The verrière at the Grand Palais in Paris
"You're not the one listening to the noise all day!" a woman I know retorted to her husband over dinner, as he reproached her for being cranky.
I asked what the noise was, as she lives in a very grand neighborhood full of embassies and government offices. She said that one of her neighbors was noisily building a glass-walled roof extension so that they could see the Eiffel Tower. The glass, called a verrière, is angering a nearby embassy, which had a private garden and now will be overlooked. It also is blocking the view from several apartments, including our friends'. And the angriest people are other neighbors, whose own application to build a verrière of the same kind was summarily denied.
"How on earth did they get permission?" I asked. The couple rolled their eyes.
"How do you think?" said the husband. "They know someone more important than we do."