Maybe it was the early job at a uranium mine. Perhaps it’s his fascination with the Paris catacombs. For whatever reason, acclaimed author Scott Dominic Carpenter relishes telling stories from beneath life’s mundane surface. A professor of French literature and creative writing at Carleton College, Scott Dominic Carpenter’s books include the 2021 Midwest Bookstore Bestseller French Like Moi: A Midwesterner in Paris, for which he was given a Next Generation Indie Book Award, and This Jealous Earth, a collection of short stories and Paris Lost & Found. In 2018, Carpenter won the Mark Twain House Royal Nonesuch Award, a national humor writing contest. His award-winning first novel, Theory of Remainders, a Kirkus Best Book of 2013, is currently under option by a major motion picture production company. Always searching for the next unexpected story, Scott Dominic Carpenter splits his time between St. Paul, Minnesota, and Paris, France.
List…Maigret and Columbo
Following up on our article in which we presented three American cultural icons that in fact were French creations we now turn to Maigret and Columbo, two famous detectives of book and film. Was the American Columbo inspired from French Maigret? Well, Maigret certainly came first in time and Columbo certainly shares quite a few of his characteristics plus he has a French car!
The son of Georges Simenon, the author of the Maigret series, says that because his father wouldn’t sell the rights for Maigret, Columbo was created as a different character but inspired by the famous Maigret. Maybe that’s why Columbo drives a Peugeot that winks back towards Maigret and Paris.
John Simenon is quoted in 2016 :
« Les explications d'Alain Sachs, qui a interprété Le Petit Docteur [another Maigret character] à la télévision française, sont peut-être un peu approximatives, mais c'est bien à la suite d'un refus de mon père de céder les droits du personnage du Petit Docteur, comme de Maig…
Voir Plus
about Maigret and Columbo
French strawberries
The Americans think bigger is better, well I’d like to say they are downright wrong when it comes to strawberries. Unfortunately, most of the strawberries I’ve eaten in the USA are indeed huge, nearly hollow, rather dry and essentially tasteless, plus they are in the stores year-round and so lose their seasonal excitement.
Then there are French strawberries. Ah! Tout change. And I’m addicted, I eat more than my quote-part of 2.6kg per person each year. During strawberry season I just can’t get enough. There’s nothing I like better than to ride my bike over to 24/7 automat for strawberries and vegetables at the Ferme du Clos d’Ancoigny near us. We usually stand right there in the parking space and devour them, often buying another barquette on the spot.
There are quite a number of self-picking places or cueillettes around the Paris region too. One well-known network with many farms in the region is Gally. The Gally headquarters is in St Cyr l’Ecole just outside the wa…
Voir Plus
about French strawberries
French Elephants
France's many elephants
What? French Elephants? Even though, and maybe because, they are not native to France it seems there has been a fascination with elephants throughout French history. When you begin to look around you find there are quite a few more or less famous French elephants. Some are imaginary, others constructed of wood and still others are live ones in zoos or sanctuaries. Let's have a tour of France's beloved elephants through the ages.
Early history
Cave paintings attest to mammoths, however Hannibal's elephants were likely the first true elephants in Gaul, but they didn't fare so well in the cold climate. The next importation wasn't for quite a few years.
The French Kings' Elephants over 900 years 768 to 1668
Many French kings kept elephants at court and by the Renaissance they were quite in vogue.
Charlemagne's was named Abul-Abbas and was an Asian elephant brought from Baghdad by a diplomat in about 802. The gift was from the Abbasid caliph and symbo…
Voir Plus
about French Elephants
Our favorite 10 Lesser Known Museums in Paris
Whether you are a tourist or a Parisian, you have most definitely visited museums such as Le Louvre or Le Musée d'Orsay. Yes, they are absolutely gorgeous and definitely worth a visit but we are lucky enough to also have some hidden treasures in Paris - over 100 all-but-unknown museums! Not only you can discover some amazing things but also a lot of them are free or inexpensive and you don't have to queue for hours to get in! It's also fun to do non-touristy things and explore less famous spots in a city.
Here is a list of 10 lesser known museums in Paris that are definitely worth checking out!
1) Le Musée Cognacq-Jay
The museum's collection was formed by Théodore-Ernest Cognacq and his wife Marie-Louise Jay, founders of the iconic department store La Samaritaine. At his death, Cognacq gave the collection to the City of Paris. The museum is located in the Hôtel Donon in the Marais, where the collection is displayed in twenty paneled rooms in the styles of Louis XV and Loui…
Voir Plus
about Our favorite 10 Lesser Known Museums in Paris
Two Paris expos you don’t want to miss this month
Ode to Joy
Voir Plus
about Two Paris expos you don’t want to miss this month
Judith Bluysen, a relapsed street photographer now shooting in Paris, presents her work the last weekend of May in a collective show with 65 other artists. She is the author of several photography articles on the FUSAC site and the former owner of the American Grocery and Restaurant that we all loved, Thanksgiving.
In the late 1980’s Judith arrived in Paris, 34 years old, with 15 years of New York City in her baggage, two cats and a French husband by her side. She’d sold her darkroom equipment and stored her artwork and photos in her parents’ attic, and was allowing herself one year to decide how to remake her life. Expectation exists even in unplanned lives, and rarely unroll as envisioned. After that first year they were faced with returning to New York or finding the means to remain in Paris. Determined to stay, they created and nurtured a retail business for over 25 years. As online sales in their sector caught on, J…Paris Opera Quiz
Just for fun, test yourself on your knowledge of the Paris Opera Garnier...
1. The Paris Opera Garnier has 1900 seats A. true B. false
2. The crystal chandelier weighs A. 4 tons B. 8 tons C. 10 tons
3. The Opera Garnier is the... A. 1st B. 10th C. 13th ...opera house in Paris
4. The Opera Garnier was constructed under which leader A. Napoléon III B. Louis XIV C. Napoléon 1er
5. Charles Garnier, whose name is still attached to the building was the architect who won the contest to design the opera. He was A. 55 years old B. 40 years old C. 35 years old
6. The French opera and ballet were founded in 1669 by Louis XIV A. True B. False
7. The Grand staircase is made of A. alabaster B. several kinds of marble C. granite
8. The Opera Garnier offers guided tours daily. A. True B. False
9. The other Opera in Paris is called the Opéra Bastille. In what year was it built? A. 1989 B. 1969
10. The official n…
Why is it called? Part 2: French place names
Why is it called…
Part 2: French place names or toponyms
Have you ever asked yourself why something is called by a particular name? Place names are also called toponyms. We've learned Paris was named for the Celtic tribe the Parisii who lived in the area (why the Parisii were called that is still up for discussion), that the Seine was named for the nymph Séquana. Here are some other topoynms from the Paris area. Feel free to add your town in the comments.
Versailles: The most likely origin of the name Versailles, first mentioned in 1038 as land belonging to a person named Hughes, comes from the Latin word versare which means to turn over (verser, reverser in French) and probably referred to Hughes’s agricultural efforts of clearing and preparing his land for planting. “Un versailles” or “versail” in old French refers to cleared land.
Stains: The name of the town of Stains, a town north of Paris, rings strangely in anglophone ears because we hear a noun that means "a mar…
Voir Plus
about Why is it called? Part 2: French place names
Independent Bookstore Day – 26 April
Saint George is the patron of booksellers thus his day was chosen as Independent Bookstore Day, an initiative of Association Verbes, which aims to promote independent bookstores and to maintain the special status they have in France in the face of ever more present threats, such as e-books. This initiative was started twenty-three years ago and today, Independent Bookstore Day is celebrated in 80 countries. Each year, the association publishes 23,000 copies of a book whose purpose is to acquaint people with publishing and with the demands of running a bookstore. This year's book, on sale for just 3€, is a compilation of reading lists that ispired 50 French authors. Each author also has a page to describe the view from their writing space.
This year, to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day, we thought you'd like to meet a French libraire. Libraires are important people in French social fabric. The French have a close relationship and follow closely the suggestions of their li…
Voir Plus
about Independent Bookstore Day – 26 April
90+ reasons why we love France
90+ reasons why we love France
Reasons 61-94 (and we could go on an on!)
61. For placing the toilet is in a separate room. An excellent space saver. Having a room just for the toilet allows for having less bathrooms and keeps all the odors in one place.
62. For inspiring Walt Disney. If you like Disney World, you have a French man to thank. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood or Puss in Boots were written by Charles Perrault who was born January 12, 1628 in Paris. He was founder of and certainly one of the masters of a literary genre, the fairy tale.
63. For ship building. A French company, Pontant, is behind the conception of an ice-breaker cruise ship capable of taking luxury to the most rare areas of the planet: the Arctic and Antarctic. There ship building companies in all the French ports and a highly specialized yacht builders on the Cote d'Azur. Tidbit: La France is the country Le France is the ship.
64. For consistently hosting 8% of the …
Voir Plus
about 90+ reasons why we love France