Our latest articles about life in Paris

Tarsila do Amaral Exhibition

Tarsila do Amaral exhibition at the Musée du Luxembourg, until 02 February 2025 The Musée du Luxembourg is hosting the first-ever French retrospective of Brazilian modernist artist, Tarsila do Amaral, also known as Tarsila. She is one of Brazil’s most famous and best-loved artists and a central figure in Brazilian modernism. She was born in 1886 in a rural town outside of São Paulo, in a traditional Brazilian bourgeois family. She benefitted from a good education, studied piano and painting and traveled to Europe for the first time when she was 16. She was married by 18 years old, but her husband did not support her wish to pursue painting, so she divorced him and moved to Paris to study painting in 1920. Tarsila do Amaral enrolled at the Académie Julian, the famous school for modern art and also studied with André Lhote, Albert Gleizes, and Fernand Léger. She moved between Paris and São Paulo and used cubism as a means of developing her own style. Two years later, she joine…

Remembering World War I with Willa Cather

In honor of the armistice of the end of World War I and Veterans in many countries, we present a fictional piece describing an American soldier's experience in France in 1917 when he and his comrades come across a cheese shop in Rouen. This extract is from the World War I novel One of Ours by Willa Cather, an American writer. The novel won the 1923 Pulitzer Prize. It tells the story of the life of Claude Wheeler, a Nebraska native who joins the US Army and is sent to France during World War I, just like the step Grandfather I never knew. Extract: At noon that day Claude found himself in a street of little shops, hot and perspiring, utterly confused and turned about. Truck drivers and boys on bell less bicycles shouted at him indignantly, furiously. He got under the shade of a young plane tree and stood close to the trunk, as if it might protect him. His greatest care, at any rate, was off his hands. With the help of Victor Morse he had hired a taxi for forty francs, taken…

Eco initiatives sparking a green revolution in Paris

Eco initiatives sparking a green revolution in Paris [Image source: Jose Llamas on Unsplash] Paris has been a beacon of sustainability for many years now, championing eco-friendly initiatives in our global fight against climate change. The goal is for the city to become Europe’s greenest by 2030 and, as the home of the Paris Agreement from the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference, it stands to reason that this city should lead the way and inspire others around the world to make ambitious changes. So, just how is Paris continuing its eco revolution and what can other countries learn from France when it comes to creating a sustainable future? Examples of eco initiatives for green revolution in Paris Incentivised electric vehicles Paris has made significant investments in reshaping its transportation landscape to prioritize sustainability. Electric vehicles are heavily incentivized here, with a growing network of charging stations dotting the cityscape for those driving i…

Bicycle visibility

Darkness is here: Visibility for biking and pedestrians

" ' Dans les jours qui suivent le changement d’heure, le nombre de morts parmi les piétons augmente de 42 %, entre 17 heures et 19 heures ', ajoute la Sécurité routière. " Quote from Le Parisien 26 October 2024

The months of "darkness", October through January, are the deadliest for pedestrians and bicylcists as busy traffic during commuting times takes place after sunset. In particular there is a 42% increase in fatalities right after daylight savings time ends. When daylight savings time ends and you have daylight from only 8 am to 4 pm there's a lot of bike riding and walking that is done in the dark. How can you put the odds of being seen on your side? Wear light colored and reflective clothing. According to highway security if you wear black you are visible at a distance of 20 meters, with reflective clothing you can be visible at a distance of 150m. That makes a huge difference…

Speak Easy: Siamese Twin Words

Speak Easy: Siamese Twin Words All the English words in this Speak Easy puzzle are «Siamese Twin Words» or «Irreversible Binomials», in other words a pair or grouping of words used together and joined by either «and» or «or» and in which the order of the words cannot be inversed. Many of these phrases are rhythmic or alliterative making them catchy. Some word combinations have become so widely used that their meanings surpass the meaning of the constituent words and are thus inseparable and permanent parts of the English lexicon. Many of them are also clichés, thus should be used with caution. Some of them translated to French by another set of Siamese Twins. Please make a comment below if you know what the equivalent French linguistic term is! Volumes 1, 2 and 3 of Speak Easy puzzles can be purchased on store.fusac.fr. The term Siamese Twin Words was first used as a linguistics term by H. W. Fowler, a renowned lexicographer who worked on A Dictionary of Modern English …

Laughter in France

Laughter is the best medicine they say. According to scientists, we laugh and average of 18 times a day. Laughter is therefore an important part of our everyday lives and even the French know how to rire. Here's a few reflections on laughter in France, the land of La Vache qui rit! La Vache, by the way, has her own maison and museum in Lons-le-Saunier and she just celebrated 100 years in 2021.

The city of Bordeaux seems to be the center of laughter in France

One might say Bordeaux likes to laugh more than elsewhere in France (is it because Bordeaux is also the rainiest city in France?). The city is host to the Festival Les Fous Rires de Bordeaux in March each year http://lesfousriresdebordeaux.fr/. The city also presented an exhibition called "Rire!" at their science and nature Muséum. But Bordeaux doesn't own the market there are many other spots are also holding annual festivals, for some funny reason most are in March!

Voir Plus about Laughter in France

Recycle, Please don’t just throw it in the garbage

Zero waste

There's a Zero Waste House in Paris, 3 rue Charles Nodier 75018, which proposes ateliers, information, products and ideas for moving your day to day towards zero waste. The association Zero Waste France which runs the House has all kinds of different campaigns to reduce waste most of them are initiatives to not use containers or distribute flyers in the first place. The association is also a great place to volunteer or make monetary a contribution.

But sometimes we have to get rid of things no longer useful to us. So here's some ideas as to how to clean up and clean out by sending things you are done with to either proper disposal facilities or recycle and pass them on to others who just might find your garbage to be just what they need.

Please don’t just throw everything in the garbage - recycle

Some items need a few minutes reflection for proper waster disposal and to recycle. For example according to Eco-Systemes one …

French Culture Quiz

French Culture Quiz : 21 questions to measure the extent of your knowledge Answers at the bottom. 1. Where did Julius Caesar defeat Vercingétorix in 52 BC ? 2. Parisian revolutionaries in 1789 were called - Les sans-culottes - Les passe-muraille - Les rabat-joie 3. Who is at the origin of the abolition of slavery in French colonies in 1848 ? - Victor Hugo - Victor Schoelcher - Lamartine 4. Bonaparte said this about a certain honor : « C’est avec un hochet que l’on mène les hommes. » To what honor was he referring ? 5. What river does this bridge / aqueduct in the photo above cross? Hint: It was built by the Romans to bring water to the city of Nîmes. 6. This popular car from the 1930’s included in its specifications: Carries 4 people, 50 kilos of potatoes or a small cask of wine at a speed of up to 60 kilometers per hour with a consumption rate of 3 liters per 100 kilometers. What car is it? - La 2 CV - La 4 CV - La 4L 7. What island sold to F…

The great white birds of France

France has at least three great white mute birds in various locations. There are swans in Paris, storks in Alsace and Egrets on the coast. All three of these birds have been commemorated on postage stamps. Swans in Paris In 1676 Louis XIV brought in several couples of swans from Denmark to decorate the banks of the Seine and several basins in the Royal châteaux. The Maquerelle Island in the Seine near the Champs de Mars was chosen for the swan’s new home. The island was soon renamed the “Ile des Cygnes”. In October of the same year the king signed an ordinance to strictly to prohibit troubling their peace and quiet. River boatman had to stay away from the island and no one was allowed to walk there. The fine was quite steep for stealing eggs or harassing the birds. By 1678, only two years later, there were 150 swans. Clearly, the swans liked their new space. Guardians were put into place to protect the swans along the Seine from Charenton to Poissy. Later the origin…

The Power of a Postcard – make an impact

The Power of a Postcard - make an impact

I've received postcards from my parents when they travel for many years. I've kept nearly all of them in a file and some day when they can no longer travel it will become a set of reminiscences to look at with them. The power of a postcard picture and small bits of information on the weather or activities will bring their trips back to life and lead us on to various and sundry conversations. I also have a collection of my-grandmother-in-law's postcards which she sent in the 1940s and 50s when traveling in the United States. Some were picked up along the way at the Howard Johnson's Motor Inn or others in National Parks.

I know from being both the sender and receiver of postcards how the power of a postcard is to bring joy. That's why when we created Bill & Rosa's Book Room we put in a POP desk dedicated to what we call the Power of a Postcard. Time and time again we have found that taking a few minutes to hand writ…

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