Bordeaux is always a good idea. Audrey Hepburn would have certainly said so in that famous movie, had she visited the current version of what was once an elegant but austere French city in need of an overhaul. Paris got her remodel in the second half of the 19th century thanks to Napoleon III and…
My French family has been the main reason for my annual trips home over the last two decades. France has been the other one. Most trips take me back to Paris, because my parents, my brother and his family all live there. I may surprise some “Parisophiles” when I say I relish the {too rare}…
Welcome to les Chartrons, a village inside Bordeaux, the city that wooes French and foreign visitors and keeps them coming back for more. I was lucky to re-discover Bordeaux for a few days in early June. She and I got acquainted at the best possible time: A stretch of rainy weather had just ended, and minus…
It is impossible to discuss French schools without mentioning la rentrée. This is a magical word in the French language, and a special time in French life. La rentrée is when tanned vacationers go back to work, government members go back to whatever it is they do for France, members of trade unions go back to planning…