France Elevates Poet Aimé Césaire to Status of “Great Man” at Pantheon
April 6, 2011 – Little noticed and scantily attended on a warm and sunny spring day, France showed its gratitude to one of its...
Got Heritage? Pelerin Awards Help Restore France’s Catholic Heritage
History has taught France the dangers of seeing a dominant religion play a leading role in public policy. Yet it has also left this...
Three Reasons to Experience a Remarkable Chef: Part 2
Symbols, stars, numbers, and other restaurant rating systems can provide a culinary relief map of a city, but they’re inadequate in revealing the particular...
Marianne, the Face of the French Republic
From a kingdom devoted to Mary, mother of Jesus, France became a republic under the guidance of Marianne. She is the face of the French Republic.
Three Reasons to Experience a Remarkable Chef: Part I
Symbols, stars, numbers, and other restaurant rating systems can provide a culinary relief map of a city, but they’re inadequate in revealing the particular...
Olivier Dirson, WWI battlefield guide: one history leads to another
Touring WWI sites of Picardy, north of Paris, with Olivier Dirson, a French guide with an intriguing personal history.
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.
Portrait: Fabien Nègre
Fabien Nègre is a French writer, journalist, consultant to chefs and restaurateurs, gastronomic critic and commentator, wine man and cigar connoisseur.