David Jaggard
How Sweet It Is: A Report from the Salon du Chocolat
You Wanna Eat It or Wear It?
In preparation for this article, I found myself reflecting on a well-known philosophical tenet. First outlined in Plato’s Republic and later elaborated upon in detail in The Confessions of Saint Augustine, it states one of the basic precepts of Western … Read More
Expanding My Comfort Zone: Finding American Food in France
Now, Where’s All the French Dressing?
Other than wishing that it cost a soupçon less, I have no complaints about French cuisine. It is indisputably one of the world’s main cultural achievements and, much more importantly, one of the main reasons I moved here from the … Read More
Absent but Not Uncounted: Following the U.S. Election from France
A Tight Race and a Stiff Drink
I have heard that there is a presidential election coming up in the United States. For an American living in Paris, that means one thing: it’s time to head for the bar. Any gin joint will do, especially if your … Read More
The Luck of the Draw, Part Two: How I Got French Residency
You Don’t Apply So Much As Grovel
A few weeks back, I wrote about how Nancy and I found our first rental apartment in Paris, a saga that involved frequent repetition of the phrase “We were so lucky!” I called that article “The Luck of the Draw, … Read More
Plumbing the Mysteries of the Plumbing Trade in Paris
Leaks Fixed. Drains Cleared. Arms Twisted.
The leak in my toilet reminded me of my old stereo system. Back in the days before digital technology became compact and ubiquitous, when you had to be home to get your phone calls, friends were people you had actually … Read More
Paris Shop Signs, Part Five: Sex Edition
Some Streets (and This Piece) Should Be R-Rated
The City of Light has long been associated with a light-handed attitude toward morality. By some accounts, Parisians are a bunch of hormone-addled sex maniacs who see something suggestive everywhere they turn. And, judging from the material I collected for … Read More
The English Invasion: Why Don’t the French Want to Speak their Own Language?
What le Hell Est Going sur Here?
I overheard the most extraordinary conversation the other day while sitting behind a young couple on a bus. To pick a sample sentence more or less at random, at one point the woman said: “We need to go to the … Read More
Tin Cup, Tin Ear: A Note on the Street Musicians of Paris
A Bad Busker Is Not Hard to Find
Let’s see… Costume? Check. Instrument? Check. Props? Check. Ability to count to four? Hey, you can’t have everything! In Paris, good street musicians are like free, legal parking places: you know they’re out there, but on the reality scale … Read More
Sacré Bleu! How to Visit Sacré Coeur Without Sacrificing Your Savings
300 Steps to Heaven — Or Bankruptcy
The highest point in the city of Paris is the Butte de Montmartre, “Martyrs Hill,” so-called because, according to legend, this was where Saint Denis, the patron saint of France, was beheaded by the Romans in approximately 250 CE. The … Read More
Locked and Loaded: Love Locks Inundate the Bridges of Paris
The Fad Is Latching On
From the latest edition of Bartlett’s Vaguely, and Regrettably, Familiar Quotations: “Love locks have come to Paris. In case you’re unaware of this phenomenon, it has become a fad for lovers to solemnize their passion by inscribing their names on … Read More