Dear Notre-Dame: A Letter for Pentecost Time
Dear Notre-Dame, I understand that only the pope is infallible and that his eyes can’t be everywhere, but the next time you’re printing up a poster to place in front of the most visited monument [...]
Section: The French
You know you’re back in Paris when…
You know you’re back in Paris when… Here are 10 signs that I’m back in Paris after 6 weeks in the U.S.
“Patrimoine,” French Heritage and Travel in France
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.
Scarf Season Arrives in Paris
It was bound to happen. They were just waiting for the ideal conditions. On Monday September 17 those conditions arrived: a cool light breeze, grey skies, a workday, a change of seasons. And on cue, [...]
On the Lecture Circuit: My Mother Is French
I normally speak to groups that invite me because they’re interested in the subject of my talk, whether some aspect of travel, wine, culture, writing or travel journalism. But at this recent event the group didn’t have any prior interest in France as far as I could tell, so I was unsure about the best approach to speak to them about the country where I live.
Teach a man to order a brownie and he’ll save you two steps?
A Dane and an American walk into a bakery in Paris, one orders a pistachio crumble, the other a brownie. The baker says… Read this sad tale of French service in which the author is berated for ordering a brownie inefficiently.
Teach a man to print stamps and he’ll communicate with the world
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.
An official kiss from the French ambassador to the United States seals the deal
I went to Philadelphia last week to attend, along with about 55 other guests, the friendly Francophile ceremony by which Joanne Silver received the decoration of Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques, the most prestigious [...]
