Rudy Maxa?

Can't find the aria.

Yes, it is Rudy Maxa.

The opera is one word, 9 letters.

Probably Questo a Quella in Rigoletto by Verdi?

Which travel show is this?

I don't think that I want to give another clue. I want to get some sleep tonight.

Yes. It's the theme music for Rudy Maxa's show - Smart Travels.

http://www.smarttravels.tv/SmartTrav...eral/music.htm

I guess grandmere can give us the next clue. This is way past my bedtime.

This (nationality, 6 letters) pop musician (6, 9) grew up in the capital in a very artistic community. He has had a tumultuous career spanning several decades and has worked in many countries with famous artists from the genre. His father, also a musician, worked with the very famous (5,4), a national icon in their home country.

"P" is the first letter of the musician's last name and also the first letter of the national icon's last name.

Uh, I guess I broke the rules; there is no "P" in the preceding answer. Oh, well. . .

Edith Piaf is the icon with whom the father worked.

I figured that Edith Piaf part out a long time ago. But I still have no clue who the musician is.

As you can probably guess, I'm a classical music guy.

Looks as though nobody else is even playing the game, so will give the answer: Michel Polnareff.
On to you.

Now the onus is on me to come up with a clue?

Ok. I'll give an easy one. Well I guess it's easy now that I know about it.

(English) woman (first = 4, last = 6) with a French luxury handbag from the (6 letters) brand named after her. Said woman is famous for the sexually suggestive songs she sang with her (French) husband in the 1960s-1970s.

To make it even easier, a famous American talkshow host got the French luxury brand in trouble recently.

3rd letter from luxury brand is "r," from Polnareff.

Jane Birkin, Hermes "Birkin" bag

Yes. Back to you, grandmere (just as I intended ).

Let's see if we can get someone else interested; in fact, he/she can take a turn.

ttt -- anyone?

Can we play this again, or still? I'd forgotten about it for weeks.

I guess grandmere is supposed to give a clue, but I don't think that she'd mind if you take a turn and give a clue. (I'll put say Basilicata. )

Fortunately these days my access to Fodor's is more limited, but I'll play if I can.

A lake that has been in the news in North America for several months was named after this French bureaucrat. (There was also an early North American settlement named after him in a French colony.)

First name: 5 letters (ends with the "s" from James)

Surname: 10 letters (second is the "h" from Hermes)

Generally known as ----- ----------, Comte de __________. (The last word is also the name of the lake. Second to last letter is an "i" from Birkin)

Is this Lake Champlain? But I can't figure out the rest of the clue.

Wrong lake. When you guess the lake, you'll be able to find the person.