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...
One of the few drawbacks of living in Paris is the feeling of being separated from your roots. I don’t mean family, who can almost always visit or be visited. I mean not being in the place where most of my cultural references were formed. Instead, I live where aging...
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...
