At last, the fashion of French-bashing fades, and now kisses, fries, poodles, horns, bread, dressing, curls, maids, braids, ticklers, manicures, twists, and toast might drop the mock-corrective mark of "freedom." Even our most patriotic consciences …
The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece by Jonathan Harr. Random House, 2005; $24.95; 250 pages. FROM THE DUST JACKET: An Italian village on a hilltop near the Adriatic coast, a decaying palazzo …
The Coldest Winter: A Stringer in Liberated Europe by Paula Fox. Henry Holt and Company, 2005; 144 pages; $18. FROM THE DUST JACKET: In 1946, Paula Fox walked up the gangplank of a partly reconverted …
Joe's Salient Points Nev has a quote that "the best occasions to observe the human heart are weddings, funerals, and duels." I have been to two out of three in the past couple weeks. So …
Misstep and Mangled I read as much as the next person. And the person next to that person and the next person over and the two hiding in the corner as well. So when the …
Thank God for Cigarettes and Alcohol I think my PC monitor is giving me headaches, especially when I am using Linux, leading to tiredness and grumpiness and all of the personality traits you all know …
The Great Unwashed I blog for my friends. After the company I worked for in Dublin closed, everyone scattered, some on extended holidays, others to different jobs at home and abroad. I came home to …
Ravi Shankar almost canceled a July 10 appearance in Arles, France, after two of his sitars were broken during an Air France flight from Lebanon. Shankar, an Encinitas resident since 1998, wouldn't play a replacement …
Olive Belly Button At first gasp, France's Télématin could be the identical twin cousin of The Today Show. The hosts hum along to pop music on the way back from commercial; there's corny banter; a …
The Cat Came Back Over quiche and strawberries at a recent Parisian blogger picnic, the questions fired at me reflect an eerie insight, considering that most of these people I have never met (virtual relations …
Heymatt: I was recently given some lovely lace handkerchiefs from my grandmother. Several of them have a gold sticker on them that proclaims "Genuine Irish Lace Made In China." How can it be "Genuine Irish …
Parisian Shower? I am watching a program showcasing movies that will premier in France this week. There's one called La Moustache that seems particularly interesting. From what I gather, a man shaves his mustache, then …
Preverbal and Illiterate My father is French, but I was raised American (in Florida) to the extent that my half-Frenchness always felt like trivia, not identity. I moved to Paris about 18 months ago, and …
This is the last year Americans will follow the Tour de France. Little children will torment their pets, master their first video game, log 26,000 hours in front of the family television set, and borrow …
"We ditched the original driver [in Italy] 'cause we genuinely thought he would get us killed," says guitarist Nick Hipa of As I Lay Dying. The band was on a European tour in mid-June when …