by Anne Swardson | May 19, 2021 | covid, France
It was the most-awaited day in France since the pandemic began: Restaurants and cafés could finally open. Closed by government decree since Oct. 26, eating and watering and caffeinating places had survived only by offering takeout, and by a dose of government aid. For... 
by Anne Swardson | May 10, 2021 | covid, France
I made my third circuit around Paris the other day. The first, a few years ago, was on foot, over 16 weekend days. The second, just after the second COVID lockdown ended last fall, was by bike. This trip was on the Paris tram system, which encircles almost all of the... 
by Anne Swardson | Apr 26, 2021 | covid, France
Much of what’s good about America can be found at the grocery store. Like many long-term residents abroad, Charlie and I experience reverse culture shock when we go back to the U.S. We marvel at the width of the highways and their broad medians as we drive away from... 
by Anne Swardson | Apr 12, 2021 | covid, France
Until the pandemic, I never associated the word “hope” with the word “construction.” But my wanderings around Paris show that people are investing money and time in businesses that are not even allowed to operate now. It’s a sign they... 
by Anne Swardson | Mar 29, 2021 | covid, France
Paris’s riverside booksellers have had to be tough to make it through the 500+ years they’ve been in business. Kings censored or outlawed them multiple times and wars shut them down. They’ve always come back to set up their green-metal stalls along the Seine. The... 
by Anne Swardson | Mar 16, 2021 | covid, France
Originally published in The American Scholar On the evening of March 6, 2020, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, went to the theater. They saw a performance of Par le Bout du Nez, By the Tip of the Nose, about a French president who has an itch...