France | Paris with a Parisian

Seen from Paris, blog about Paris

You thought Parisians are witty, arrogant, bitching about everything and anything, obsessed with food and culture, and always up for discussion? Well... you're perfectly right! And you're on the right page to check it out.

France

We are all Charlie.

They knew exactly where to hit: two braindead assholes slaughter 12 in the heart of French symbol of Liberté Voilà. Just like a Greek tragedy, we knew it was going to happen, and it just did. It’s been years now that Charlie Hebdo, a French weekly newspaper, has been threaten of death by all kinds […]

France
Paris

Versailles, the French monument where citizens have been deprived of their freedom of speech

Today, no one is allowed to give explanations within the Palace of Versailles, as a corporation of “guides” have finally managed to get a grasp on the French monument, in a rather hardcore way. Versailles… A name that conveys a flavor of opulence and style. But more than anything, it has a flavor of freedom […]

France

French Congress tries to kill prostitution by ticketing clients

Since 1946, France has been having the weirdest relationship with prostitution. In a fairly naive move to end it, an array of virtuous politicians had a new law passed… which will make it even worse. Paris, 1900. The city is famous worldwide for its brothels, that range from run-down hotels garnis to exquisite palaces like […]

France

The Internship, a French fool’s game

As “Elle”, the famous French magazine, just put online an ad looking for a stagiaire (an intern in French), the overall scandal of internships in France buzzes all over the Net again. Indeed, offering an internship looking for somebody that “already has a job experience” and a graduate level is quite questionable, as it seems […]

France

Chill out, world! The French are not going to commit suicide!!

Lately all my social network has been buzzing with an article from the NY Times explaining how the French people had lost both their status in the cosmos and their mojo. It’s time to strike back and straight up the record… “Goodbye old world, Bonjour Tristesse” is the title of this cutting-edge sociology analysis […]

France

A few days before the end of 1800 years of gay discrimination…

That’s it! France is about to go ahead and allow same-sex mariage. As the last debates burst out here and there, it’s time to look at the event with perspective. Since everybody’s talking about it, I felt I had to bring my own brick to the wall of freedom and modernity. After almost two milleniums […]

France

The problem with French Churches

As the state officially defends a strict line of secularism to protect each religion, the citizens are paying very heavy bills to maintain the thousands of running churches throughout the country. Of course we will not discuss religion itself here, but a rather interesting and unfair contradiction that appeared in the long historical process of […]

France

« A crime committed in France by France ». In a powerful speech, Prez Hollande makes France responsible for the horrible Vel D’hiv roundup of 1942, a way to present the facts that might overlook a part of the complex reality.

But in the same speech, he reminds us how the Jews trusted the state and how it helps the French police to carry out the roundup. Is it then the role of the State to tell us how to understand History, or should the State teach us how to think by ourself? The Vel […]

France

Wishing upon a star: On July 23rd, the whole hotel classification system will change.

For best or worse, but for now only one third of all French hotels are ready… In a few days, the usual « Hotel de Tourisme » sign that proudly stand by each hotel door will be gone. For some hotels, it will be replaced. For most, it will be gone for a few years. That sign […]