News
Karl Lagerfeld: Iconic, Enigmatic, TransatlanticFashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, who passed away on February 19, 2019, at the age of 85, was as much at home in Paris, where he had lived since the 1950s, as in New York, where he opened his first boutique last April. Karl Lagerfeld appeared as an emperor of fashion, rarely seen without his black sunglasses, diamond-patterned tie, and ponytail...
A Hundred Years of Transatlantic RomanceThese French-American lovebirds include artists, writers, actors, and dancers. As part of Valentine’s Day, which has morphed from a pagan occasion to a celebration of courtly love to a consumer frenzy spearheaded by stores selling flowers and chocolate on both sides of the Atlantic, France-Amérique is presenting ten French-American couples who left their mark on the last century. Pierre Cartier...
Tomi Ungerer, Author of The Three Robbers, is Dead at 87French illustrator Tomi Ungerer, 87, passed away this Saturday in Cork, Ireland. Born in Alsace, he moved to the United States in the 1950s where he became famous for his children's books, erotic (and often humorous) drawings, and posters against the war in Vietnam. Tomi Ungerer left France for New York in 1956, leaving his memories of the Nazi Occupation behind...
The Best of 2018As 2018 morphs into 2019, (re)discover the articles which garnered the most success on France-Amérique.com in the past twelve months. Happy reading and happy New Year! Louisiana Joins La Francophonie The American state has joined the International Organization of La Francophonie (IOF) as an observer member. Its application was accepted by the organization’s member states at a summit in Erevan,...
Opinion
To Be or Not to Be Politically CorrectCan we still teach Mark Twain, whose hero is referred to as a "nigger," now that the word has been banished? What about Hergé's comic books and their grotesque depiction of women, Jews, Blacks, and Arabs? In the United States, as in France and other countries, populist movements are shaking up intellectual and political norms. New leaders are announcing that...
Remove the Vests and Begin the (Real) ReformsThe Gilets Jaunes (“yellow vests”) movement which started 12 weeks ago has revealed a fracture in French society. Guy Sorman believes it is time for the government to react, and suggests two major reforms: massive investment in elementary education and the introduction of a “negative income tax.” Overall, the Gilets Jaunes are right, although they do not know why and...
Facebook and the Gilets Jaunes: Revolution in the Age of Social MediaThe Parisian riots of May 1968 were hatched in the city’s cafés, just like the ones in June 1832, March 1871, and February 1934. But the "yellow vests" movement has broken away from this historical precedent. For the very first time, the uprising was born on social media before spilling out onto the street. In 1962, Marshall McLuhan published The...
Are the “Yellow Vests” Vandals or Militants?The sharp increase in fuel prices in recent months has sparked a protest movement in France known as the gilets jaunes or “yellow vests.” In a climate reminiscent of 1789, demonstrators and the police have clashed in Paris and other cities across France. But to what extent can we compare the two eras? On July 14, 1789, in Paris, the...
Culture
Images of Power From Both Sides of the PondDid you know that Emmanuel Macron's presidential portrait is almost identical to Barack Obama's? On Presidents' Day, let's take a look at two official portraits that broke with tradition. In June 2017, a few weeks after he was elected, French president Emmanuel Macron was photographed with a 3/4 shot in the American style by Soazig de la Moissonnière, his official photographer...
On va continuer ! : A Cajun “Rockumentary”Just a few miles from Lafayette, Louisiana, six musicians are putting their all into passing down the heritage of the French language and Cajun music. Their band, the Lost Bayou Ramblers, was formed in 1990 by brothers Louis and Andre Michot, and received a 2018 Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album. Director Bruno Doria has made a "rockumentary"...
Monet, the Late YearsAn exhibition opening on February 16 at San Francisco's De Young Museum focuses on the last years, and the last works, of French painter Claude Monet, an icon of Impressionism and a pioneer of abstractionism. Monet has been called “the great anti-depressant,” and it would be hard to dispute the uplifting qual- ity of those luminous scenes so exquisitely rendered...
Sorry Angel in U.S. TheatersThe latest film by Christophe Honoré, inspired by his own youth, will be released in U.S. theaters on Friday, February 15. Arthur, 20 is a student in the city of Rennes in Brittany during the early 1990s. His life changes when he meets Jacques, a writer who lives in Paris with his son. Over a summer, Arthur and Jacques develop a...
Business
Pop! The Rise of American Sparking 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...
Amédée 1851, French Scarves with a Transatlantic TwistThe scarves, squares, and throw blankets by French brand Amédée 1851 are a celebration of cruises from times past and the industrial heritage of the town of Roubaix, which was the world’s wool capital until the 1970s. The label’s first collection of accessories made with premium, eco-friendly fibers will be available for purchase online as of December 4. The models...
A French Company in Every U.S. StateThere is not a single American state without a French business within its borders. From New York to Alaska, companies such as Airbus, Michelin, Bel, Louis Vuitton, Safran, Saint-Gobain, and Sodexo are creating jobs and contributing to the U.S. economy. In its most recent annual report, the department of economic affairs at the embassy of France in Washington offers a...
Airbus Races to the Stars in FloridaThe European aviation group will be inaugurating a satellite production facility near Cape Canaveral in Florida this fall. Airbus already makes mid-haul aircraft in Alabama but is now turning to space defense and government contracts for the U.S. armed forces. The building set to host the future Airbus factory has been finished at the NASA space complex in Exploration Park....
Education
The Boom in Dual-Language Classes in New York (3/3): The Future of Education is in Two LanguagesIn the third and final part of our series on bilingualism, Fabrice Jaumont, education specialist and author of The Bilingual Revolution: The Future of Education is in Two Languages, looks at the future of French-English dual-language classes in New York. Fourteen public schools in New York have opened a French-English dual-language program since September 2007. Four have been discontinued due...
The Boom in Dual-Language Classes in New York (2/3): “Demand is High Enough to Open 50 More Schools!”In the second part of our series on bilingualism, Fabrice Jaumont, education specialist and author of The Bilingual Revolution: The Future of Education is in Two Languages, explains the role of parents in the creation of the French-English dual-language classes in New York. More than 80,000 people living in New York speak French at home according to the latest data...
The Boom in Dual-Language Classes in New York (1/3): The Story of Giselle McGeeIn this three-part series on bilingualism, Fabrice Jaumont, educator and author of The Bilingual Revolution: The Future of Education is in Two Languages, looks back over the creation of the first French-English dual-language classes in New York. In April 2006, three determined mothers burst into the office of Giselle Gault-McGee, the principal of the P.S. 58 elementary school in the...
The Fight Between Fountain Pens and Pencils in the U.S.The biggest difference between the French cartable and the American schoolbag weighs a little over half an ounce. In the United States, school children write with lead pencils while many students in France continue to use fountain pens. “My son was surprised to see his classmates all using lead pencils instead of a pen on his first day at school,”...
Gastronomy
“Banning Foie Gras Is Easier than Going After the Poultry Industry”In 2005, Chicago Tribune reporter Mark Caro didn’t know a thing about foie gras. He then spent five years interviewing producers in the U.S. and in France as well as animal rights advocates, and published a book on the topic, The Foie Gras Wars. Ten years after the book’s release and in light of the ban recently introduced by the...
The Challenges of Banning Foie Gras in CaliforniaThe production and sale of foie gras have been banned once again in California. The law became enforceable on January 7, but how will it be applied and what are the consequences for the market? We interviewed key players in the sector and those who support the ban. Tara Gallegos, spokesperson for the California Attorney General’s Office, which is responsible...
Foie Gras Officially Banned in CaliforniaThe appeal by producers and restaurant owners has been rejected by the Supreme Court, and the law banning the production and sale of foie gras in California came into effect on January 7. While the appeal was still underway, foie gras remained legal in California. And the procedure filed in March 2018 by the Quebec Association of Duck and Goose...
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...