What is the European Parliament anyway?

European Parliamentary Elections are a hot topic. But What does the European Parliament do? The European Parliament is an elected body of 720 members proportionally from each of the 27 European states. France has 81 deputies. They are elected for 5 year terms. As of the last election in 2019, the youngest MEP was Kira Marie Peter-Hansen of Denmark, who was 21 at the time. She is also the youngest person ever elected to the European Parliament. The oldest MEP ever was Manolis Glezos (see tidbits below) from Greece who was 92 when elected in 2014. The Parliament is an important forum for political debate and decision-making at the EU level and acts as a co-legislator, sharing with the Council the power to adopt and amend legislative proposals and to decide on the EU budget. It also supervises the work of the Commission and other EU bodies and cooperates with national parliaments of EU countries to get their input. The European Parliament is the guarantor of freedom, equality and…
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Rio Soléy Design

Rio Soléy is the designer behind the hand drawn Paris map that helps people see that Bill & Rosa's Book Room is not far at all from Paris center. We love her work which is both elegant and whimsical at the same time. Her journey in lettering started at the age of 5 when her parents enrolled her in a calligraphy class. Since then, she's been captivated by the intricacies of letterforms and the artistry involved in evoking diverse emotions through them. She tells us a bit more about herself and her art, including her beautifully thought out and crafted IRO print collection. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Hello! I’m Rio Soléy, a digital artist & designer specialised in lettering. I create and sell art prints that evoke optimism, simplicity, and tranquility. I’m from Japan, but I’ve lived in Canada, the UK, Germany, and now in France. When I’m not creating art prints, I’m painting letters on store signs and vitrines to help shop owners in Paris stand out …
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Interview with Fiona Sze-Lorrain

Fiona Sze-Lorrain is a poet, literary translator and musician. She writes and translates in English, French, and Chinese and is the author of several poetry collections and most recently a novel in stories, Dear Chrysathemums, published by Scribner in 2023. Longlisted for the 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, the novel celebrates diversity and women and features deeply compelling Asian women who reckon with the past, violence, and exile—set in Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Paris, and New York. Fiona lives in Paris and we were thrilled to welcome her in February to the Book Room, where she talked about her novel. If you missed her event, you can read the questions we asked and Fiona’s answers below: Bill & Rosa: You are a musician and a poet, you have published several collections of poems, I was wondering what was the determining factor in your decision to write a novel? Was it a character, or a story that you felt needed to be told? Fiona Sze-…
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Are You Becoming French?

Are You Becoming French?The French say that foreigners can never truly “become” French - no matter what legal status is inscribed upon what identity papers they carry around in their France-based wallets (1). Nor might newly minted citizens or official residents wish to swap their own cultural markers, manners and mentalities for those of the local waiter who serves them their morning café au lait et croissant (to say nothing of totally being able to). But if you’re here long enough, your adaptation mirrors those Escher drawings where columns of black geese or fish on the left fly or swim straight across the page, migrating and mutating by imperceptible degrees, melting into and finally becoming their white counterparts on the right. To a greater or lesser degree, whether you expected to or not, one day you realize that you’re crossing to the other side. How do you know that you’ve arrived? When you (a very incomplete list): 1. sound as brilliantly amusing-funny-sarcastic-sn…
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The Paris of Montana

The Paris of Montana - a Department Store It all started with a hat box we found in an antique shop in Montana. The box proudly displayed the slogan « The Paris of Montana » and of course we were intrigued. After quite a few years of researching every now and again we learned of a Dry goods store called Paris – in Montana. ‘Dry goods store’ is the collective noun for textiles and manufactured articles and can also include some non perishable grocery items such as tobacco, sugar, flour, and coffee. (A General Store which is a more common word, though similar, had all sorts of groceries, hardware and dry goods.) Dry goods were big business. Over one million people worked in the dry goods trades in the United States in the late 1800s ; there were hundreds and thousands of dry goods stores in American towns and villages. One such store was called The Paris Dry Goods store. It was in Great Falls Montana and originally established in 1894 as a partnership between two Rom…
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ECU Film Festival 19-21 April, 2024

ECU Film Festival in Paris ECU Film Festival offers the European cinema-loving public much more than a full program of quality and riveting independent films. Every year, the festival provides a unique, inspiring and interactive experience that all attendees are encouraged to partake in. Whether it is workshops taught by industry professionals, in-depth discussions with “Official Selection” directors in the Q&As that follow every screening session or other various events such as networking events and parties - there is something for everyone to enjoy. ÉCU is committed to the promotion and projection of the very best European independent films. At the heart of ÉCU’s mission lies the belief in the power of independent cinema to transcend cultural boundaries and foster a deeper understanding of European narratives. ECU Film Festival's “Official Selection” films are original and represent the best quality, creativity and innovation within the independent film industry. This…
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WEEGEE : AUTOPSIE DU SPECTACLE

Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson 79 rue des Archives, 75003 www.henricartierbresson.org @FondationHCB #weegee REGARDS CROISES Henri Cartier-Bresson and Martine Franck and WEEGEE : AUTOPSY of the SPECTACLE Through May 19 2024To celebrate its 20 years of existence, the Fondation HCB is sharing Regards Croisé, a small grouping of images created by Henri  Cartier-Bresson and Martine Franck, highlighting the couple’s common themes. These gentle, lyrical images strongly contrast the “grab and gotcha” quality of Weegee’s work in the next room, and illustrate how two completely different styles of photography, in this case of the same general genre, can be so different yet each so iconic. WEEGEE AUTOPSIE DU SPECTACLE Born into a Jewish family in Zloczow (then Austria-Hungary; now Zolochev, Ukraine) in 1899, the ten year-old Usher Fellig americanized his first name to Arthur upon immigrating to New York in 1909 with his family. Disinterested in school, he dropped out at fourtee…
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Driving in France: what you need to know

Driving in France: what you need to know This article covers driving in France: paperwork, insurance, and how to obtain it. Buying a car. In case of accident. Items you are required to have in the car. If you are British, you may want to follow this link for regulations post-Brexit. DRIVER'S LICENSE: Generally speaking (because there are of course exceptions, this IS France) if you are in France for over a year and your driver's license is not European, French law requires you to have valid French driving papers for driving in France. This one year period starts on the date of your first carte de séjour. Etudiant status is one of the exceptions; as a student you can drive with your foreign license for the duration of your studies. Some US states and other countries allow an exchange of licenses, other states and countries do not and you'll be required to pass the French exam to obtain the French license. Keep in mind an exchange must be done within the one year grace …
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Don’t Miss Out: A Guide to Recovery Rebate Credit for U.S. Expats

If you’re one of the many U.S. expats who are owed stimulus money, you can still claim it through Recovery Rebate Credit. As the matter of fact, 2024 is the last year to get all the stimulus checks you might have missed! It will either boost the amount of your tax refund or reduce the taxes you owe to the IRS. Either way – you win! Don’t miss out on the opportunity to get the money you’re entitled to. Keep reading to find out how the credit works and what makes you eligible to qualify. WHAT IS RECOVERY REBATE CREDIT? Recovery Rebate Credit is part of the Covid-19 Economic Relief program. The credit makes it possible for those who didn’t receive Economic Impact Payments (also known as stimulus payments) to claim their missing money. So if you were eligible for stimulus payments but did not receive them (or you received a partial payment), you can claim them through Recovery Rebate Credit on your tax return. HOW TO CLAIM RECOVERY REBATE CREDIT Getting your Recovery Rebate Cre…
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