Sedulia

LATEST ARTICLES ( 315 )

• Paris CDG in the Rain (getting Wet)

  

  As we flew into French airspace, I woke up and looked out the window. Unsurprisingly, there was nothing to see but horizon-to-horizon gray clouds covering the... Read more

  Posted on 06 January 2012 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Bonne Année à Toutes Et à Tous!

  

  A's "little friend" (that's one way to say boyfriend or girlfriend in France) has been keeping a list of all the things A has been worried about. Read more

  Posted on 01 January 2012 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Anomalies of French Life: Transport Strikes During the Holidays

  

  The airport of Lyons is closed. Planes are taking off from Paris CDG three hours late. Lines at the security checkpoints are madhouses. It must be Christmas in... Read more

  Posted on 19 December 2011 EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• G̶y̶p̶s̶i̶e̶s̶ R̶o̶m̶ Romanians in Paris

  

  Like most Americans, I arrived in Europe with no prejudice I was aware of against gypsies. They do figure in a lot of songs and ballads, but usually in a... Read more

  Posted on 16 December 2011 CULTURE, EXPAT, SELF EXPRESSION, TRAVEL

• Anomalies of French Life, Redux: the Chemical Christmas Tree

  

  For some reason, many French people prefer chemically sprayed Christmas trees to real ones. I don't know why this is, and can only think that it is some lapse i... Read more

  Posted on 11 December 2011 EXPAT, TRAVEL

• The Andrés and the Birkins

  

  "I was warned about the Andrés," said my pretty Californian visitor. "Who are the Andrés?" "Those are the older French men who come on to you," she said. "They... Read more

  Posted on 03 December 2011 EXPAT, LIFESTYLE

• Baby Named Daemon? French Government Intervenes

  

  Today there was a curious story in the news. It seems a family from northern France is very fond of the TV show Vampire Diaries. Read more

  Posted on 02 December 2011 EXPAT, SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• The Countess's Snails

  

  One of my friends is a countess, as I found out more than ten years after getting to know her. Her nobility, as it should be, is in her perfect manners and... Read more

  Posted on 30 November 2011 EXPAT, TRAVEL

• Nightclub Nights in Paris

  

  N, L, Nick and Diri arrived home at 4:30 this morning. "Did you have a good time?" I said sleepily when L came in to kiss me good night. "It was really fun!"... Read more

  Posted on 27 November 2011 EXPAT, TRAVEL

• Saint Catherine's Day in Paris

  

  Today is Saint Catherine's day. In the days when saints' days were a bigger deal than they are now (it was a world without weekends), Saint Catherine's day was ... Read more

  Posted on 25 November 2011 EXPAT, TRAVEL

• A Paris Charity Bazaar for Navy Orphans

  

  A European acquaintance of mine invites me every year to the Journées d'entraide de la Marine, a charity fair for widows and orphans of French sailors. Read more

  Posted on 22 November 2011 EXPAT, TRAVEL

• A Fire in the Neighborhood

  

  I was going out to buy a few things for dinner when I heard sirens. They got louder and louder and at the end of our little shopping street, one, then two,... Read more

  Posted on 18 November 2011 EXPAT, TRAVEL

• The Badge Guy

  

  I took a taxi because I was running late and had a meeting. The driver was taciturn till we got to Place de la Concorde, where an immense traffic jam was formin... Read more

  Posted on 16 November 2011 CULTURE, EXPAT, TRAVEL

• Be Careful with Your Smartphone in Paris

  

  Think of all the individual thefts and subsequent misery of the victim, especially poor foreign tourists, that led to this sign's being posted in the windows... Read more

  Posted on 14 November 2011 CULTURE, EXPAT, TRAVEL

• Today I Went to the Rôtisseur to Order My Thanksgiving Tu...

  

  Today I went to the rôtisseur to order my Thanksgiving turkey. Much to the dismay of the neighborhood, two local businesses run by food royalty have closed up... Read more

  Posted on 10 November 2011 CULTURE, EXPAT, TRAVEL

• Anomalies of French Life: the Garbagemen's Calendar

  

  It's freezing in my house right now (the plumbers haven't come back yet to finish the job), and I had just put my warm bathrobe on over my street clothes and sa... Read more

  Posted on 09 November 2011 EXPAT, TRAVEL

• A Reservation, but Not for Just Anyone

  

  Near my apartment I am lucky to have three very good restaurants, which I choose for different reasons. There's the showy expensive one, where I take foreign... Read more

  Posted on 08 November 2011 CULTURE, EXPAT, TRAVEL

• Obama Asked If French Visit Short to Avoid Political Problems Back Home

  From 2008 but Obama is in France now, so I thought I'd put this up. "I think the average American has enormous fondness for the French people." Oh yeah? Read more

  Posted on 04 November 2011 CULTURE, EXPAT, TRAVEL

• "Is France a Country?"

  Kellie Pickler on American TV Show "Are you smarter than a fifth-grader?" Well, this one is a classic and you've probably seen it already. If not, you have a... Read more

  Posted on 03 November 2011 CULTURE, EXPAT, TRAVEL

• It's Youtube Week! Homer Simpson Versus France at the Nuclear Plant

  1996 season premier I love how he doesn't even have to think about it. I also love how the writers (who all went to Harvard, apparently) are actually making... Read more

  Posted on 02 November 2011 CULTURE, EXPAT, TRAVEL