“The Realm of the Impossible”
President Emmanuel Macron announced a new set of COVID restrictions last night that took aim at one of the most sacred French traditions: dinner hour. Macron imposed a curfew in Paris and other large cities from 9pm to 6am in an effort to reduce the soaring number of...
The Aesthetic French Bureaucrat
I just found a spark of joy from an unexpected source: a French civil servant. Not only is my native country a mess, France isn't filled with joy these days. Cases of COVID-19 are on the rise, about 12,000 a day on average. As a proportion of the population, that’s...
The Lost Weekend
How do you say mixed messages in French? On the one hand, the government here, desperately concerned about a record surge in COVID-19 cases, is telling older people to, in the words of the health minister, “protect yourselves even more.” Parisians should “rethink...
Une Rentrée à la COVID
The autumn return to school and work in France is famously known as “La Rentrée,” when vacations are over and real life resumes. Stores fill with school supplies, bookstores with newly published works and the Assemblée Nationale with politicians finding new ways to...
Madame, Your Papers Please
Thomas Jefferson is teaching me about French bureaucracy. In a few days I will attempt to fly back to France from the U.S. When I left, I had every expectation of an easy return, immigration-wise, even during this time of pandemic border restrictions. French citizens,...
Going the Distance
Dedicated to Christopher Dickey, who embraced every journey. “You’re going THERE?” This was a common response among our Europe-resident friends when we told them we intended to travel to the U.S. this summer. Why would we go to the country that was handling COVID-19...
Driving in Circles
One silver lining of the pandemic in France: Driving around the Place de l’Etoile is not nearly as scary as it used to be. This is even though France has almost entirely reopened, as of this month. Stores and restaurants are open, as is the Louvre down at the other...
Who Is the Real Étranger?
In late 2005, I was invited to be a panelist on an evening news show called Mots Croisés. The topic was the riots across France in the low-income, predominantly Muslim ethnic suburbs that surrounded big cities. There were about 10 participants, representing every...
The Saddest Street in Paris
By Anne Swardson Not so long ago, rue de Caumartin throbbed with activity noon and night. Its narrow sidewalks in the heart of Paris were jammed with office workers and tourists at lunchtime and patrons of three nearby performance venues at night. Fully 15 restaurants...
To Bise or Not to Bise?
By Anne Swardson When I came to Paris on a school-scouting trip before moving here, the outgoing Washington Post correspondent, a rather large American man, welcomed me with a two-cheek kiss. My reaction was, yuck. But, like him and like many foreigners who have lived...