News
Anthony Smith, the General Who Championed French-American Military CooperationAmerican general Anthony Smith, who passed away in Virginia on May 31, 2020, played an essential role in military relations between France and America, and directed the French-American Foundation USA for five years. Anthony “Tony” Smith discovered France as a teenager when his father helped General Eisenhower launch NATO. He attended the Paris American High School in the early 1950s,...
Coronavirus: The French Banned from Entering the United StatesDonald Trump made a shock announcement yesterday evening, declaring that Europeans would be forbidden from travelling to the U.S. from Friday, March 13, due to the corona virus pandemic. The French are now preparing for an organizational nightmare and are worried about the economic consequences, particularly in the tourism sector. This measure applies to anyone who has been to the...
Explaining the French Pension Reform Strikes to AmericansThe French pension reform is hardly a long, tranquil river. Our Paris-based columnist took a crack at explaining what pushed thousands of French railway and public-transit workers, pensioners, medical staff, and teachers to take to the streets. France has been paralyzed recently by mass strikes and demonstrations over the government’s plans to reform the pension system. At present, there are...
Franco-American Esther Duflo Wins the Nobel Prize in EconomicsFrench-born American citizen and MIT professor Esther Duflo is one of three economists awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics for her research into the fight against poverty. Finding local solutions to the global problem of poverty is the calling of Esther Duflo, one of the most prominent economists of her generations. While studying at the Ecole Normale Supérieure during...
Opinion
Three ColorsWhy do the French and American flags share the same colors? Is it a coincidence? No one knows who designed these two flags, but there are a few clues. For the thirteen original colonies marked by British culture, and whose officers, most notably George Washington, had served in the occupying army, blue, white and red were already familiar shades used...
The End of U.S. Leadership?In the run up to America’s 2020 presidential elections, will the coronavirus pandemic put the nail in the coffin of U.S. leadership and its democratic model? While Donald Trump may not have started this decline, he has helped amplify it during the current healthcare and economic crisis, according to Dominique Moïsi, a renowned international relations expert in France and the...
Toppling StatuesIn the wake of George Floyd's death, protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have reignited the debate over controversial statues. In this opinion piece published in 2017, France-Amérique explored the complex connection between remembrance and history through an American example, Robert E. Lee, and a French one, Marshal Pétain. The French will not be surprised by the...
“France and the U.S. Are Equally Flawed in Their Approach to the Coronavirus”Robert Sebbag is a doctor working with the infectious and tropical diseases department of the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, and has devoted his career to fighting pandemics such as SARS, Ebola, and now the coronavirus. He has also worked with the French-American humanitarian aid organization Action Against Hunger, the International Red Cross, and French pharmaceutical laboratory Sanofi. He believes that...
Culture
This Week on TV5 Monde USA (July 6-12)Every week, France-Amérique will compile a list of 5 films, series, documentaries, cooking shows, and children's shows you don't want to miss on TV5 Monde USA, the first French-language television channel in the United States. 1. L'Eau à la Bouche Tuesday, July 7, at 8:30 pm EST (5:30 pm PST) 1959. At a castle in the Pyrénées-Orientales, six people gather...
This Week on TV5 Monde USA (June 29-July 5)Every week, France-Amérique will compile a list of 5 films, series, documentaries, cooking shows, and children's shows you don't want to miss on TV5 Monde USA, the first French-language television channel in the United States. 1. Please, Not Now! Tuesday, June 30, at 8:30 pm EST (5:30 pm PST) Sophie, a model, discovers that her lover Philippe is interested in...
The French Origin of Robert E. Lee’s Statue in VirginiaJust like the Statue of Liberty in its time, the controversial representation of the confederate general, which has been the target of anti-racism protests, was made in Paris before being sent to the United States in 1890. “A contest has been launched for the design of a monument to General Robert E. Lee in Richmond. All participants’ models and plans...
This Week on TV5 Monde USA (June 22-28)Every week, France-Amérique will compile a list of 5 films, series, documentaries, cooking shows, and children's shows you don't want to miss on TV5 Monde USA, the first French-language television channel in the United States. 1. Irresponsable - Season 1, Episode 1, 2, 3, and 4 Tuesday, June 23, at 11:05 pm EST (8:05 pm PST) At 31, Julien is...
Business
Coronavirus: Industry Goes to War!Heavy industry and individual workers have arrived as backup to accelerate the production of masks and ventilators desperately needed by medical professionals. Both in France and the United States, a wartime economy has developed to fight against the coronavirus pandemic. On the banks of the East River opposite Manhattan, the Brooklyn Navy Yard is back to work. The former naval...
Emmanuel Macron Dreams of UnicornsAmbitious French president Emmanuel Macron wants to see a fivefold increase in the number of billion-dollar start-ups, or “unicorns,” in France over the next few years. His goal is to replicate the American model. Emmanuel Macron has a dream. He wants unicorns to flourish in France, and hopes that their number will rise from five to twenty, or even twenty-five,...
Ode à la Rose: Flower Delivery à la FrançaiseThe business model of Ode à la Rose, a flower delivery company founded by two French entrepreneurs in New York City in 2012, is based on the dual concept of French elegance and speed. Available across the northeast of the United States and in the Chicago area, the service will soon be expanded to and Florida. Monday is the most...
Pop! The Rise of American Sparkling WineThe consumption of sparkling wine in the United States has doubled since the 1970s. Thanks to champagnes imported from France, "American champagnes," and sparkling wines produced by French companies established on the U.S. West Coast, the American market is bubbling over! Since the first cases of champagne were delivered to the Thirteen Colonies in 1750, French bubbly has enjoyed a...
Education
Visa Suspensions Threaten Immersion Schools in LouisianaThe ban on all new J-1 visas declared by Donald Trump on June 22 has dealt a blow to French-English immersion schools in Louisiana, which depend on these temporary work permits for recruiting Francophone teachers. Worry hangs heavy in the air of Baton Rouge, the state capital of Louisiana. Around 2,200 students might be left without a full education if...
OFALycée, the French Online School for American High Schoolers[Partner Article] The first online French-American high school, OFALycée, will open its virtual doors in September. To assist students whose education was disrupted by the pandemic, its founders will offer online French and math classes for ninth, tenth and eleventh-graders starting on April 27. “Do you know about the drama of French-American education in the United States? Thousands of French...
Cécile David-Weill: “Authority Is Credibility Granted by Children”Cécile David-Weill is the author of three novels, including "The Suitors," a comedy of manners about French high society. In "Parents Under the Influence," recently translated from French and published in the United States, the French-American mother of three tackles accepted ideas about raising children. She shows how we are subconsciously influenced by how our parents raised us, with often...
Teachers 2.0: An Online French-American High SchoolThe first online French-American high school, OFALycée, will be opening its virtual doors in September 2020. Its goal is to prepare students within the U.S. education system for the French Baccalaureate exams. Every year, some 400 high school students in the United States take the Baccalaureate exam, which enables them to continue on to higher education in France. Fourteen schools,...
Gastronomy
Melissa Clark: “France Is Where I Learned How to Cook”Melissa Clark was celebrating the release of her latest book, "Dinner in French," when lockdown began in New York City. Since then, the "New York Times" food writer and author of 43 cookbooks (including one written with French chef Daniel Boulud) has spread her love of French cuisine through online cooking demos, live videos on Instagram, and simple recipes tailored...
The Jean-Georges EmpireJean-Georges Vongerichten has lived in New York since 1986, and made the city the capital of his culinary empire. The French restaurant owner reigns over 39 establishments, including 25 in the United States. He guarantees the same quality of service from Las Vegas to Singapore, and still finds time to cook for his friends! The clock strikes 5:30 pm in...
La Chandeleur: The Day to Flip CrêpesWhile Americans watch expectantly for the groundhog to emerge on February 2, the French will be flipping crêpes with their families. Known as Chandeleur in French and "Candlemas" in English, this event mixes pagan, Celtic, and catholic influences, and is named after the candles used for a pagan ritual celebrating the arrival of the harvest. In 472, Pope Gelasius I...
King Cake: A French Tradition Little Known in the U.S.This golden, frangipane-filled cake appears in boulangeries and patisseries at the end of December. King cake or la galette des rois, is traditionally eaten with the family on the first Sunday after New Year’s Day, but many enjoy it from December 31 and throughout the whole month of January! Along with Yule logs and Easter eggs, this is another unmissable...