Written Images – France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France

We Were Charlie

Gary Lee Kraut — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 00:52:50 +0000

After the terrorist attacks of January 7-9, 2015, Paris’s Place de la République become the main memorial gathering place. We were Charlie, people said. And then we were what?

* * *

Place de la République, Paris, January 2015.

We were Charlie.

Who are we now?

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You Love Paris But Does Paris Love You?

Gary Lee Kraut — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 21:42:44 +0000

Yes, you love Paris, but does Paris love you?

You’ve read the articles, the books and the blogs telling you that you can be one with the City of Light by wearing the right shoes, by tying a scarf comme ça, by learning to choose a fresh baguette or a perfect pastry, by lunching at this restaurant and dining at that, by taking a seat here and a promenade there, by speaking a chirpy bonjour and a dainty s’il vous plaît?

Do that, they say, and Paris will accept you, Paris will embrace you, Paris will love you as much as you love Paris.

Graffiti seen in Paris’s 11th arrondissement. Photo GLK.

Yet, when all is said (in French) and done (with flair), what if your long-dreamt, blue-skied, night-sparkling love for Paris is unrequited?

What if Paris does not, cannot, will never love you?

You arrive—or stay far too long—pleading, “Paris, love me.”

And Paris replies…

[Readers are invited to note below the response that Paris makes to that plea for love.]

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The Smoking Rights of Man and of the Citizen

Gary Lee Kraut — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 22:21:20 +0000

France Revisited inaugurates a new photo series entitled “Written Images” with this photograph taken in the Concorde metro station in Paris showing Article 10 of The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

The Declaration, which is fully spelled out in the Concorde station, sets forth fundamental rights in France (and beyond). Now a part of the Preamble of the French Constitution, the Declaration was adopted on Aug. 26, 1789 by the National Constituent Assembly and ratified under duress by King Louis XVI on October 5, 1789, spelling the beginning of the end of the feudal system and the Ancien Régime.

Translation: No one may be questioned about his opinions, even religious, provided that their manifestation does not trouble the public order established by the law… and provided that he does not hold them while smoking in the metro.

– Image and text: GLK

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