Nick Hammond
Troyes
Treasures of Troyes Inside the Troyes cathedral. If you are considering a day or two away from Paris, Troyes is the ideal town to visit, only an hour and a half away by train and full of pleasant surprises. In … Read More
L’Heure Zéro
Overbaked Christie
Take an Agatha Christie novel, transport it to an old-fashioned house on the Brittany coast in the 21st century, throw in a few actresses who have even more famous parents (Laura Smet, daughter of Johnny Hallyday and Nathalie Baye, and … Read More
Un Secret
Don't Mention theWar
French filmmakers seem to remain as obsessed as ever with the German occupation of France during World War II. As one French friend of mine remarked recently, from the number of films about the subject, you would think that the … Read More
Vélib’
Bicycles Built for Two? Is the the Vélib’ dating service just around the corner? Photo © Paris Update Something extraordinary happened in Paris this summer. Normally surly Parisians were smiling at each other in the street. Some were even doing … Read More
La Vie Privée
Unknowable Fragments
One of the magical things about Paris is that you can step into the only cinema where a new French film is showing and discover a gem. I remember a few years ago a film, directed by Olivier Jahan, called … Read More
Almost French
Better Than a Guidebook
Sarah Turnbull’s book Almost French has reportedly been flying off bookstore shelves in the United States. Some readers might well have been reading the book in the hope of finding some appropriate frog-bashing in the aftermath of the Iraq war, … Read More