Author Archives: maristed
The President, the First Lady, and the #2 Mistress with the Mona Lisa Smile
In retrospect, it did seem there was one upside to the national embarrassment of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s sexual crimes and extravaganzas in New York and around the world (extra credit if you even remember that fallen idol). Namely, the creation of a bogeyman-scapegoat for France. Exposed and excoriated, DSK was harried into exile in his Moroccan […]
November is all about Surreal
First thing back in Paris this early wintry afternoon, a shivery stroll to Centre Pompidou where the Surrealists are holding sway. Not my cup of dormouse. But an open mind and need for warmth converge. News to me (though not to many of you) is, that Alberto Giacometti was part of the Movement (with Andre […]
May Day May Day
May 1, Lilies-of-the-Valley Day. (Thanks to a 1561 decree by Charles IX, who was smitten by the little flower.) The only thing you can still sell on Paris streets without a vendor’s licence! Despite a cold spring there seemed to be enough stalks to go around yesterday, as people streamed toward the Bastille to honor: […]
Le Mariage not so Gai ?
It’s been legal in the neighboring Netherlands for twelve uneventful years. In Spain, a nation drenched in Catholic tradition, same-sex marriage was okayed in 2005. Even in the sexually conflicted USA, legal barriers are crumbling state by state. So why does France, envied worldwide as the standard-bearer of liberté, fraternité and adult free play, have […]
Paris in Snowtime
Snow seems to fall on Paris only about one year in three, and in this moist basin of the Seine it hardly ever sticks for more than an hour. With the climatological trend pointing toward rain-only from now on (not to mention that the Alps are sliding into the Mediterranean) the past few days’ […]
A Beggar’s Banquet
The FIAC is over. Vive la FIAC! The Foire Internationale de l’Art Contemporain, October 24-27, brightened our town’s mood considerably, if briefly. Past FIACs have had a certain tacky quality, but 2012 far outshone its predecessors in both variety and quality. The Marais pullulated on open gallery night. Clusters of black-clad cognoscenti surged in […]
French Election Night
After a winter cold day, went around the corner to the Bastille to the gathering celebration for official 8 pm announcement of Francois Hollande’s victory. The crowd was estimated at 10,000 to 20,000 by the media. Didn’t look that enormous, but big enough, roaring at mysterious cues, waving flags, banners reading ‘Screw the Rich…’ hoisting […]
POINT de VUE: PARIS 
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