Like America, France has its own wild west. It’s called the suburbs. Les banlieues are hotbeds of political and social discontent, but they are also places of tremendous creative energy, freedom and hope, says Richard Dailey, who is launching NOS STATES in an attempt to bottle that energy. Indeed he’ll have to work carefully. In [...]

We were almost done with the retirement protests when a new one just started! This time on the Pont des Arts, where a bunch of associations installed tents, like they did by the Canal Saint Martin in 2006 (check this photo if you don’t remember). I went there Friday around 7 and took this photo. Had I [...]

The sheer bulk of ridiculous things said and written about the strikes in France is too much for me. Here is a shortlist of the worst misconceptions about the strikes in France. The strikers are protesting the increase in the retirement age from 60 to 62 (and full pensions from 65 to 67). FALSE: Most [...]

Philippe Lioret’s film Welcome, which came out last year, has finally been issued on DVD. It’s one of those moody films that the French are known for; perfect for a rainy afternoon with a glass of red wine. It takes place in the northern coastal town of Sangatte, whose name is now synonymous with an [...]

Here we go again. I find myself once more living in a place that Al Qaeda is determined to hit. The Eiffel Tower has been closed down twice in recent weeks and there have been a lot of disruptions in public transportation in response to suspect packages. And there are more police around, particularly in [...]

“That’s enough!” (Ca suffit!) European Commissioner Viviane Reding’s threat to impose sanctions on France may have backfired. Instead of apologizing for expelling Roma who are illegally occupying sites, French officials are insisting on their right to enforce the law. And if reader reactions are any indication they appear to be supported by large swaths of the [...]

There was a big demonstration – and strike – in Paris yesterday. Still about the same issue: the legal age of retirement. The government wants to postpone it by two years (from 60 to 62), but the people and the unions are not too happy about that. As always, it is extremely difficult to know [...]

If you visited Paris, you probably noticed what we call the Roms (gypsies), that is an ethnic group who originates from India and who settled down mostly in Eastern Europe. They are very poor and not really welcome anywhere (including their home country) but with the opening of the EU borders a lot of them [...]

Two French journalists from the television network France 3 are being held hostages in Afghanistan. They have been in custody for 6 months now (since December 29, 2009), so Reporters without Borders decided to draw the attention of everyone by installing a huge paperboard on the Luxembourg Gardens and by inviting passers by to sign. This [...]

Paris’s Préfecture de la Police has forbidden an apéro géant (giant cocktail party) entitled “Saucisson Pinard” (Sausage and Wine) to take place tomorrow in La Goutte d’Or, a neighborhood in the 18th arrondissement, not far from the Basilica of Sacré Coeur. Why would the police department forbid such a fun, innocent event? Let’s start with [...]