News
Should France Arm its Municipal Police Officers?Two French representatives recommend to follow the American model and arm municipal police officers in France. Only 44% of the 21,000 officers in this local police force currently carry a pistol while on duty. Between October 2013 and March 2018, there were 78 attempted acts of terrorism recorded in France. This figure “affects the way national security is approached,” according to...
A New French Consul in Los AngelesFrench writer Philippe Besson was appointed Consul General of France in Los Angeles. A close acquaintance of Emmanuel Macron's, his accession to such a coveted position is raising questions. The author of 18 books, including Un personnage de roman — an account of Emmanuel Macron’s 2017 campaign and an intimate portrait of the presidential couple — Philippe Besson will soon be...
Louisiana’s Master’s in Bilingual Education to Start in May 2019In the last step of a process which started more than a year ago, the Louisiana Board of Regents met in Baton Rouge on Wednesday, August 22, and allocated the funding required to create a Master’s degree in elementary French immersion education. A first class of ten students will begin the course at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in...
Trump to Attend WWI Centennial Commemorations in ParisAfter he canceled his plan for a "big parade" in Washington, Donald Trump has announced that he will be joining Emmanuel Macron in Paris to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. The U.S. president, impressed by the Bastille Day military parade he witnessed on the Champs-Elysées on July 14, 2017, was forced to cancel his...
Opinion
America Booms While Europe Trails BehindEconomists cannot forecast, and the current economic status in America is showing us proof of that today. No scientist ever imagined that an advanced economy such as the United States could grow by almost 4% in a year while also bringing unemployment figures below 4%. It was theoretically impossible, but the current situation proves otherwise. Inaccurate predictions could be one...
France Beats the U.S. (in Number of Ministers)The number of French ministers surpasses that of the United States. Following the nomination of a new minister for the environment and for sports, Guy Sorman compares the ministerial appointments between our two countries. The French change governments like most people change their clothes. By contrast, the United States is more stable, even with an unpredictable president. The French state...
The Irremovable Donald TrumpMuch to everyone’s surprise, the U.S. president seems set to lead the dance until the music stops. What’s more, his voters are increasingly enthusiastic and his opposition is paralyzed. Ronald Reagan earned the nickname “the Teflon President” during the 1980s because nothing seemed to affect him or hamper his popularity, despite his mistakes and a number of scandals. Is Trump...
Monsanto vs. Dewayne Johnson: Victory for the WeedsAn American gardener has just won a lawsuit against Monsanto, whom he accused of causing his cancer. But the moral of the story is not so straightforward. The world’s ecologists are popping the champagne. After a month-long trial, San Francisco gardener Dewayne Johnson has been awarded compensation of 289 million dollars from Monsanto. Johnson initially asked for 400 million dollars...
Culture
Sennelier, a Merchant of Colors in ParisA stone’s throw from the Louvre and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, the Sennelier store has catered to the likes of Cézanne, Soutine, Picasso, Karl Lagerfeld, and Sempé. Since 1887, artists have come here to buy their colors that were once hand-milled to order in the workshop behind the store. Among its achievements, Sennelier has invented Helios Red, Cinnabar Green, and...
“Colette” in U.S. TheatersBritish actress Keira Knightley is cast in the role of the French renowned novelist in this biographical movie, out in the U.S. on September 21, looking back over her nascent literary career and turbulent private life. In 1893, despite their 14-year age difference, a young Burgundy girl named Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette marries Willy, an egocentric writer and womanizer. He introduces her...
Jeanne Damas’ Love Letter to Parisian WomenThe book of photographs À Paris, which was released in France last year, is now available in the United States under the title In Paris: 20 Women of Life in the City of Lights. According to French fashion designer and model Jeanne Damas, it is impossible to define what the archetype of la Parisienne really means: there are as many Parisian...
Heritage: We Must Save Our Old Stones!For the European Heritage Days on September 15 and 16, 2018, France will organize a lottery whose proceeds will help restore endangered historical sites throughout France. Thousands of monuments in rural areas or small communities across France are falling into disrepair, including bridges and garrets, abbeys and fountains, theatres and synagogues, factories, ramparts, orangeries, greenhouses, windmills, viaducts, châteaux, and hundreds of...
Business
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, groups 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....
Paris Attitude, the Agency Specialized in Leasing Long-Term Furnished Apartments in Paris[Partner Article] With more than 6000 luxury-style apartments, Paris Attitude, specialized in rent for short and long-term furnished apartments, fits the needs of professionals in Paris as well as French expatriates returning to the capital. A furnished apartment, readily equipped with all the necessary amenities, and positioned close to the most prominent French business locations, starting with the Défense district:...
French Rosé Finds Fame and Fortune in the U.S.Sales of rosé wine shot up 53% in the United States last year. The reasons for this record growth can be found in the booming wine culture in North America and the aggressive marketing strategies employed by winegrowers from Southern France. It has to be said that rosé wine has not always had the best reputation. The go-to rosé in...
Education
The Boom in French 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,”...
A French Immersion School to Open in Tampa BayThe French-American School of Tampa Bay will open on September 12 on the west coast of Florida. The region’s first French immersion school will teach students from kindergarten through fifth grade. The school’s founder Willy LeBihan is still surprised. “The Tampa area is going through an incredible economic boom and attracting increasing numbers of Francophones, but the nearest French schools...
From Knoxville to Paris: Linking Art and Bilingual EducationSixteen elementary school students from Nature's Way Montessori School in Knoxville, Tennessee, will travel to Paris in the Fall and meet their French pen pals from Jean Zay Elementary School. The cultural exchange was inspired by the life of Tennessee-born painter Beauford Delaney, who spent the last 26 years of his life in France. The 32 students in the Classes...
Gastronomy
Joël Robuchon, a Star-Spangled Chef in the United StatesFamed for his potato purée with lightly salted butter, the Frenchman was far more than a cook. For many years he embodied French cuisine de terroir from Paris to Las Vegas. “To describe Joël Robuchon as a cook is a bit like calling Pablo Picasso a painter, Luciano Pavarotti a singer, Frederic Chopin a pianist, “wrote American Patricia Wells. The...
Le Bateau Ivre, a Haven for French Wine Lovers in ManhattanKnown as the first wine bar in New York City, the French bistro Le Bateau Ivre will be participating in French Restaurant Week through July 15. The owners of Le Bateau Ivre are from India. The chef is from Venezuela and the kitchen staff is from Ecuador, Mexico, and Guatemala. Yet the French atmosphere can be seen from miles away....
Discover our Selection of French and American RosésAs a third of all bottles of rosé sold in the United States are produced on American soil, some domestic rosés now offer the same quality as imported, French wines. Keith Mabry, Rhone and Loire Valley Buyer for the K&L wine stores in California, presents his selection of must-try French and American rosés. * Casa Smith, ViNO Rosé, Washington ($11.99)...
Dominique Crenn: An Homage to Good FoodAtelier Crenn made a name for itself with a multi-course tasting menu experience at 325 dollars and dishes garnished with gold leaf. But French restaurant owner and chef Dominique Crenn is now putting her talents into simpler things. Her new restaurant, Bar Crenn, set to open in San Francisco on February 20, promises to serve the standards of the French...