Celebrity Travel: Go Away With Anka Muhlstein
Born in Paris, New York-based author Anka Muhlstein has written biographies of James Mayer de Rothschild, Robert Chevalier de la Salle and Queen Victoria. Winner of the Academie Francaise and the Goncourt Prize for Biography, she and her husband, Louis Begley, co-authored "Venice for Lovers." In her latest book -- "The Pen and the Brush: How Passion for Art Shaped Nineteenth-Century French Novels" (Other Press, $18.95) -- Muhlstein take readers into the world of an elite artistic community that included Proust, Cezanne and Balzac.
Q. What are your memories of leaving France?
A. My first trip was running away from France ahead of the German invasion. I don't remember much about the trip through Spain and Portugal and the long zigzag crossing of the Atlantic, but I do remember the feeling of safety when I landed in New York.
Q. What is your favorite vacation destination?
A. The East End of Long Island. Take a long walk on the beach. The roads are packed with crawling cars and the beaches are gloriously free of crowds. The trails in the woods are long, lovely and provide unexpected and delightful encounters with fawns, deer and wild orchids.
Q. Have you traveled to a place that stood out so much that you felt compelled to incorporate it into your work?
A. Yes, Canada and more particularly the region around Quebec and the great lakes. I was taken by the immensity of the land, the scarcity of the population and began thinking of the first Europeans who explored the area. This led me to write a biography of La Salle who walked down -- he sometimes did hop in a canoe -- from Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico and back! Quebec City is a dream city for historians: French Canadians are very meticulous about keeping their archives in good order and one can often follow the whole history of a 17th-century house.
Q. Where are your favorite weekend getaways?
A. I would rather roam and discover the beauties of Central Park -- though never on parade days -- than head to the airport. We just got a French bulldog. One of the many consequences of this happy development is that we spend a lot of time walking in the Ramble, a bird paradise. I never cease to marvel at the design of the park. The Ramble reminds me of Venice. You lose your way all the time and always end up in Piazza San Marco. Same thing in the Ramble. The lake and the lovely Bow Bridge are never far.
Q. Where is the most romantic destination?
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