted by a couple in Brittany, her father a Resistance hero and a friend of Charles de Gaulle. Despite being raised by a traditional French family, Crenn never quite fit into the conservative France of the 1960s. One reason was her looks—part of her heritage is North African. Plus she was a tomboy with a crush on Olivia Newton-John. And then there was the matter of cooking. Crenn longed to be a great chef, and why not? “But the top restaurants are for men!” she was told. “Women cook at home.”

Read all about this rebel chef in France Today!

A Small-Group, Women-Only Wine & Food Tour in the South of France

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Keith Van Sickle

I know I’m biased, but I think the South of France is the most beautiful place in the world. And springtime is the best time to visit—it’s warm and sunny and the markets are full of succulent fruits and vegetables.

If you have always dreamed of visiting this lovely area, here’s an idea for you. A friend of mine, Sarah Covey, is organizing a small-group, women-only wine and food tour that starts on June 1. Sarah is a wine professional, a food lover, a French speaker, and a thoroughly delightful person—you can’t help but like her!

There are a few spots left on Sarah’s next trip, so maybe it’s time to make your dream come true! If you’d like to learn more, here’s her website: Vibrant Travelers.

Bon voyage!

The Four Queens of Provence

Posted on January 30, 2019 by Keith Van Sickle

There have been many famous families in history. Take the Curies, for example: Marie Curie won two Nobel Prizes and her husband, daughter and grandson each won one. Quite the talented family! And then there are the Wright brothers and the Brontë sisters. And let’s not forget those comic masters, the Marx brothers.

But imagine a family where not one, not two, but four sisters become queens, each heading a great European power. It’s hard to believe, but it actually happened in the 13th century! It’s a tale of Pride and Prejudice meets Game of Thrones…

Read the whole story at The Good Life France!

The Immortal Women of France

Posted on September 26, 2018 by Keith Van Sickle

For too long, French institutions have been boys’ clubs. The august Académie française, for example, was founded in 1635 but only elected its first woman member in 1980!

But things are slowly starting to change and now 9 women have been named members of the Académie, or “Immortals.” Let’s meet them.

Read the rest of the article at My French Life.

One Tough Lady

Posted on August 8, 2018 by Keith Van Sickle

She was the most powerful woman in 16th-century Europe, ruling France for nearly 20 years. She brought haute cuisine to the country, created the Tuileries Garden in Paris, and was responsible for one of the bloodiest massacres in French history. People thought she was a sorceress who murdered her enemies. Her name is Catherine de Medici and she was one tough lady.

Read her fascinating story at Frenchly.

Life in Provence

Keith Van Sickle

Tag Archives: Women