The French

The terrorist attacks in Paris and Saint-Denis on November 13 killed 130 people and left hundreds more wounded. The immediate target was joie de vivre in the City of Light: the pleasure of sharing a drink or a meal with friends, of listening to music, of strolling down the street, of kissing on the sidewalk, of men and women mingling and dressing freely, of gathering comfortably with strangers, of being young in years or young at heart, of openly celebrating life. Those are all things that you, the visitor and the return traveler, look forward to when you imagine (re)visiting Paris.

PARIS FASHION FLASH: It’s been a long time coming but the Paris fashion police have finally received the circular concerning shorts, now making it acceptable for local men to show their knees on the street.

Joanne Silver received from France's Ambassador to the US Pierre Vimont the decoration of Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques, the most prestigious honor a scholar or academician can receive from the French Government.

Arriving from England, Gerald Vinestock's experience driving in France has taught him much about the dos and don'ts and Gallicisms of the country's byways, highways and parking lots, from Calais to the door of a small-town boulangerie. His insights will come in handy should you someday get behind the wheel in France.

Service at my local post office has improved over the years, but as this recent experience shows modernizing and privatizing a French post office doesn't necessarily modernize and humanize the employees.

In November 2012 I was elected to the administrative board of the Association des journalistes du patrimoine (AJP), France’s Heritage Journalists Association, the first foreign journalist to join the board in the association’s 10 years of existence. Exploring patrimoine/heritage in France.