News
Covid-19: 72-Hour Testing Measures Spark PanicThe French community in the United States has been thrown into panic. From August 1, anyone wanting to travel to France from the U.S. will be asked to present negative Covid-19 test results obtained no more than 72 hours beforehand. Mission impossible? Almost. The French government’s decree n° 2020-911 on July 27, 2020 is very clear. It states that anyone...
Visa Suspensions: Exception Granted to French Teachers in the U.S.Bilingualism in the United States has won a major victory. The American government has decided to grant an exception to international teachers — essential for those hoping to teach in U.S. dual-language schools in September. Around 200 French teachers are affected by this measure, which will apply to the suspension of J-1 visas. “Hello, I think we’ve got some good...
Map: Where to Celebrate Bastille Day in the United States?On July 14, the French commemorate the storming of the Bastille of 1789 and the Fête de la Fédération of 1790. In the U.S., the event is known as Bastille Day, a showcase of French culture and gastronomy! A tradition set to continue this year despite the pandemic. This year, the sidewalks along Smith Street in Brooklyn will not be...
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,...
Opinion
The Resilience of American DemocracyHave we reached the end of American democracy? The anxiety expressed on the occasion of the November elections strikes me as excessive, writes Guy Sorman. That feelings run high in election season is not surprising and hardly new in the history of the United States. Without going all the way back to Abraham Lincoln, whose election provoked secession, we should...
Just a Tiny Little BeastHow did the smallest of creatures — the Covid-19 virus — manage to undermine the optimism and economy of our supposedly organized and ready-for-anything French and American democracies? France and the United States were not doing so badly in their ongoing pursuit of happiness, a quest so dear to Thomas Jefferson, inscribed in the American Declaration of Independence and implicit...
A Quiet ReliefThe French are relieved — even delighted — by Donald Trump’s departure. But will Joe Biden’s election herald the return of amicable French-American relations? The 45th president of the United States certainly had a few supporters in France, but mainly in a small number of nationalist political spheres and the odd fanciful intellectual who saw populism as an alternative ideology....
A Divisive ElectionThe November election will be the most racially focused of any in the history of the United States since Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860, writes Guy Sorman. It will not lead to an openly declared civil war, but we can expect a latent one. Racism is the implicit yet central stake in the upcoming American presidential elections. This is...
Culture
Lupin: The True Story of the Queen’s NecklaceThe plot from the new series Lupin – the first big French success on Netflix in the United States – draws its inspiration from Maurice Leblanc’s novels and the affair of the queen's necklace, a scandal that tarnished Marie-Antoinette’s reputation in the 18th century. In the words of Mirabeau, the affair of the diamond necklace was the prelude to the...
Young Leaders, a Bridge Between Two ElitesThis program from the French-American Foundation, whose 40th anniversary we celebrate this year, has worked to bring future French leaders closer to their U.S. counterparts. The profiles of French participants are far more consistent than those of the Americans, a trend that has long reflected the two countries’ different ways of training their elites. Times have changed, but the diversity...
This Week on TV5MONDE USA (January 25-31)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 TV5MONDE USA, the first French-language television channel in the United States. 1. Voix d'or Monday, January 25, at 3 pm EST (12 pm PST) Aged 26, Jean-François Marras becomes a tenor at the Opéra de Paris, a...
Emmanuel de Boisset: Bringing Art Into BusinessesEmmanuel de Boisset, a Young Leader with the French-American Foundation in 2009, is the co-founder and president of the Artismagna contemporary art gallery in Lille, Paris, and Lyon, and has decided to bring art into businesses. France-Amérique: What role can art play in corporate projects? Emmanuel de Boisset: The surprise of an esthetic, poetic experience in a working environment offers...
Business
Rossignol: Alpine Chic on American Slopes[Partner Article] With warm, elegant, retro clothing designed for both flying down the slopes and going to the office, the French winter sports brand Rossignol is slaloming into the American market. Its popularity led to the opening of a store in Aspen, Colorado, two years ago, and one in Manhattan the following year. Sixty years ago, Rossignol made an eye-catching...
Chargeurs: From Haute Couture to Protective Face MasksLast March, Chargeurs was still producing technical fabrics for Chanel, Balmain, and Yves Saint Laurent. The French group, also established in the United States, is now making some 15 million protective masks every week — an unprecedented initiative in the group’s long history. Founded in 1872, Chargeurs has adapted its factories in Picardy and Alsace to meet the demand for...
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,...
Education
Covid-19: A Tense Return to School for Florida StudentsAs Florida deals with another spike in infections – an average of 2,679 new cases of Covid-19 registered daily – the French-American School of Tampa Bay has started its third academic year. This return to the classrooms has been stressful for both teachers and parents, but a necessary step for the students. The forty students at the French-American School of...
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...
Gastronomy
King Cake: A Louisianian Tradition with French RootsThe cake that accompanies Epiphany, or Three Kings' Day, can take different shapes: a round galette made with puff pastry and enjoyed plain or filled with frangipane in Central and Northern France; a brioche crown, often decorated with candied fruit, in the South of France. The latter version can also be found in Louisiana! Round, golden, crispy king cake contains...
Four Weeks That Shook American GastronomyFifty years ago in December 1970, the cream of Francophile American gourmets — including Julia Child, author M.F.K. Fisher, and chef James Beard — met in Provence. Their experience and the meals they cooked paradoxically heralded the birth of modern American cuisine. Back in 1970, the United States was governed by a two-speed food system. Supermarkets were gradually crowding out...
Jean-François Piège Designs the Ladurée Christmas CollectionStar chef Jean-François Piège owns six restaurants in Paris and the Luberon region, and has been a judge on the French cooking show Top Chef for ten seasons. This year, he has partnered with Ladurée to design a collection of desserts for the holiday celebrations. Adapting the signature dessert from Jean-François Piège’s double Michelin-star eatery Le Grand Restaurant in Paris...
The Transatlantic Travels of an American BirdTurkeys are the centerpieces of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner and are as American as apple pie and Coca-Cola. This bird appeared in the Americas around one million years ago before arriving in Europe, becoming a favorite at the royal court of Louis XIV and across the French kingdom! Turkeys were long a source of confusion for Europeans. Christopher Columbus, who...