The Earful Tower (Newsletter)

As I think many of you know, we recently bought a house in the magical town of Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, the pearl of Provence. We got it around Christmas time after a VERY drawn-out administrative slog (who would have guessed!). Since then, we’ve been heading down as often as we can, soaking up the lavendar-scented sunshine and making this townho…

There’s something so intriguing about the domed rooftops in Paris. These cupolas began to appear on the Paris skyline during the 17th century and were largely found on churches or buildings linked to the republic. But it wasn’t long until the Parisians themselves wanted to replicate the style on their own homes to show off their prestige, wealth and faith.

Hi everyone, Our new book, Sophie in Paris, is officially out now. Today was the day that we dropped the last pre-ordered envelope in the mail, and sent the final box out to a bookshop. This project took way longer than the others for lots of boring reasons we won’t even get into, so we’re REALLY glad this wave has reached the shore. As long term listeners will know, hand-delivering our self-published children’s books around Paris is one of our greatest pleasures.

D is for Delon, Alain Delon. This week I’m sharing a my conversation with author Edward Chisholm, (who you might remember from the brilliant debut memoir A Waiter in Paris). This time, we chatted about his new book: Murder in Paris ‘68, which goes deep on the legendary French film icon Alain Delon. This book is all about the inner world Delon, whose life off camera included a world of gangsters, violence, and underworld Parisian conspiracies.

I was leading my walking tour this week when someone brought up the Comté catastrophe story as their all-time favourite Earful Tower podcast episode. And with so many new faces around here, and given we’re currently focusing on the letter C, I figured “C is for Cheese” is a great excuse to take another look at this particular episode. Here’s the story. It all started at a dinner party in Paris, where I witnessed an apparent cheese massacre. The victim? A delicious 18-month Comté slice. The culprit?

Before we begin, I was on top of the world to see that there were more Earful Tower podcast downloads last month, May 2026, than any month since October 2023! Welcome to all the new listeners and to all the new ones about to begin today :) We’ve been putting lots of effort into the pod lately, and I’m glad to see such great stats for this independent little show. Thank you! Now, on to the topic at hand.

Last week I released an updated podcast from a few years ago about the intriguing Bievre river. You can listen on Spotify here or iTunes here. And, as promised, here are some bonus member extras to dive way deeper into this waterway, including the members-only walk we did, and the video replay link of it, plus tips so you could follow the river’s path y…

Exploring the 18th kingdom of Paris with Sutanya Dacres. Most people who visit Paris find themselves in Montmartre at some point. But it’s only a small part of the 18th arrondissement, a district that was the focus of this week’s podcast episode. In today’s pod, you’ll hear from the wonderful Sutanya Dacres, the author and podcaster behind Dinner For One. She has called the 18th Kingdom home since 2013 and she truly loves it.

A chat with Sharon Santoni about shopping for antiques and other second hand goods in Paris and France. B is for Brocantes! We’re continuing my all new A to Z of Paris and France with the letter B, which stands for brocantes (rough translation: flea market).

Quick question: How many neighbourhoods are there in Paris? Quick answer: Who knows? And what’s a neighbourhood anyway? There are too many to break down, too many to name. You could argue that any small area with a school, a bakery, a bar, a cafe, and a park constitutes a neighbourhood, right? For the sake of administrative simplity, Paris city planners invented arrondissements (districts).