Often, after a terror attack, people and politicians make a point of saying “we are not afraid”. That seemed to be the case in Paris, certainly, over the weekend, after the attacks that killed at least 130 people. France’s president, Francois Hollande, said something like that in an address to the nation. Versions of that […]

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Friday, the 13th of November, 2015, will be remembered for a long time, in Paris. One of those “where were you when …?” events that everyone will be able to answer. The overwhelming majority of the people out and about not only weren’t victims of terrorists, they saw or heard nothing about them until after […]

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Six days ago we left the Paris of the 11th Arrondissement, which today again was the Paris of Terror. In the deadliest day in the city since World War II, seven decades ago, far more than 100 people were killed in six terror attacks, four of which occurred inside the 11th we stayed in for […]

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Got to love airline upgrades. We had enough points with Qatar Airway‘s alliance that we could afford one upgrade from economy to business on the QR40 flight from Paris to Doha in the A380 super jumbo. It is like moving from squalor — among the 400-plus economy customers packed elbow to elbow on the lower […]

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It can happen, if you don’t have redundant systems in place. Separated in a Metro station, a realization a few minutes later, one person with a cell phone and an address for a meeting, the other person with a key to the apartment. And never the twain shall meet. This is how we managed to […]

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It was 10 months ago that terrorists entered the offices of the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo and killed 11 people, most of them journalists, including the editor in chief. A 12th person was killed nearby. It was a few days ago that I realized the offices of Charlie Hebdo were in the Paris arrondissement […]

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France is approximately the size of Texas, so it takes a while to get wherever it is you’re not. Planning is key. Detailed, to-the-minute scenarios involving four people, a Westie and four forms of conveyance. What could go wrong? All sorts of things. In annoying, embarrassing, silly ways. Here are 12.

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In recent years, Paris Saint-Germain by some distance has become the most formidable soccer club in France. And now it has aspirations to win a first European continental club title. Paris, then, ought to have been in a froth tonight, as PSG played at 10-time-European champion Real Madrid, with the winner all but guaranteed a […]

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I am comfortable in saying I lived at least 40 years without owning a scarf. As well as never wearing one. You grow up in Southern California, and “scarf” was a word used almost exclusively as a synonym for “eat” — with a undertone of bolting food, perhaps messily. But now? In Paris, hardly anyone […]

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What happens after you have been to Paris more than a few times … you no longer have the same plan of attack. The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Sacre-Coeur … you’ve done them, and probably more than once. Instead, you might take a look at a Paris activity you missed the first “x” number of […]

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