by Eleanor Beardsley, in Paris.
Traditional French restaurants, where people would come to dance and enjoy lunch along the banks of the Marne River — are back in fashion. Gomgiettes were first made famous by the Impressionists, most notably by Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party.”

Aux Etats-Unis, la culture universitaire est à des années-lumières de ce que l’on connait en France. Ici, on vit pour sa fac, même 30 ans après en être sorti. Ce phénomène est encore plus visible dans le monde du sport. Ici, pas d’amateurisme, les étudiants-sportifs profitent d’infrastructures à la pointe des technologies. La preuve sur [...]

Global Pulse: July 9, 2010. If you must experience a devastating industrial accident, pray you live in a rich and powerful country. Americans are justifiably angry, but they have 24-hour tar ball removal, a hotline for oiled birds, and a 20 billion dollar compensation fund. In Bhopal, India, tens of thousands were killed 25 years [...]

by Eleanor Beardsley

by Eleanor Beardsley
July 6, 2010
President Obama wants to make preschool available to every child in the United States. In Europe, universal preschool is a pillar of society, allowing women to work and kids to be socialized. In France, children start school at age 3.

Global Pulse: June 25, 2010) The recent announcement of vast mineral wealth in Afghanistan sent salesman-in-chief Hamid Karzai to Japan to pitch the allies, while the mastermind of the minerals survey at the Department of Defense arranged publicity here in the U.S. A controversial New York Times article quoted General David Petraeus calling the assessment [...]

(Global Pulse: June 11, 2010) The U.S. could use a nice distraction, why not the World Cup? The fans worldwide are ready, and so are South Africa’s new stadiums. Someone built a fake shanty-town for housing tourists, and a real one for formerly homeless South Africans. But if you can’t make it to Johannesburg, you [...]

The number of Catholic priests in France has declined steadily since the 1960s. The church recently launched a public relations campaign meant to attract more young men to the priesthood. But the campaign has come at a difficult time amid child abuse scandals, and potential recruits are skeptical.

by Eleanor Beardsley
More than 450 years after being liberated from the English, the French coastal town of Calais is boasting of its links with the traditional enemy across the English Channel. The 2012 Olympics are in London, and Calais is determined to win some of the attention and money associated with the event.

(Global Pulse: May 14, 2010) No one can understand why someone like Faisal Shahzad, an educated, naturalized U.S. citizen, would try to bomb Times Square. Many in the media question if he is a true terrorist or just being used as a political pawn. While most U.S. and international media condemn Shazhad as a terrorist [...]