This week’s blogger round-up starts with Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris, who takes us behind the scenes of French lingerie, Maggie LaCoste from Experience France by Bike shares her favourite cycling itineraries in France while Susan from Days on the Claise presents a portrait of Louis XIV, “The King of Bling” by Hyacinthe Rigaud in Chenonceau Castle. Enjoy!

“Behind the Seams of French Lingerie” with Paris Lingerie Tours

by Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris, an American by birth, Swiss by marriage, resident of Paris with a Navigo Pass for the metro that she feels compelled to use

Let’s start with a quick survey. Raise your hand if you think that lingerie is a rather silly subject, something that doesn’t merit your attention. Even though I’m ashamed to admit it, that’s exactly how I felt before the start of Kate Kemp-Griffin’s highly informative “Behind the Seams of French Lingerie” tour yesterday morning. When Kate, The Lingerie Journal’s Associate Editor for France,  asked why we had signed up for the two-hour tour, I quickly denied any personal interest in the subject by explaining that I was planning to write a blog post about lingerie. It was a misguided attempt to distance myself from what I incorrectly considered to be a frivolous topic. Read more.

Bicycling in France 2014: Itineraries to Consider

by Maggie LaCoste from Experience France by Bike, an American who loves biking anywhere in Europe, but especially France, which has the perfect combination of safe bike routes, great food, great weather and history.

I’ve had a really hard time narrowing down my favorite itineraries in France this year.  So many regions of France are improving existing bicycle paths and building new ones and great choices are springing up across the country.  This makes it really tough to narrow down possible choices to a manageable few.  At this rate, I could miss the whole summer bicycling season, mired in route research and conversations with local tourism officials!  It’s time to get the list out!  I’ve made a big pot of coffee, and am ready to make some decisions.  With the list complete, I can settle down to providing you with details on each of the itineraries, and why each of them would be a perfect choice for an upcoming bicycle trip to France.  Each choice will be featured in an upcoming post including:  top ten reasons to choose the itinerary, bicycle rental options, and best resources for trip planning. Read more.

The King of Bling

by Susan from Days on the Claise, an Australian living in the south of the Loire Valley, writing about restoring an old house and the area and its history and running Loire Valley Time Travel.

It doesn’t take much knowledge of history to guess correctly that this is a portrait of Louis XIV. The more is more frame gives it away even if you don’t recognise the man. It hangs in one of the salons at the chateau of Chenonceau and was originally a gift from Louis to his uncle Césare de Vendôme, once owner of the chateau. Like the rest of the objects at Chenonceau, it hasn’t always been here, but has been acquired by the current owners because of its significance to the chateau.The portrait is by Hyacinthe Rigaud, Louis’ court portraitist and painted about 1700. Like any of Rigaud’s portraits it is a magical mixture of completely accurate character representation and ideal ego boosting likeness. I don’t know how he did it. Couple that with his superb technique with luxury textiles, and any portrait by Rigaud is worth looking at, drooling at the silks and velvets and musing about what the artist thought of the sitter. However, I’d be willing to bet most people hardly give the portrait itself a second glance. It is totally overshadowed by the astonishing carved gilt frame, which was created for the painting. Read more. Read more.