A few weeks back, I wrote about how Nancy and I found our first rental apartment in Paris, a saga that involved frequent repetition of the phrase “We were so lucky!” I called that article “The Luck of the Draw, … Read More
The leak in my toilet reminded me of my old stereo system. Back in the days before digital technology became compact and ubiquitous, when you had to be home to get your phone calls, friends were people you had actually … Read More
The City of Light has long been associated with a light-handed attitude toward morality. By some accounts, Parisians are a bunch of hormone-addled sex maniacs who see something suggestive everywhere they turn. And, judging from the material I collected for … Read More
I overheard the most extraordinary conversation the other day while sitting behind a young couple on a bus. To pick a sample sentence more or less at random, at one point the woman said: “We need to go to the … Read More
Let’s see… Costume? Check. Instrument? Check. Props? Check. Ability to count to four? Hey, you can’t have everything! In Paris, good street musicians are like free, legal parking places: you know they’re out there, but on the reality scale … Read More
After Paris, Provence is probably the most famous part of France, known for its stunning landscapes, its quaint villages, its fragrant plants, its chirpy cicadas and its year. By the latter I refer, of course, to a certain blockbuster book … Read More
Yes, it stinks. On the opposite sides of both the Seine and the curatorial value spectrum from the Louvre is the Musée des Egouts de Paris – the Paris Sewer Museum. The display space is part of the city’s actual … Read More
Behind That Face Lies A Veritable Database She’s not only more fun to look at than I am, she’s also, according to one set of criteria, smarter. Photo of Flora Coquerel, Miss France 2014, by Georges Biard. Readers, I have … Read More
At Least They Still Speak French Here… This stately edifice on the Left Bank of the Seine is the HQ of the Académie Française. If you listen closely on a quiet day, you can hear the ghost of Balzac groaning, … Read More
One Nation Under… Oh My Gawd! Illustration by Charles Giai-Gischia. Visit his blog, Traits-Drôles, for a larger version and more drawings First, a shameful confession: one of my favorite online news sources is the e-version of a French tabloid newspaper. … Read More
