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LATEST ARTICLES ( 315 )

• You Can't Watch That Video! Or, DRM Stupidity

  

  Seriously? Once again, the video I want to watch is not available in my country. Which, when you are an expat, is actually a misnomer. Read more

  Posted on 08 October 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Le Grand Paris

  

  It's fun to look at this old map of Paris, which I took a picture of at a map dealers, and see that Paris was once much smaller than it is now. Everything... Read more

  Posted on 26 August 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Picasso Museum to Reopen in October... & I Have a Bridge to Sell You

  

  I took this picture of the Picasso Museum, one of the jewels of Paris's Marais, in March 2008. The Museum is in the Hôtel Salé, one of the private palaces... Read more

  Posted on 22 August 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Blog Awards and Rude

  

  A nice surprise today in my email. Rue Rude received an award I had never even heard of, for "Best Ten Websites for Expats in France"-- a finalist. Read more

  Posted on 18 August 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Beginning of World War I, a Hundred Years Ago

  

  Americans don't really pay much attention to World War I. We came in late to the war and lost few men compared to the other countries. Read more

  Posted on 03 August 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Paris > USA: Sticker Shock

  

  There isn't a good dry cleaner near me in Paris since the nice fat French people retired and a couple of sour North Africans took over. Read more

  Posted on 01 August 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Le Monde Asks Its Readers If Young French Must Emigrate to Succeed

  

  Don't have much to say today, too busy elsewhere, so I thought I would translate these comments posted when Le Monde asked its readers if it was true that... Read more

  Posted on 31 July 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Ramadan Ends in Paris

  

  When I first came to Paris, none of the Muslims I met (and there were a lot, because Paris small stores are often owned by Muslims, and even my children's... Read more

  Posted on 28 July 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Parisians Care About Clothes

  

  I once tried to buy an iron in a small town in Colorado and finally gave up. People there don't wear clothes they have to iron!In Paris, though, this is only on... Read more

  Posted on 22 July 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Paris-Plages, 2014 Edition

  

  I am not a big fan of beaches, and I don't love Paris in mid-summer, when it's hot, humid, crowded, and most people I know go out of town. Read more

  Posted on 21 July 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Paris Metro Ad for Ramadan

  

  I don't remember seeing ads about Ramadan in the Paris metro before this year. Clearly a bigger part of the population than ever is observing Ramadan, the yearl... Read more

  Posted on 20 July 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Summer Vacation Has Started in Paris

  

  This sign was in the window of our local pharmacy, and announces the dates of their annual summer vacation: from 26 July till 24 August. Read more

  Posted on 17 July 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Anomalies of French Life: Weird Punctuation

  

  I can't believe it took me so long to notice how different French punctuation was. It wasn't until I started trying to write in French, and was corrected by... Read more

  Posted on 15 July 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Bastille Day Fireworks

  

  After dinner some of us tried to see the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower without walking all the way to Trocadero, which is crowded and in the past has been full... Read more

  Posted on 15 July 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• "Funny Bone" in French: Not So Funny

  

  I just whacked my funny bone and oww did it hurt. Since I had just done the "Fun French words" section of this blog, I realized I didn't know how to say "funny... Read more

  Posted on 12 July 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Anomalies of French Life: Bargains... Only Twice a Year

  

  To make a vast but nonetheless (I believe) generalization, in France there is a distrust or wariness of capitalism that seems extreme to most Americans. Read more

  Posted on 10 July 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Preparing for Heat Waves in Paris

  

  In August of 2003, I flew from miserably hot, humid Houston to Paris. To my surprise, it was hotter in Paris than in Houston. But the difference was that (as... Read more

  Posted on 03 July 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• How Long Does It Take to Belong?

  

  Today I was talking to a Vietnamese-French guy who had been in Paris for 35 years. He spoke French perfectly (as far as I could tell anyway; and after all... Read more

  Posted on 26 June 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• The French Wedding

  

  Last weekend I went to a wonderful French wedding in the south of France. I've known the bride since she was a toddler and am friends with her whole family, so... Read more

  Posted on 24 June 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Too Old to Be a Maman?

  

  A friend of mine has three daughters and still wanted one more child. She told me she went to the doctor to get approval (very French to ask for approval from... Read more

  Posted on 22 June 2014 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL