Humankind’s propensity for dupery—the seemingly perpetual supply of scallywags coupled with an even larger supply of suckers—never fails to astound me. The idea that the grosser the distortion of reality, the more inclined some people are to believe it, doesn’t make a bit of sense, but this aspect of the…
Last week, I compared and contrasted day-trips to two of France’s most opulent palaces, Versailles and Fontainebleau. At the end of the post, I mentioned that Fontainebleau has the added bonus of being situated on the edge of one of France’s most extensive forests. Originally established as a royal hunting…
First-time travelers to Paris often dedicate a day to seeing the Palace of Versailles. I avoided the place for many years in favor of dozens of museums and monuments within the city limits. However, in 2018, I finally visited with my husband Andy and our daughters. The line to get…
One of the advantages of being proficient in French is the ability to consume media from sources originating in Francophone countries. U.S. news tends to anchor itself in shock and outrage, whipping the population of news junkies into two vehemently opposed camps. French news undoubtedly suffers from some of this…
A few weeks ago, I read an article about the diminishing number of children who ride bikes. Half as many kids pedal about these days as did in the 1990s. The story delved into myriad harmful effects of our youngest generation’s loss of independence. Then again, the article warns, there…
Last week, we bid farewell to our sweet kit-kat of 16 years. As fortune would have it, the weather was cooler and the days free from rain. So, Cleo and I spent our final days together outside—she dozing beneath the leaves of a crowded hosta bed, occasionally raising an eyelid…
Journaling… like every other human endeavor, there exists a narrow sliver of people who raise this seemingly simple practice to the level of a refined and illuminating art. Such is the case with graphic novelist Craig Thompson’s Carnet de Voyage. In the spring of 2004, Thompson traveled to Europe to…
Many of us are familiar with the delightful illustrations of Jean-Jacques Sempé, who inadvertently described himself by saying « Il m’est arrivé de devenir, par moments, raisonnable, mais jamais adulte », “It occurred to me, every now and then, to be sensible, but never adult.” Sempé became widely known in France after…
