Hiding in Plain Sight
Originally published in Something Is Going to Happen, the blog of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. My short story, "Uncaged," will appear in the magazine next week. My husband and I have lived in three neighborhoods since we moved to Paris 26 years ago. Each time we...
The Magic Mountain
Like many Americans who are long-timers in France, I’m often asked what led me to choose a life overseas. There are many reasons. But the origin story begins on an Alpine peak in Switzerland. I spent my high-school junior year in Leysin, a village in the...
The French Language, Unmanned
The appointment of France’s new prime minister – or perhaps I should say prime ministress – has touched off a linguistic debate that many think should have been settled long ago. President Emmanuel Macron, who was elected to a second five-year term last month, last...
How I Took the High Road in Paris
There is something extraordinary about viewing a city from 30 feet above the ground. You are at once removed from the daily struggles on the street and yet eyeball-to-eyeball with residents of second-and-third story apartments. I was reminded of this during a recent...
Translating the French Presidential Election
France's presidential election has me reflecting on the French language. Over the past few months of campaigning, I’ve heard words I didn’t know but could learn, words I didn’t know that were hard to translate and words that even French people didn’t understand. When...
A Walk Made for Ewe
I’ve found the ideal walking companions to see Paris’s outskirts. They don’t need bathroom stops, don’t argue with your itinerary (unless they find a yummy clump of grass), don’t need to stop for lunch (as noted), don’t care if it rains and don’t have a language...
France Unmasked
I saw something startling in the grocery store the other day: A human face. It was a consequence of the government's recent decision to lift many COVID-19 restrictions. Most notable among them: the requirement that masks be worn in public indoor places, including...
My Search for the Ugliest Walk in Paris
The headline is a little misleading. Paris doesn’t have ugly walks. I had to turn to the near suburbs to find scenery that reflected my worry that the world is ending, democracy is dying and the pandemic will never be over. I’ve walked through funky neighborhoods,...
The Saddest Memorial in Paris
Second of two parts I’ve been thinking about war a lot lately. The war in Ukraine, of course. But also, what is it about war that turns people into savages, that makes them commit horrors they never would have dreamed of in real life? One Paris memorial raises that...
Sites of Remembrance We Do Not See
First of two parts I have never seen an empty space that was so moving. Six bronze figures in military uniform, five men and one woman, stand in two rows. They hold their hands as if they are carrying something between them, and it’s easy to see what: An invisible...