If you say the word “France” to people, they immediately think of looking up women’s skirts. And there’s a perfectly good, logical reason for this: the people you happened to pick are all testosterone-addled straight guys, who never think about … Read More
As anyone who knows me will confirm, probably without being asked, I am something of a neurotic. I tend to be nervous in many situations, like speaking in public. Or in private. Or in my sleep. Or driving. I am … Read More
A few weeks ago I was walking by the Place de la Concorde and happened to notice a young couple who seemed to be wandering aimlessly around the pedestrian areas of the square, pointing and staring in every direction with … Read More
Sometimes people from my old home state in the Midwest ask me why I want to live in France. Sometimes it’s a real question and sometimes it isn’t. There are two possibilities: 1. If the speaker is merely trying to … Read More
Paris Fashion Week just ended, so naturally I’ve been thinking about the early-20th-century French philosopher Paul Valéry. Valéry coined a term, les professions délirantes (the “delirious professions”), to designate disciplines that have no clear objective criteria of achievement. For example, … Read More
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in Paris Update on June 8, 2014. As I write this, the 2014 FIFA World Cup is about to begin in Brazil. This quadrennial tournament always brings back a fond childhood memory for me. Not … Read More
A compendium of good reads about Paris and France in English. Paris in literature Octave magazine, produced by the Opéra de Paris, has an excellent story on the way writers like Dumas and Balzac used the streets of Paris as … Read More
A note from David Jaggard: France is emerging from confinement and we are free to travel again. For those who share my love of the French countryside, this article, originally posted on June 24, 2015, contains some actual useful information. … Read More
A note from David Jaggard: France is now in its sixth week of confinement. All eyes are on the research community as the population awaits news of the one scientific breakthrough that we’ve all been hoping, longing and praying for: the … Read More
A note from David Jaggard: As France and much of the world endures a lockdown to slow the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus, I’m sure that many Paris Update readers are, like me, thinking back to a happier, more carefree time. … Read More
