Why not “salut”?
At school, I have learnt that “salut” means “hello” or “bye”. I have always found it strange to have one word to both greet and leave someone. During my first trip to France, I said…
Why are there no religious meals at the school canteen?
This year, Myriam will enter preparatory course (CP) and will eat for the first time at the school canteen. Her parents, Alexandre and Sarah, are worried: they are practising Jews and fear that their daughter will have…
Catherine Deneuve and women’s liberation
Catherine Deneuve was not the only famous woman who wrote down her name on the “manifeste des 343” – Françoise Sagan and Simone de Beauvoir signed it as well, but the actress knew that her signature…
Foreigners and “made in France” couture
“Dior? Chanel? Have you heard of them? Is it a good place to ask for an internship?” Sami Nouri had to be an audacious young man – aged 16 – and a naive foreigner –…
Stand up, French women!
“Stand up, French women […]! Replace on the working field the ones that are now on the battle field!” called the president of the Conseil des Ministres, René Viviani, in August 1914. Because of the…
The Foreign Legion at the Champs-Elysées
Did you know that today, there are more than 8 000 foreign soldiers in the French army? They are part of the “Foreign Legion”. It is an elite branch of the army that gathers nearly 150…
Memories of an immigrant
“After waiting 7 days, they put us, 35 men, one on top of the other, roughly balanced, in the back of a 4×4. I am afraid to fall but I am even more afraid of…
Equality as an inheritance
When the famous French singer Johnny Hallyday died, his friends became passionate about a question: who would inherit his fortune? Would it be his 4th and last wife through US law? Or David and Laura, born…
When France refused to let Picasso be French
Anarchist, rebel and communist… Pablo Picasso was a bit of all that, but he was above all one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century. In 1940, France had already recognized his talent: the…
When a refugee wins the prix Goncourt
“Once I arrived to France, it only took me eight months to get my papers, my residence permit, my refugee card,” remembers Atiq Rahimi. Before that, the life of the Franco-Afghan movie director and writer…