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... 
by Anne Swardson | Jan 4, 2022 | France, Paris
Even though I like to write about Paris’s ethnic neighborhoods, a recent walk showed me that’s not really the right term. It implies boundaries and separation, when in fact many flow into each other, almost without warning. In three-plus hours, my sister... 
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 | Nov 24, 2021 | Paris
Let’s get one thing straight: The sidewalks of Paris are not littered with dog poo. Hefty fines have curtailed most déjections, as they are called. A while back, a Paris woman who not only failed to clean up after her two Jack Russells but also insulted the cops who... 
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...