Is compost about birth or is it about death? This is just one of the questions I have been pondering as I try to adapt to the American way of compost. In Paris, composting your food waste has recently gotten very easy. You put it in a little brown container, walk to...
Thank you, Chris O’Brien, for this lovely tale from French Crossroads. The big news in France this week was that I found eggs with white shells. Living abroad means constantly trying to find the right balance between embracing a new culture and holding tight to the...
During our years in Paris, I’ve always downplayed France’s frequent strike and demonstrations, especially when I’m asked whether people should cancel their planned trips. No, I say. That’s still true this time around, even though masses of French people are...
It’s getting warm in Paris, after a winter that seemed grayer and colder than usual (with apologies to those experiencing blizzards, flash floods and the like in the U.S.). I love walking around the parks and seeing preparations for the blooming season. Every...
There is a genre of French film that rarely crosses the Atlantic but is very popular here. The theme: the hell of the workplace and the nightmare of layoffs. I count at least 15 movies on that topic in the past few decades, most featuring laid-off employees fighting...
A beggar, looked at realistically, is simply a businessman, getting his living, like other businessmen, in the way that comes to hand. He has not, more than most modern people, sold his honour; he has merely made the mistake of choosing a trade at which it is...
