David Jaggard
C’est Ironique – et Démocratique: An Outsider’s Guide to the French Election
France Opens Its Polls, If Not Its Minds
Unlike most European countries, France has a popularly elected president — “popularly” in the sense of “directly by the people,” not in the sense of being ensured any shred of actual popularity. As the current president, Nicolas Sarkozy, would be … Read More
The Mysteries of Paris, Public Transport Edition
A Place for Everything – Whether You Need It or Not
On a recent trip south, I had the pleasure of taking one of the new models of high-speed TGV train. SNCF, the French rail company, updates the design of the passenger cars every few years, and this one featured a … Read More
How I Learned to Have Low Expectations for Parisian High-Tech
Dotting the “I” and Crossing the “T” in TMI
Back in the 1980s, when I had just moved to Paris, I occasionally had occasion to go to the Forum des Halles, the huge shopping-cultural-leisure center that had just been built on the site of the old central food market. … Read More
Take the Test: How Parisian Are You?
If You See This and Say, “Ah, the Countryside”...
After scoring in the top 35 percentile on Le Figaro’s index of “100 Things That All Parisians Should Do” two weeks ago, I felt, despite being non-French, very Parisian. This started me thinking about the definition of the term: what … Read More
The Flow of History: The Mercifully Dwindling Presence of the Parisian Pissoir
Rediscovering a Relic of the Smelle Epoque
Anyone who has spent any amount of time walking and breathing in Paris may find this hard to believe, but it has been illegal here to urinate in the street since the 17th century. This has to be one of … Read More
Something to Live For: Things to Do in Paris Before You Die
Been There, Done That, Got the Beret
Here at C’est Ironique, we (the researcher, the photographer, the proofreader… me, in other words) take pride in being right on top of things, always at the leading, envelope-pushing edge of all the latest developments, hottest trends and up-to-date news … Read More
Paris Shop Signs: From the Ridiculous to the Sublimely Ridiculous, Part Three
What Were They Thinking? WERE They Thinking?
When I was in undergraduate school in Texas, I used to frequent a wine bar called “Le Carafé.” Apparently they were looking for a French name and thought this sounded cool. Apparently what they weren’t looking for was a French … Read More
Stranger in a Familiar Land: On Speaking French as a Foreigner
That’s Français, with the Accent on “Eh?”
Now that I have lived in Paris long enough to age a really good bottle of Cognac, visitors from the United States often say to me, “Gee, you must be fluent in French!” To this I invariably reply, “My French … Read More
Up and Down the Food Chain at the Salon de l’Agriculture
Let’s See a Little Life in the Livestock Rings!
I went over the checklist one more time: Sturdy shoes? Check. Stain- and rip-resistant clothes? Check. High-capacity carryall? Check. Large amount of cash in small bills? Check. Empty stomach? Check. Empty bladder? Check. A frisson of anticipation washed over me … Read More
The Story Behind the Strangeness: Explaining the Inexplicable in Paris
Where There's a Riddle There's a Reason
In the course of scouring the streets of Paris looking for material that qualifies as Ironique (see inadvertently funny shop signs Part I and Part II), I sometimes come across something that makes me say to myself, “Gee, it’d be … Read More