by Anne Swardson | Apr 22, 2022 | Election, France
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.... 
by Anne Swardson | Apr 9, 2022 | France, Paris, Walking
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... 
by Anne Swardson | Mar 29, 2022 | covid, France, Paris
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,... 
by Anne Swardson | Mar 14, 2022 | Architecture, France, 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,... 
by Anne Swardson | Feb 28, 2022 | France, Holocaust, 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... 
by Anne Swardson | Feb 14, 2022 | France, Paris, War
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...