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C’est Ironique!

Formality in France: Standing Really Hard on a Whole Lot of Ceremony

Formality in France: Standing Really Hard on a Whole Lot of Ceremony

Ah, the Trappings of Power!

May 3, 2017 | By David Jaggard | C'est Ironique!

Among people of other nationalities, the French are often perceived as being overly formal, the kind of stuffy prigs who speak in florid prose and keep their pinkies up even under anesthesia. Today I would like to set the record … Read More

French-Bashing and Data-Mashing: Battle of the Weather Bureaus

French-Bashing and Data-Mashing: Battle of the Weather Bureaus

Is This the New Cold War?

April 19, 2017 | By David Jaggard | C'est Ironique!

The first thing I do when I get up in the morning, after converting to a new religion so I can pray to a different god not to let France follow the United States and Britain down a political rabbit … Read More

The French Mindset: Out of Sight, Out of Existence

The French Mindset: Out of Sight, Out of Existence

Nothing to See Here, Folks

April 5, 2017 | By David Jaggard | C'est Ironique!

The first time I heard about the now-commonplace airport restrictions for carry-on liquids, I was already standing, beltless and shoeless, in front of a security agent at Orly. Nancy and I were flying to Spain for a short trip with … Read More

Weird English Shop Signs Part 20: Another Paris Cringe Binge

All Under One Roof!

March 22, 2017 | By David Jaggard | C'est Ironique!

It was Samuel Johnson who said, in an essay on future U.S. presidents: “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” If he were alive today, he would probably say, “Uhdv fnn glsh szzz frrs fffffj oooh mrrst.” Because, hey, … Read More

Politics in France and the U.S. – Is Not (Entirely) What This Article’s About

What Do They Have in Common?

March 8, 2017 | By David Jaggard | C'est Ironique!

With the arrival of a new administration in the United States and a presidential election looming here in France, it’s difficult not to be thinking about politics. But somehow I manage. Lately I’ve been thinking instead about planned, or just … Read More

The Story Behind the Strangeness: Explaining the Inexplicable in France (and Wherever), Part Six

A Real-Life Cinderella Story!

February 22, 2017 | By David Jaggard | C'est Ironique!

In the past few days, readers from all over the world, or my frontal lobe, have been writing in to ask, “David, have you seen anything strange in Paris recently?” To which I can only answer, “Should Adair buzz in … Read More

The Good Old Days in Paris — Or Were They?

It Depends on What the Definition of “Good” Is

February 15, 2017 | By David Jaggard | C'est Ironique!

My wife Nancy used to be close friends with an American woman who had lived in Paris in the late 1940s and early ’50s. One day they were talking about what the city was like back then, and the older … Read More

French Wine Tasting: How to Be (or Sound Like) a Wine Expert (or Snob)

Lesson 1: Left, Good. Right, Bad.

February 8, 2017 | By David Jaggard | C'est Ironique!

For my most recent birthday, a friend gave me a bottle of a Pauillac grand cru classé from 1986. If you don’t have a friend like that, you should get one. It’s not the kind of wine that I drink … Read More

French Bashing Again: The Wolf Is at the Porte (de Clignancourt)!

Stroll for Your Lives

January 25, 2017 | By David Jaggard | C'est Ironique!

As though we didn’t have enough problems in Paris already, what with facing a cold snap, eyeing a presidential election in May and stomaching a surge in the rat population,  now we have wolves roaming the streets. Or at least … Read More

Weird English Shop Signs Part 18, Special Guest City: Rome

The Good, the Bad and the Incomprehensible

January 11, 2017 | By David Jaggard | C'est Ironique!

I hate to say it, but if Paris and Rome were pitted against each other in an all-out, go-for-the-jugular cultural history smackdown, Rome would win. It’s true that Paris has the Louvre,  the Musée d’Orsay, Notre Dame, 1.5 godzillion other … Read More

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