The current strikes in Paris lead to strange things, but I never dreamed that taking a camembert to the movies would be one of them. But first: Do you know what a really good, ripe, raw milk camembert, as opposed to one of those pasteurised plaster-like fellows you find in supermarkets, smells like? Well, of […]
The camembert that went to the movies Read More »
Friday the 13th: Day Nine of the transportation strike and I’m sick and tired of it. But although I complain about being under house arrest (our nearest metro is closed, buses are irregular and the one day we foolishly decided to take the car we spent two hours getting only a fourth of the way to
The French On Strike – Again!! Read More »
The other day I met a friend I hadn’t seen for a long time. The occasion was not a happy one. We were in the Parisian apartment of a recently deceased friend where we had been invited to choose, if we wished, a memento, something material by which to remember her. These moments are always
Leaving Paris? Really? Read More »
In February my husband and I spent a month in Tucson, Arizona where I had been asked to give a speech to a philanthropic organisation on the topic of “Getting to know how a writer thinks”. I admit I was perplexed by the title. Frankly, I’d never thought about how a writer thinks – but
Getting to know how a writer thinks Read More »
Are you a Francophile ? Or a Francophobe ? It may seem contradictory but whether you are one or the other you are surely confronted with the same malady : you don’t understand the French. Of course the Francophobe probably doesn’t even want to. The Francophile, on the other hand, is avid for all things
Demystifying the French – once again Read More »
Last SaLet me say it loud and clear so there’s no ambiguity: I am sick and tired of the Yellow Vests. Saturday, January 5, was the EIGHTH time the Yellow Vests, a populist movement named for the bright yellow jackets French drivers must have in their car in case of an accident, filled the streets
Sick and Tired of the Yellow Vests ! Read More »
Paris, December 3, 2018 Many people who have seen or read about the recent violent demonstrations of the “yellow vests” in Paris have asked me: How bad is it? Here’s my answer: I have lived in Paris for the past 47 years and have seen many demonstrations, but never anything like this. (As an
Yellow vests get violent – what’s next? Read More »
OK, so you’ve been to Paris and seen the Eiffel Tower and the Arch of Triumph and the Seine. Maybe you’ve hopped down south to the Riviera to check out sunny St. Tropez and Nice. Some of you may have ventured to the Périgord with its prehistoric caves and foie gras, and to Brittany to
Harriet in Wonderland Read More »
So the deed is done. Prince Harry has married his beautiful, bi-racial, feminist American sweetheart and I’m here to say that I witnessed their tying the knot – even if it was on French TV with French being spoken over the English. So terribly weird! Of course, being a sentimental type, I, like Meghan’s mother
“I’m American. I Hug” says Meghan – but for how long? Read More »