MONTEREY, California -- “So imagine this filled with tables and people, there’s mariachi music from the stage, the wine is flowing,” explained Michael D. Green, a park ranger and enthusiastic tour guide, waving his arm across the flower-filled Memory Garden in the courtyard behind California’s first Custom House.　Green is describing “La Merienda,” the annual Monterey History and Art Association event that re-creates a fiesta from the romantic pre-Gold Rush era, when California belonged to Mexico

Acclaimed French writer discusses evolving themes in Korean literature

More than a million people watched the behind-the-scenes footage of Korean actor Park Hae-jin’s appearance on a Chinese entertainment show, his publicist said Thursday.Park’s every word and gesture was broadcast live on the Chinese social media website Weibo in the run-up to the pre-recorded session of “Jing’s Talk Show” last Friday, HNS HQ said.The video racked up 1.34 million views as of Tuesday, with the episode to air on Chongqing TV on June 16. Park Hae-jin appears on Chinese entertainment

A variety of events that highlight Korean traditional and contemporary culture, ranging from traditional dance to K-pop, are taking place this month in France.　“K-Culture Week,” from June 1-7, was designated by the Korean and French governments. Its highlights include dance performances, exhibitions, food events and a literature event.  Dancers perform at the biennial French dance competition Danse Elargie. (2015-16 Korea-France Year)　It seeks to boost the ongoing two-year-long series of cultura

PARIS (AFP) - Intimate letters, personal photographs and rare manuscripts that once belonged to French writer Marcel Proust have sold at auction for 1.2 million euros ($1.3 million).The sale at Sotheby‘s in Paris on Tuesday far exceeded expert estimates for the collection of 520,000 to 740,000 euros. The trove of about 120 documents was sold by the writer’s 41-year-old great-grand-niece Patricia Mante-Proust and included a hand-corrected proof of one of Proust’s well-known works.The collection a

LONDON (AFP) -- The earliest dated handwritten document from Britain has been unearthed in the heart of London, archeologists announced Wednesday, among a trove of Roman writing tablets revealing the city’s commerce-driven beginnings.The wooden tablet, a notice of debt owed dated Jan. 8, 57 -- less than 14 years after the Roman invasion of 43 -- was found deep beneath what is now the City of London financial hub.The 405 tablets also contained the earliest surviving written reference to London.Th

NEW YORK (AP) -- At street carts and bodegas, diners and supermarkets, nowhere is the bagel more ubiquitous than New York City.So exactly what makes a New York City bagel good and, more importantly, where can an eager out-of-towner find the best?A few ideas:Black Seed BagelsThese 2-year-old entries are rolled by hand, boiled in honey water and baked in wood-fired ovens at three downtown Manhattan locations. They’re smaller and flatter than many of the humongous, puffy bagels around today. Black