by Anne Swardson | Dec 6, 2021 | France, Paris
“Let’s walk around the 13th arrondissement,” said my sister Christine. What a good idea! Even though I gravitate toward Paris’s funkier neighborhoods for my blog-reporting walks, this one was mostly unknown territory for me. But Christine had recently moved... 
by Anne Swardson | Oct 20, 2021 | food, France
I grew up in a country that had four seasons, and later lived in Canada, which locals say has two seasons: winter and construction. Neither of those experiences prepared me for France, which has seasons not just for weather but for produce, school vacations, sales,... 
by Anne Swardson | Oct 4, 2021 | France, Paris, Parisbiking
My sister, Dr. Christine Swardson Olver, is spending four months in Paris doing canine cancer research, her second spell as a scientist in France. She has already mastered the place, or at least the transportation part. By Christine Swardson Olver I decided to live... 
by Anne Swardson | Sep 20, 2021 | covid, France
I recently returned from the U.S., where the talk was of breakthrough infections, vaccine reluctance, rising cases and unmasked citizens coughing on the masked. It was a relief to get back to France, which, after some false starts, seems to have gotten the balance... 
by Anne Swardson | Sep 8, 2021 | food, France
We have a winner in the Locate-the-Paris-Rooftops contest! See below. * * * * * * * * * * “Have your butcher.” Those three words in a recipe used to bug me no end when I lived in the U.S. How could I have my butcher do anything when the meat came in a sterile plastic... 
by Anne Swardson | Aug 23, 2021 | Architecture, France
When things get you down, look up. Actually, you should always look up in Paris, where the rooftops reflect the beauty of the city. I started taking photos of roofs a few years ago, sharing some of them on Facebook. Ever since then, I’ve tried to really see what...