In this edition, we take you to discover the High Plains of Vercors in south-eastern France. In winter, this area is devoid of permanent human dwellings – only animals roam the mountains. It’s an immaculate but hostile landscape spread over 170 km² that forest warden Brice Palhec knows well. He takes us behind the scenes of this wild world, the largest nature reserve in mainland France.
Preview: The New Yorker Magazine – January 17
Walking Tours: Saint-Germain-des-Prés In Paris
Saint-Germain-des-Prés is one of the four administrative quarters of the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France, located around the church of the former Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
News Analysis: Putin’s Russia, Performative Work, Soccer’s Elite
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, how to talk to Mr Putin, the rise of performative work (9:45) and the lingering effects of covid-19 on elite footballers (15:00).
Front Page View: Wall Street Journal – January 10
Exhibitions: 19th Century European & American Art At The Denver Art Museum
The department of European and American Art Before 1900 oversees a collection that includes more than 3,000 artworks and is composed of painting, sculpture, and works on paper, with significant strengths in early Italian Renaissance, 19th century French painting, and British art from 1400 to 1900.
The Denver Art Museum began acquiring notable examples of European art as early as the 1930s, with donations from Samuel H. Kress, Mr. and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim, and the Havemeyers, to name a few. Their generosity helped initiate a collection that grew in time through gifts and purchases.
Tours: English Writer Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Combe Florey House’ In Somerset
In the depths of Somerset, near the Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Exmoor National Park, you’ll find Combe Florey House.

It’s a regal 18th century Elizabethan manor house, composed of red ashlar sandstone (in the style of renowned architect James Gibbs) that has some of the most spectacular views over the surrounding luscious green countryside we’ve come across.
A manor house has been on the site for many centuries, but the previous building was destroyed in the Civil War, and the present 17th century house was extensively remodelled by William Frauncies in 1730. The property was sold to the Perring family in 1799 and sold again in 1896 to the Batchelor family before being purchased by the writer Evelyn Waugh as his family home in 1956.
Idaho Views: Wood Ducks On The Snake River (Video)
“Sunday Morning” takes us among some wood ducks in Lewiston, Idaho, by the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers. Videographer: Hank Heusinkveld.
