France

So, are the French depressed or not?  Have they lost the joie de vivre the entire world envies them, or at the very least, associates with them? New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, in Paris for haute couture week, gave the subject her attention in an article entitled “Goodbye Old World, Bonjour Tristesse” that appeared […]

C’est les vacances! Everyone knows that the French are world champions of the watered down work week and the wondrous six week minimum paid vacation.  But did anyone ever stop to ask where les français GO en vacances?  Ask no more! They go to their résidence secondaire (second home) if they’re lucky enough to have one.

Now here’s a question to contemplate on a stormy day in Paris as I gaze at my dark green, almost black “jardin” and watch the rain pelt down on the flowers whose petals I just lovingly cleaned up:  Why do people write about the French?  I thought about this after receiving the following question, one

If you’ve read my books or heard me speak about my life in France, you’ve heard about my French mother-in-law (belle-mère in French, a prettier term than the English one by far).  She passed away last Sunday at the age of 98 so this is the moment to pay tribute to an exceptional and much-loved

Today I triumphantly marked 62.9 in my daybook.  62.9 may not mean anything to you but for me it means “under 63” – kilos, that is.  And “under 63” is where I want to be. Oh, I was so proud of myself (not that I’d been dieting-the loss was mainly due, I think, to a

One of the most exasperating – and admirable – things I have discovered about Frenchwomen is that they are slim – and don’t talk about diets.  Yes, if you asked me to list a few of the things I appreciate about Frenchwomen, way up at the top I’d put “They don’t stand around helping themselves

One of the things I love most about Paris is that anytime I get restless chez moi I can run out the door, cross the street, and go sit in a nearby café.  This is definitely something I did not do when growing up in a small town in Iowa (not exactly a café culture,

When our children were little, I delighted in reading to them in English –  in spite or because of the fact that they were immersed in a French speaking world.  Although my husband spoke very good English, he’s French, and his French family and most of his French friends did’t speak English. Our children attended

I’m in a really good mood today. Objectively I shouldn’t be. Our Paris apartment looks like it was hit by a major orage (storm) which in a way it was.  Why? A rash New Year’s resolution (maybe we’d had too much champagne):    We decided to get two small bathrooms and our bedroom renovated.  After

I recently read an article by a former Wall Street honcho who wrote that he had changed his job and his life, downsized, got rid of most of his stuff. He says he feels lighter, better, and happier than he ever did when he had lots of money and material goods. And I thought: hey,