Bringing France Back

A good read in preparation for traveling to France is the recently published book, The Greater Journey: Americans in France by David McCullough.  The notable author writes of the influence that French culture had on leading American lights during the 18th century, including such individuals as Samuel Morse and Mark Twain and Oliver Wendell Holmes.  A story on NPR’s Weekend Edition tells us how Morse tried to bring back France to an American audience by painting the best holdings of the Louvre, on a single canvas.