I have read my share of cliché-ridden articles about Parisian women, but I was surprised to find one in the New York Times. French women, the paper of record has discovered, age gracefully. Except, of course, when they don’t (Brigitte Bardot, Socialist party honcho Martine Aubry). How do they look so chic after 40? Well, [...]

French TV channel M6 recently pre-empted a documentary exposing McDonald’s unhygienic practices, but it’s available (for the moment) to watch online at Dailymotion.
An employee at a French McDo’s took in a hidden camera and revealed the dirty procedures some of the chain’s restaurants practice. It’s in French so here are some main points emphasized in [...]

Have you seen the Francophilia Gazette? It’s an online magazine offering a fresh take on France and Frenchness: bite-sized morsels of news, trivia, history, arts, pop culture, food, fashion, language… It’s like a box of bonbons! You won’t know which one to try first.
But watch out! The Francophilia Gazette is rated “French,” which means it [...]

International Living has done its annual quality-of-life ranking of almost 200 countries. And the winner is (drum roll)…FRANCE! This comes as no surprise to anyone who saw the website’s winners for 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006. Because France won for those years, too.

France always nets high scores in most categories. But you don’t need number-crunchers [...]

So just how did the poster on the left become the one on the right? I knew it was about roller derby and couldn’t figure out why on earth it would be called “Bliss.” The logical explanation? That’s the main character’s name. Still, it seems strangely bland compared to the original title.

Last night C invited me to a taping of “One Shot Not,” a TV show produced by Arte. She is one of those amazing connection people who seems to always have a line on something fabulous to do. And so it was. I admit to being worried that I would be massively bored by a “stand now, sit [...]

Following Sarkozy’s horribly embarrassing nepotistic naming of his 23 year-old son to the powerful political post inside EPAD, the reactions are numerous. Many college students are requesting to be adopted by Nicolas Sarkozy so they’ll have a better chance at “finding” a good job; people are outraged, defenders are insisting little Sarkozy got elected! Whatever. [...]

I did a radio interview in French this week on Radio Campus Paris. A real, live interview on the radio with French people and French questions and French answers from me. As I was walking to the station hyperventilating, I just decided to LET IT GO and have FUN. It’s so tiring be an anxiety ridden [...]

Vogue magazine celebrates 90 years with 80 of its greatest covers. The magazine has featured some of the most renowned photographers and artists of our time and the blown-up covers on the Champs Elysees feature Richard Avedon, Bakst, Cecil Beaton, Benito, Christian Bérard, Guy Bourdin, Salvador Dali, Patrick Demarchelier, Robert Doisneau, David Hockney, Horst, Hoyningen-Huene, [...]

The shops on rue Caulaincourt, a street that snakes from the 9th arrondissement to one of the toniest sections of 18th, houses some of the most charming owner-run shops in the city. Between La Cave Caulaincourt, which features the obscure Delahaie champagnes (the best value on bubbly, IMHO), and Par Ici Les Fromages, the  cheese [...]