by Anne Swardson | Mar 30, 2025 | Art, France, Metro, Paris
You can see so many wonderful things in Paris, from theater to film to dance to foreign countries. Without even going aboveground. I was struck recently how the posters in the Métro are so much more varied and inviting than they used to be. In just one trip I was... 
by Anne Swardson | Mar 15, 2025 | Architecture, History, Virginia
Most of my walking in cemeteries has been at Père Lachaise and Montparnasse, where the headstones and mausoleums honor people such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Edith Piaf. But I’ve found a very unusual cemetery in my other home town. In this one, the graves are unmarked.... 
by Anne Swardson | Feb 1, 2025 | Italian, Italy, Naples, Travel
My current Italian teacher is a 38-year-old police inspector in Naples. He’s got deep green eyes, dresses beautifully and always nabs the perpetrator. Wealthy, aristocratic women throw themselves at him, and not just because he’s also a baron. Under his guidance, my... 
by Anne Swardson | Jan 9, 2025 | Canada, Quebec, Trump
Dear Mr. President-Elect: Once you invade Panama and buy Greenland, it seems clear from your statements that you will turn to annexing Canada. You might want to think twice. Canada has everything you hate: Universal health care. The public-private system is going... 
by Anne Swardson | Dec 22, 2024 | Christmas, France, Paris
I’ve written a lot about the joys of shopping in France’s open-air markets, where you can get the freshest meat and produce. The Internet is filled with recommendations for the best markets in Paris. We just enjoyed one in a small town during a recent visit to our...