French Wine Tasting: How to Be (or Sound Like) a Wine Expert (or Snob)
Lesson 1: Left, Good. Right, Bad.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in Paris Update on February 8, 2017. For my most recent birthday, a friend gave me a bottle of a Pauillac grand cru classé from 1986. If you don’t have a friend like that, … Read More
Paris Street Furniture Breakdown
The Uglification of Paris
In principle, I am a supporter of Paris’s current mayor, Anne Hidalgo, who is up for re-election next year, but I strongly resent the way she has allowed the introduction of so many ugly elements into the streets of … Read More
Happy Parisians?
A Tale of Three Cities
Is it just me, or is the French capital now the jolliest of the big three? By that I mean Western civilization’s splendid PaLoNY: Paris, London, New York. The trio of major metropoles has long hewed to type: New York, … Read More
Cinémathèque Française
A Feast of Film Treasures
The Cinémathèque Française is a treasure that is sorely underused by visitors to Paris. This great institution is frequented mainly by French cinephiles, who are legion, but it also provides a valuable service to the world of international cinema: for … Read More
The World Cup and Me, Part One: How Soccer Came to America – Sort Of
When Ignorance Was Bliss (A True Story)
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in Paris Update on June 8, 2014. As I write this, the 2014 FIFA World Cup is about to begin in Brazil. This quadrennial tournament always brings back a fond childhood memory for me. Not … Read More
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