by Anne Swardson | Apr 14, 2024 | France, Paris
I’d been thinking about my friend Joel Stratte-McClure ever since I heard that some swimming events of the Paris Olympics will be held in the Seine. A river that, right now, contains “alarming levels of bacteriological pollution,” a nonprofit foundation said last... 
by Anne Swardson | Mar 17, 2024 | France, French, Paris
Reprinted with permission from The Washington Post. See below for a response from the grown-up Louise. October 5, 1997 PARIS — Less than a month into the French equivalent of second grade, my daughter has met the enemy and it is a fountain pen. Wrestling with... 
by Chris O'Brien | Oct 31, 2023 | France, French, Paris
When preparing for my French citizenship interview, I had to learn all the major symbols of the Republic. La Marseillaise. Marianne and the Phrygian cap. The Gallic Rooster. One could even throw in the Fleur-de-lis. Or the Eiffel Tower. No matter which list I studied,... 
by Anne Swardson | Oct 9, 2023 | France, Germany, Holocaust, Paris, War
I’ve written before about how Paris is filled with war memorials, especially for World War II. I was reminded recently that stories also bring that war home to Europeans. At a time when horrible violence is rising anew on this side of the planet, war memories have... 
by Anne Swardson | Sep 26, 2023 | France, Paris
France is buzzing during the fall rentrée. King Charles and Queen Camilla spent two days in Paris in a blur of ceremony and bonhomie. The Rugby World Cup is being played everywhere. It’s Fashion Week. Museums are busting with popular exhibitions, and Pope Francis was... 
by Anne Swardson | May 9, 2023 | food, France, Paris, Virginia
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...