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Why the most famous bridge in Paris has been turned into a cave

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The Pont Neuf is arguably Paris’s most famous bridge. And now, it’s become a cave…at least for the time being. Many historians, tour guides, and Paris afficionados like to point out that while “Pont Neuf” means “New Bridge”, it’s actually the oldest still-standing bridge in the city. But maybe the name stuck because when it was new, it was unlike anything Parisians had seen before.   Built from 1578 to 1607, the Pont Neuf was the first stone bridge to cross the Seine that didn’t have houses built on it. Yes, that’s right: It used to be common for houses, typically with shops on their ground floors, to be constructed along the lengths of bridges. You can see an example in this 1751 painting by Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Raguenet. The Parisian bridge depicted here is the Pont Notre-Dame (which has been rebuilt since and is a houseless, fairly unremarkable bridge today). The Pont Notre-Dame in 1751. It was lined with houses, like all of the other bridges in Paris at the time…except for the...
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I made King Louis XV’s favorite hot chocolate recipe -- and you’ll never believe what’s in it!

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  Louis XV’s favorite hot chocolate recipe contains a surprising secret ingredient….   In honor of my new novel, Wolves and Brioches , I wanted to try to make one of the sweet treats mentioned in the book.   Unfortunately, I don’t have the skills to make an amazing brioche, nor can I cast the spell to conjure one, much to my son’s disappointment.   But hot chocolate was certainly do-able.   An everyday indulgence…for those who could afford it   In Wolves and Brioches , drinking a cup of hot chocolate is a daily ritual for Odette and her mother. This was actually the case for many French nobles and aristocrats of the time. Chocolate wouldn’t become affordable to the average person until the invention of the cacao press   by Coenraad Johannes van Houten in the late 1820’s, so in the 1760’s, when Wolves and Brioches  takes place, it was truly a luxury treat…and also a bit of an obsession among many of the people who could afford it. Famous 18 th ...
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