France

Apology!

In my most recent post below on the “invisible French”, I added a link which some of my readers have told me doesn’t work.  As it’s quite complicated to rectify this on the post, I would suggest those who are interested in finding the article to google it with the following information: “Abandoned and voting […]

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French “invisibles” vote for Le Pen

The French “invisibles” vote for Le Pen In case you are, legitimately, wondering who is voting for French extreme right leader Marine Le Pen,  take the time to read the following article https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/opinion/sunday/why-my-father-votes-for-marine-le-pen.html?_r=0    by Edouard Louis, a brilliant young man who grew up in a very poor household 100 kilometres north of Paris.  In his village, there

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Go, Macron!

Just posted this on Facebook today and got a huge and positive response so am re-posting here for the readers of my blog. No sooner had Emmanuel Macron won the first round in the French presidential elections than he was criticized for inviting friends and followers to celebrate at La Rotonde, a well-known brasserie in

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French elections: voters reject the mainstream political parties

After months of suspense, the French flocked to the polls yesterday to vote in the first round of the French presidential elections. The result was surprising, even  “revolutionary”.   Neither of the winners came from the two major political parties, Les Républicains on the Right, and the Socialist Party on the Left. Emmanuel Macron, a former

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Changing France

  One of the most frequent questions I am asked by visiting tourists and student groups is:  “Has France changed?” and if so, “how?” Since France is people by the French, it’s fairly obvious that you can’t address the question of whether France is changing without addressing the question of whether the French are changing.

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Red Velvet Pancakes and Valentine’s Day in Paris

Valentine’s Day in Paris.  Doesn’t it sound romantic?  It is! I kicked off the pre-Valentine’s day period by attending a reading by three American writers celebrating their love affair with…Paris.  Held at the Paris Culinary Institute on the Quai de l’Hôtel de Ville, the event featured a drinks hour which consisted, among other things, of

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